Review: Annabelle Kass and the Sapphire Amulet by Andy Coats

This book is being advertised as YA with a thirteen-year-old protagonist. I actually disagree - this book is more likely to appeal to a slightly younger age range...I'd happily give this to a ten year old, while many thirteen-year-olds would find it a little simple.

This isn't to say it's a bad book. At some levels, it's a fairly standard portal fantasy. Annabelle Kass finds an amulet that transports her to a fantasy world. The twist is that everyone in the fantasy world is cats. And unlike Narnia, where the travelers remain human, Annabelle is transformed into a cat.

I found that a cute touch. It has a lot of elements of standard fantasy. The Good King is dead, the Bad King has succeeded him. There's a quest. There are some fights, but as everyone is cats, they don't really use weapons because they have claws.

Unfortunately, the author's biggest mistake is that he didn't do his cat research. We have cat species retracting their claws that don't do so, although it's only on their hands, which I'm a bit more willing to forgive than a cheetah doing a three-day run in one day. That is not how cheetahs work.

And kids will notice these things. They may even notice them more than adults. But if you can look past the errors in feline physiology, this book is fun. It's probably not going to be that appealing to adults, but give it to your pre-teen and they might have fun. Especially if they like Warrior Cats. Or cats in general.

Recommended - for your ten-year-old.

Review: Moon Gate Prophecies by Kelly Crumpley

This one is not recommended for your ten-year-old. There’s only a bit of spice at the end, but there’s a bit of spice.

(I will say, in a book with spice, why does the heroine, who swears in world a lot, talk about things going to heck?)

(Also, dear author, it’s Phobos and Deimos. Not Diemos).

With these niggles aside, this is a very white European book, focused on fairies and Christian mythology and…well…I can tell Crumpley’s religion. It’s not preachy and it’s definitely not religious fiction, but there’s just that feel to it. Except that her angels are definitely not, uh, sexless. Ahem.

Crumpley is also an artist, and takes advantage of it by including beautiful character illustrations in the book. She does her own cover, and she’s one of those authors who really can.

I don’t read a lot of category romantasy (and the use of male and female in it makes me understand why romantasy readers are a little tired of male and female fae), but I did find this enjoyable, if a tiny bit slow. It was 600 words on my device and there are sequels. This gave a lot of space for yearning as well as for battles…there’s a lot of fighting in this book. And magical healing so people can go right back to the fight. Again, not a criticism, but I would definitely not call this book cozy.

It does, however, blend the romance in with the rest of the plot quite nicely. I suspect some romantasy readers will be a little disappointed, though.

600 pages. 500 with absolutely no spice. Just saying. They’re saving for marriage. Which is fine…and the author does warn it takes a while to get there.

So…mixed feelings on this one. I think I would have liked a little more work done on the different kinds of fairies, but maybe that’s coming in the sequels. And there was plenty of, ahem, yearning. Very heterosexual yearning, mind.

And if you like it, there’s even more art.

Recommended for people who like slow burn.

I received copies of these books for award consideration.