Undraland by Mary Twomey

[Jax14]

A great start to a young adult fantasy series.
Lucy Kincaid has lost her parents in a car accident and her twin brother to cancer. Now she is trying to move forward with her life as a medical student and dreams of the proverbial happy ending. However all it takes is one night to change her life forever-when attacked by a bear and saved by a gorgeous stranger, Lucy is forced to leave all she knows behind her and travel on blind faith into a land that shouldn't be real. Surely bedtime stories are just that-stories? Lucy is introduced to a world of fantasy. Complete with kingdoms and royalty, knights and battles, creatures and clans and the inevitable evil villain, Lucy will discover that her past is not what it seemed. Her Uncle Alrick introduces her to the Other Side-where Nokken, Fossengrims and garden gnomes are the norm. She must team up with her new acquaintances to defeat the siren Pesta before the portals can be used to destroy her world.
The relationship between Lucy and Jens is endearing. A bit stalkerish knowing that Jens was invisibly watching her for years, but one of those inevitable great loves that goes through the stages of hate and love with heightened emotions. The explanation about Jaime and his link with Britta and the sometimes unfair roles a prince must take on for the kingdom lends a great sub story. Add to the mix Nik with his deep secret, a likeable Tor and an infuriating Foss and round it off with Charles Mace-a character you can't quite put your finger on.
The series is directed at young adults, but I found Lucy's demeanour grated my teeth at times. She would go from sarcastic heroine in charge of her destiny, to blindly accepting whatever fantasy creatures or lands are thrown her way, to whiny, snivelling girl lamenting that no one understands her and life is not fair. There was another small issue-each time I read the word werebear, I immediately thought of "care bear" which changed the ferocious attacks into cute "care bear stares" for me. While that is no reflection on the author, it was just off putting as I read. Apart from that I really enjoyed the writing style of the book-it flowed easily enough-maybe a bit too easily at times for certain things to happen, but I suppose in a YA book sometimes too much detail detracts from the overall story. I am dying to know what laplanding is-the book definitely leaves you turning the last page and being devastated that it finishes there. A very entertaining start to the series.