Title: Light of Lorelei (Tales of Skylge #2)
Author: Jen Minkman
Publication Date: January 10th, 2015
My Sound of Sirens (Tales of Skylge #1) Review
Synopsis: There is no light without shadow,
no truth without sacrifice,
and no way to keep us all from harm.
Aska wants more out of life than being a temple girl in the St. Brandan Convent of Brandaris. Her life-long service to the Baeles-Weards is the only reason she wasn’t killed immediately after birth – she is atoning for the sins of her parents. Her Anglian mother and Skylger father were never supposed to love each other and have children, and Aska is reminded of her low status and illegitimacy by her fellow temple girls every day.
But then she meets Tjalling, a young, mysterious, and charming Skylger fisherman who doesn’t seem to care that he is not supposed to befriend her. Soon after they meet, the island falls prey to the largest Siren attack in the history of Skylge and Aska is beginning to doubt the wisdom of the priests. If the Light in the Tower really keeps the people from harm, why are the Shriekers taking more and more lives each day?
Adding to her inner turmoil is a secret meeting with Royce and Enna, who want to recruit her into their resistance movement, an unexpected confession from her best friend Melinda, and Aska’s realization that she likes Tjalling a bit too much for her own good.
Soon, she is going down a road there is no turning back from, forcing her to make choices that shake the foundations of her world.
For Aska, there is only one true choice – to bring the truth to light.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Review: When I finished Sound of Sirens, I knew I had to have Light of Lorelei as soon as I could get my hands on it. Sound of Sirens had a HUGE cliffhanger at the end, and I've been chomping at the bit to find out what was going to happen next. Light of Lorelei certainly did not disappoint me!
This story picks up several months (I think) after the end of Sound of Sirens. Aska lives and works in the temple, and unlike the other girls, will always live and work there. She's essentially a prisoner, and she wants nothing more than to be free. I loved watching her growth over the course of this novella, and I loved that she's willing to take risks to change the world even if it means that she could lose her life. At least it would be on her own terms.
What I especially liked about this book is that it shows another side of life on the island. Instead of following Royce and Enna again, we're shown what it's like for the temple girls and the priests who guard the Light of Brandaris. There's so much mystery surrounding the Light and the Baeles-Weards and I was really hoping we'd get to see inside the Tower in this book. So many of my previous questions were answered, but now I have SO MANY more!
I also really appreciated the diversity in the cast of this book. We have Aska, the child of a forbidden romance. There's Royce, the Anglian rebel, and Enna, the Skylger girl who has been betrayed and is trying to put back the pieces. We also get to meet Tjalling, who has incredible secrets of his own that made me love him all the more. And then we have Melinda, who is Aska's best friend in the convent. But Melinda has secrets and confesses something to Aska that turns Aska's whole life upside down. I loved how Melinda's story was included in Light of Lorelei, and she's a character I would love to learn more about. I really hope that Aska trusts her with more information in the next book, or really even that she just shows up. Because I loved her.
I read this book in basically one sitting, so I would definitely recommend it to anyone that has read and enjoyed Sound of Sirens. I think I liked it even more than the first book, so even if you didn't love Sound of Sirens, you should still read Light of Lorelei! I would recommend this series to anyone looking for a sci-fi/fantasy story with hints of mermaids, diverse characters, and a little bit of romance thrown in for good measure. A 5/5, and I cannot wait to read the conclusion to this series, Fire of Fryslan!
--Ashley
No comments:
Post a Comment