Review of Evensong by Krista Walsh

[Michelle-lit]

Ever wonder what it would be like if the fictitious book you were reading were actually real? What if the characters, towns, animals, and castles actually existed? Well, you wouldn’t be able to convince Jeff Powell, a successful writer of The Feldall Saga. A very down-to-earth kind of guy, Jeff is just trying to get through the last book in his series so he can finally move on to something new and maybe even summon up the courage to ask the cute barista to go on a date, but someone else–someone far, far away–has other plans for him.

While trying to take a nap and get some well earned sleep, Jeff wakes up to find that he is no longer in his small, bachelor apartment; he is staring into the faces of his two main characters: Jayden and Jasmine. Of course, this has to be a dream or his coworkers playing a horrible, yet convincing, trick on him. Yet, Jeff comes to find that this is no trick, and what he believed was a figment of his imagination was actually real. Jayden and Jasmine reveal that Jeff did not create them or the world of Feldall, but he somehow tapped into their world and was only observing them. The people, the places, the deaths, and destruction were all real. Jeff’s writing, unfortunately, did have an adverse effect on their world every time he tried to manipulate their stories. Jayden and Jasmine had kidnapped Jeff in order to force him to fix the wrongs he had created which included a drought and an indestructible dragon.

As the story continues, Jeff slowly begins to understand that Feldall is actually a real place and his actions were destroying the lives of real people. As his feelings for his newfound friends begins to grow, Jeff will do everything in his power to save the people he once believed were only fiction even if it costs him his life.

Evensong was an interesting and entertaining read. It took me a while to get to like the character Jeff. He seemed to be a selfish child in the beginning and I just wanted to slap him. I was fond of the chapters who resided in Faldall, and eventually, Jeff began to grow on me. The book itself was ok. I’m not sure if I’m going to read the next book in the trilogy, but I also don’t regret reading it. I gave this book 2 out of 4 stars (just because I’m not sure if I would recommend it). The writing was fluid and there were very few spelling or grammatical mistakes, but I wasn’t blown away by the writing style. I would recommend this book to fantasy lovers for a light, fast-paced read. I did think the plot was different and wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading this book. It does have some adult content, so I would suggest this for a mature audience.

Has anyone read this book? What did you think?