Beth's Review: The Concealing (Spirit Warriors #1) by D.E.L. Connor
Author Provided Copy
Publisher: Booktrope Editions
Released: November 25, 2013
Genre: Coming of Age, Fantasy
Length: 186 pages
Format: paperback
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Blurb
Sixteen-year-old Emme Belrose has it all: four best friends, a horse of her own, a hidden tepee hangout, and a blossoming romance with tall and handsome Charlie. These friends also have a secret. They can move their spirits into animal bodies: an osprey, a mustang, a grizzly, a mountain lion and a coyote. But when Charlie, who has a gift for seeing the future, has a vision of Emme drowning in the icy Yellowstone River, the Spirit Warriors must train their animal bodies to kill an enemy they know is coming… but know nothing about. Suspenseful, romantic, and awash in Native American magic, Spirit Warriors captures the tragic enchantment of the American West—and confirms the power of friendship.
Three Boundless Stars
The Concealing is the first book of the Spirit Warriors Series. This is a great start to this new young adult series. The characters are well developed, with at least one character every reader can relate to. The characters consist of a group of 5 high school friends. The 5 students; Emme, Bets, Lilly, Charlie, and Ollie are going about their normal lives. Each student is from a different family dynamic and economical status; they’re all so different from one another, yet they love one another like family. They soon learn they all are destined for something greater than they’ve ever imagined; each friend has a gift to help them achieve their destiny, but they all have much more to learn before they’re ready.
The writing was extremely detailed with beautiful imagery that created a place everyone will want to live. I loved how the concept was introduced readers, the first time; however, throughout most of the book, I felt I was reading the same thing over and over, and over, and over, well, you get my point now. There were so many repetitive explanations, I had to make sure my kindle didn’t lose my page and send me back a few chapters while reading. I am hoping this is just in the first book to prepare readers for what’s to come in the following books.
Another BIG negative for me is that The Concealing was extremely “wordy” (I know, it sounds weird to call a book wordy, after all, books are full of words.) To be more specific, a lot of this story could have been summed up with a lot less detail; for example, an entire paragraph reading
When we were out working in the field in the afternoon, Dad let me off on the end of the windrow to get lemonade. I sprinted to the house, holding onto my hat. Mom had a glass jar full of ice and lemonade and two red plastic cups. I grabbed them and sprinted back to the field and waved it at Dad. He caught site of me and stood up from the tractor seat, took off his hat and waved it at me. The sun was behind him and caught his blond hair. His teeth were white against his tanned face. I waved back. He picked up speed, then slowed down when he got close to me. I grabbed hold of the bar and swung myself onto the tractor. I poured the lemonade into the cups, and we drank every bit of the lemonade as Dad drove from one end of the field to another. We talked about everything and nothing. Mostly we talked about livestock.
Can be summed up with “Dad and I worked in the fields, drank lemonade, and talked about livestock” This takes nothing from the story and makes for a much smoother read. This book could be half the length, and be just as good, if not better. Also, I need to point out that this book will not read well as a read alone; I highly recommend getting all three books before reading.
The amount of repetitiveness and overly wordy irrelevant information warrants a 3 Boundless Stars rating for The Concealing; it was good, but it could have been better.