Fantasy and Romance in the same book, happy sigh. I love both these genres and I enjoyed the mingling. The author kept enough realism to make this book a good read. I enjoyed seeing Brianna grow and learn about herself.
I give this book 4 out of 5 clouds.
Diamante Lavendar creates a magical, colorful, engaging world in The Secrets of Yashire: Emerging from the Shadows. Brianna, the main characters, finds herself in the world of Yashire, where she is sent on a journey to restore unconditional love back to the land. She travels along with Angelos, a mystical tiger, who is pretty awesome, and a one-eyed bired called Abiba. And as they become fast friends and travel across this strange land, Brianna discovers more secrets than she bargained for, including some life lessons she’ll never forget.
I loved Abiba. What a quirky, cute, adorable bird. All the characters have their strength and weaknesses, and all of them come across as balanced. Brianna changes a lot from the start of the book until the end, and it’s all for the better. She grows smarter, she learns lessons that shape her life, like forgiveiness and love and believing in oneself. And on the backdrop of that is an original, well-crafted fantasy world filled with all kinds of creatures.
If I had to give any complaints, it would be the slow pacing at the start. Fortunately, the pacing picks up toward the middle of the book. After reading the ending, I’m eager to find out more about what happens in the next installment. If you like a YA fantasy that focuses on life lessons and talking animals, give this one a shot.
The Secrets of Yashire
By Diamanté Lavendar
4 out of 5 stars
I was gifted this book for an honest review. I'm thankful to Diamanté for the opportunity to read this book. It's an easy read it flows perfectly, great plot and story line. She has created such a unique and magical world and yet it is far different from most magical stories I have read. There are so many creatures, and characters it is easy to build the scenes inside your mind. Unlike a lot of other fantasy stories that have much sadness, destruction, and chaos this story is built on morals and values. In Brianna's journey she is learning not only to become a better person for herself but for others as well. It's very heart warming and enlightening. My only complaint would be that there's not more to read, I want the next part of the story NOW! Lol :) I thoroughly enjoyed this read and would recommend it for many readers. It has good and evil, sadness and happiness, an entirely new world to discover, as well as many lessons that we can ALL learn from!
