Review by raqstar1 -- The Sparrow by Denna M. Davis

[raqstar1]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Sparrow" by Denna M. Davis.]

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Amanda is a 16-year-old girl who is nearing her 17th birthday. When she gets into trouble at school for defending a student who was being bullied, her parents send her to Minnesota to stay with her grandparents for a month. Just as with most teenage girls, she thinks that life can’t possibly get any worse than this. Then her grandma, Mimi-Rose, tells her that they have something for her, but she won’t believe it without seeing it. Mimi-Rose hands Amanda a letter then disappears down a hidden chamber passage in the library.

The letter is from a friend of Mimi-Rose who Amanda has never heard of. It has strange words that she is pretty sure are another language and runes that are apparently a key to a portal. Using all the courage she can muster, she follows after her grandmother. When she emerges from the portal, she is in a world with 2 moons. The only thing that greets her in the empty mountain valley that she has stepped into is the tinkling sound of laughter. The laughter turns out to be a young pixie girl beckoning Amanda to follow her. Clearly, she was wrong and things can get worse than Minnesota.

The Sparrow by Denna M. Davis is a magical adventure that follows Amanda as she learns about her role in this new world. It is a world where everyone has their own skin color, magic is part of life, and there are many different types of people, some with wings or even gills. But this world also has a dark side. There is an evil ruler, Zorn, who is enslaving many of the inhabitants. Prophecy says that Zorn will be overthrown by the Sparrow, and that’s where Amanda comes in.

I really enjoyed this book. It is geared to the young adult reader, but the story and characters are extremely well written. The plot is laid out at the perfect speed and incorporates back and side stories in a way that keeps the reader engaged. It has the feel of Harry Potter mixed with The Lord of the Rings and adds a side splash of teen romance. I really enjoyed reading about the different people of the world and how they each contributed in their own way. I would highly recommend it to any fantasy or adventure lover. There are some scenes with fairly graphic gore and torture so it isn’t for the very young. But those scenes are few and far between so I didn’t feel that they detracted from the story at all. The only negative I have for the book is that Amanda's parents are a bit of an afterthought, only mentioned as a reason to return to Earth. But since they don't have an active role in the story, it's really not an issue.

I found only two errors in the entire book and felt that it was extremely well edited, not only for content but also for theme and flow. The end of the book contains a glossary which is very helpful due to all of the new words that are introduced throughout the story. The ending is well timed and a perfect leave-off for the next book in the series. I very much look forward to reading the next book. For these reasons, I happily rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.

******
The Sparrow
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like raqstar1's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Kristin Ransome]

My favourite thing about this book is the connectedness of all of Emaji! I agree that the pace is perfect, as the reader is learning all of this for the first time as well. Glad you enjoyed it as much as I did! Thanks for your review