Blood Ice & Oak Moon: A Coon Hollow Coven Tale by Marsha A. MooreMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Blood Ice and Oak Moon is the third Coon Hollow Coven book, yet don’t worry about reading them in order. You can pick and choose which of the books to read, or even pick just one to read should you wish. All of the books in the series stand alone. The series is about one community, with residents passing in and out of various books, but each book has a unique story to be told. Thus, you can pick the one that interests you most before deciding whether you wish to read them all.
Blood Ice and Oak Moon reminds me of a number of other books I have recently read, staying true to what is popular with the young adult fantasy crowd at the moment. We have the fae. Everyone seems to love the creatures at the moment, and this book is no different. As soon as the fae were introduced to the story I knew I needed to know more about them, I knew it would be my favourite aspect of the story. When did I become part of the in crowd? Honestly, I don’t know, but I’m loving all the fae stories at the moment. I need more of them in my life, hence why I came to enjoy this one so much.
At first, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get into the story. I was interested yet it felt like a three star rating to me. Yes, things were occurring. In fact, things start happening very quickly. Our main character encounters danger, being pulled into a darkness that will reverberate throughout the story. Despite this, I felt as though there was quite a bit of time in which very little was happening. We watched our main character trying to find her place in the community, and yet these scenes didn’t involve much by way of action. It was about showing us all the different characters on offer. Whilst I enjoyed getting to know everyone, I wanted more to happen. I wanted edge of the seat action as the witch and fae community came together.
I’m not entirely sure at what point my opinion changed. All of a sudden it went from a three star read into a four star read. Suddenly, there was action. There was a lot going on. We were focusing upon the magic and the darkness of the storyline, with thing moving forward. I think, mostly, it was just a case of me actually getting into the book. I wasn’t as pulled in at the start as I could have been, but once the story hooked me I was unable to put it down. I wanted to know what happened to characters. I wanted to know how events played out. I wanted answers to the mystery.
I’ll admit that some aspects of the story were a bit clichéd and obvious. Such a thing is so often the case with young adult fantasy novels, though. We know there will be a happily ever after for our characters. We know the events given a certain amount of attention will play out in the best way possible. This is not to say it’s a bad thing merely that you knew how the general story would end. Specifics were left for us to wait and see, leaving us unsure as to just how exactly they would work out, and that is where the fun was to be found. I’ll admit that I would have liked some of these specifics to have been given more attention, for certain scenes to have been played out a bit more, but I enjoyed them as they were. I just wanted more – I always seem to want some more.
Overall, it was a great little story. Despite my initial inability to get into the story, I really did find myself addicted to the tale.
As a final note I would like to thank the author for allowing me to advance read this in exchange for an honest review. I cannot wait to see what more is to come.
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