Review of Fox In The City

[OTrain Disene]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Fox In The City" by Daniel Cabrera.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Fox In The City is a teenage fantasy novel by Daniel Cabrera. This is the author’s debut novel. The novel encompasses many fantasy elements like epic fiction, coming-of-age, magic, and witchcraft. It follows one boy who is not what he seems. He has to fight for his survival while keeping the secret of his true identity. This novel is moving. It had its own flaws, but it was not bad.

A fox is in the wild getting up to what foxes usually get up to on any given day. It knows that it has to be on the lookout when it is out there doing its business because there are predators who will make a feast out of it. But this fox is also hungry, and it is trying to catch something to eat. There is a bad wolf out there that threatens this fox. The fox, barely having survived the wolf, tries to find itself a new home. This is when it meets this human.

Tom is now on the street. He doesn’t know what to do or where to go. While in his state of confusion, this girl comes along and talks to him. He finds that he doesn’t have answers to the majority of her questions. She doesn’t leave him there, though. She takes him to the orphanage where she stays at. This girl’s name is Nora. The friendship between Tom and Nora grows after Tom is allowed to stay at the orphanage. Nora can’t help herself but feel like there’s something Tom is keeping from her. Tom doesn’t want to tell her the biggest secret he harbours inside for many reasons.

On the other side, there is a bad person by the name of Adriana, who seems to have a lot in common with Tom. But, unlike Tom, Adriana wants powers, and he has to defeat someone who is actually more powerful than him. Can he succeed? What happened to the fox? Who is really Tom? Can he successfully keep the secret to himself? What about the magic? Does it wane? Will Adriana and Tom ever cross paths? If so, will it be their first time?

The answers to these questions can be found inside the book. I have tried to keep my summary as brief as possible so I don’t spoil the entire book for you. That’s how delicate the plot was woven. Any slight giveaway may spoil the book for you. There are many twists and turns taking place in this short book. To fully appreciate it, you have to be clueless about it. That’s how it will take your breath away.

The first chapter of the book opened with a bang. Everything was moving steadily fast, and I had to pay close attention to the text because I would have missed the crucial parts. The characterisation was not perfect. Yes, the author made sure that he explained fully what is the fox doing, what is its history, and even gave it a name, but somehow I couldn’t help but feel like there could have been something more to that. Then when the character of Azora was mentioned, things started getting interesting.

Magic was used in a different way here. If you love spells and seeing things and people cursed to weird shapes, then this book is for you because it packs that too, but at the end of the book. In the beginning, it was just about magic in its innocent form. The suspense and mystery were the foundation this novel was built on. I couldn’t help myself but wonder whether Tom would be found out and exposed or whether he would succeed and actually live well with Nora. But above else, I wanted to see how the story would tie together the journeys of Adriana and Tom together. That’s what kept me flipping the pages. The subplots kept the story interesting while building up to the final epic showdown.

The narration and dialogue weren’t that balanced. The book was sustained mostly by the narration than it did by dialogue. Sometimes the dialogue wasn’t flowing at all, and it didn’t feel original. But the descriptions in the narration made up for those flaws. I didn’t like the interruption by the writer explaining what was happenings in brackets. It took out the fun and defeated the purpose of the narration.

The book was professionally edited, as I didn’t come across any errors. With everything I have said above, I’m glad to rate this book four out of five stars . I recommend it to people who love fantasy, especially magic. It would be suited for young readers, especially teenagers. The ending was too sudden but satisfying all the same.

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Fox In The City
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[zainherb]

The book sounds like a fun read. I just Might give it a try. Thanks for the great review.