Review by Sushan -- The Crystilleries of Echoland

[Sushan Ekanayake]

OOO. You got me at Harry Potter. I am going to have to read this one. Thanks for the wonderful review!

Thanks for the kind comment. I am glad that my review was useful for you

[charmperit]

It's a good thing that the sentences are simply written, it makes the reading easy and flow smoothly.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

It's a good thing that the sentences are simply written, it makes the reading easy and flow smoothly.

Thank you for the kind comment and appreciation

[Shrabastee Chakraborty]

It is good to know that you finally found out a book of YA fantasy to your liking. Having read and reviewed this book, I agree with all the points you mentioned, but what I really wanted to talk about is the similarities with HP series. As I have mentioned in one of my comments, in many instances, this book reminded me of HP. The orphanage, the fate sealers, the friendship between two guys and one girl (and of course one of the guys was initially against the girl), choosing a pet, the dining hall and the separate tables, the 'restricted section' of the library, even the power of invisibility - I really felt like I was in a modified version of Potterworld. Having said this, I also have to mention that Pellucid's world was still one-of-a-kind and beautifully made up down to the extreme details. However, good to know that someone else also has the same opinion! As always, this was a very succinct review, Sushan!

[Sushan Ekanayake]

It is good to know that you finally found out a book of YA fantasy to your liking. Having read and reviewed this book, I agree with all the points you mentioned, but what I really wanted to talk about is the similarities with HP series. As I have mentioned in one of my comments, in many instances, this book reminded me of HP. The orphanage, the fate sealers, the friendship between two guys and one girl (and of course one of the guys was initially against the girl), choosing a pet, the dining hall and the separate tables, the 'restricted section' of the library, even the power of invisibility - I really felt like I was in a modified version of Potterworld. Having said this, I also have to mention that Pellucid's world was still one-of-a-kind and beautifully made up down to the extreme details. However, good to know that someone else also has the same opinion! As always, this was a very succinct review, Sushan!

Thank you for stopping by. It is always great to be complemented by a one who shares similar thoughts. Thank you

[Ayat paarsa]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Crystilleries of Echoland" by Dew Pellucid.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Share This Review

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Young Adult fantasy is a genre with which I started reading. But for a while, I could not read a good YA fantasy, and when the opportunity occurred to review one, I had no second thoughts. That is how I ended up reviewing The Crystilleries of Echoland by Dew Pellucid.

As per the basic details, my copy came with 281 pages. Though it was a medium sized book, it was divided into 63 chapters and an epilogue. It carried coloured illustrations as well, which is quite unusual to see in YA novels.

Will Cleary, a boy who has disappeared with his twin sister in their infancy, has come back in a mysterious manner. He is now grown up and sees the misery that his family is under, due to the loss of his sister. Will decides to go to search for her, and ends up in a hidden world, which is underneath the human world, the ‘echoland’. Despite looking for his sister, he has to get involved in a fight to crown the actual heir of the Echo kingdom. Will he succeed? Will he find his sister? Will he be able to come back?

The first thing which came to my mind when I kept on reading was, that this book is truly inspired by the famous fantasy, the Harry Potter. The descriptions of the orphanage, the fate sealers, reminded me of the 3rd book of the Harry Potter series, the Prisoner of Azkaban. Still I am giving full credits to Pellucid, for the creation of the imaginary ‘echoland’, since it is a marvellous imagination. The author himself has mentioned at the end of the book, that he himself spent 12 years imagining the ‘echoland’.

The language use was pretty simple. It facilitated a fast reading. Use of numerous short chapters, instead of few long chapters was an addition to that. The shifting between scenes was clear with the way that the author has divided the chapters.

The ‘echoland’, the plot, the scenes were well planned and well described. But I felt like the descriptions were lacking a bit. Since this book takes the reader to a totally new world, it would have been better, if the surrounding descriptions were some more. It would have made the book a bit larger, yet it would have been more interesting.

The unexpected twists which appeared in least expected situations, made the plot really interesting. The reader is kept in suspense till the end, and this only is enough to keep the reader attracted and alert.

The book was professionally edited and I found no typos, spelling or grammar mistakes.

Anyway, I found it bit difficult to keep up with story, and it was a bit difficult to understand with the large number of characters. Many of them were given a big significance, and in my opinion this made the story a little bit complex.

And also, the happy ending was too happy for me. Only the bad guys were dead by the end but not even a single good guy, even after undergoing serious trauma. Even for a fantasy, this is too impractical.

This book is for all the YA fantasy lovers, including younger readers, since this did not contain any sexually explicit content. But anyone who cannot withstand violent acts, better to avoid reading this, since it carries few gruesome fights and killings.

I would like to give this a rating of 3.7. Since such values are not allowed, I will give this a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.

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The Crystilleries of Echoland
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

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

The simple language usage really affects the flow. You did it well, hopefully you will continue.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Crystilleries of Echoland" by Dew Pellucid.]

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4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Young Adult fantasy is a genre with which I started reading. But for a while, I could not read a good YA fantasy, and when the opportunity occurred to review one, I had no second thoughts. That is how I ended up reviewing The Crystilleries of Echoland by Dew Pellucid.

As per the basic details, my copy came with 281 pages. Though it was a medium sized book, it was divided into 63 chapters and an epilogue. It carried coloured illustrations as well, which is quite unusual to see in YA novels.

Will Cleary, a boy who has disappeared with his twin sister in their infancy, has come back in a mysterious manner. He is now grown up and sees the misery that his family is under, due to the loss of his sister. Will decides to go to search for her, and ends up in a hidden world, which is underneath the human world, the ‘echoland’. Despite looking for his sister, he has to get involved in a fight to crown the actual heir of the Echo kingdom. Will he succeed? Will he find his sister? Will he be able to come back?

The first thing which came to my mind when I kept on reading was, that this book is truly inspired by the famous fantasy, the Harry Potter. The descriptions of the orphanage, the fate sealers, reminded me of the 3rd book of the Harry Potter series, the Prisoner of Azkaban. Still I am giving full credits to Pellucid, for the creation of the imaginary ‘echoland’, since it is a marvellous imagination. The author himself has mentioned at the end of the book, that he himself spent 12 years imagining the ‘echoland’.

The language use was pretty simple. It facilitated a fast reading. Use of numerous short chapters, instead of few long chapters was an addition to that. The shifting between scenes was clear with the way that the author has divided the chapters.

The ‘echoland’, the plot, the scenes were well planned and well described. But I felt like the descriptions were lacking a bit. Since this book takes the reader to a totally new world, it would have been better, if the surrounding descriptions were some more. It would have made the book a bit larger, yet it would have been more interesting.

The unexpected twists which appeared in least expected situations, made the plot really interesting. The reader is kept in suspense till the end, and this only is enough to keep the reader attracted and alert.

The book was professionally edited and I found no typos, spelling or grammar mistakes.

Anyway, I found it bit difficult to keep up with story, and it was a bit difficult to understand with the large number of characters. Many of them were given a big significance, and in my opinion this made the story a little bit complex.

And also, the happy ending was too happy for me. Only the bad guys were dead by the end but not even a single good guy, even after undergoing serious trauma. Even for a fantasy, this is too impractical.

This book is for all the YA fantasy lovers, including younger readers, since this did not contain any sexually explicit content. But anyone who cannot withstand violent acts, better to avoid reading this, since it carries few gruesome fights and killings.

I would like to give this a rating of 3.7. Since such values are not allowed, I will give this a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.

******
The Crystilleries of Echoland
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

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

The simple language usage really affects the flow. You did it well, hopefully you will continue.

Thank you for the kind words and stopping by for a comment