Veronica Breville

I only have one word that I can use to describe A Banshee’s Tale by Veronica Breville - Awkward. From the writing style, to the dialogue, to the cliff-hanger, everything was awkward.

A Banshee’s Tale is a told from the point of view of Catherine Dalry, who wakes up one day to find her hair on fire - not literally, but close enough. As a trait of a banshee - or Guide - her hair sometimes looks as though it’s engulfed in flames, so she wears a hat to school which causes her some humiliation. However, the reader need not worry about this; it never plays a part in the story, other than pointless humiliation of the protagonist.

Another trait of Guides is their strange eyes. Catherine has had these strange eyes all her life, yet, her mother never clues her in on the family history, even though her aunt is a Guide. I found it very frustrating that the aunt seemed present in Catherine’s life, yet she never questioned the strange eyes - which, by the way, the reader doesn’t find out what’s so strange about them until half-way through the novel.

Some Guides, especially the really special and powerful ones, usually have a Caomhnóir - a protector. Catherine’s protector turns out to be a gorgeous young man and, of course, she’s madly attracted to and hopelessly in love with him at first sight.

I had some major complaints about this story. First, Will - Catherine’s best friend, who she loves like a brother - share a similar dream with Catherine, but, instead of telling her about it, suddenly starts avoiding her so he could research why they shared the same dream. When he finally confesses, she decides to ask her aunt, but doesn’t ask her aunt until some time later.

Next, Catherine’s protector, Zane, is very two dimensional and sometimes sounds like he’s from a Jane Austen novel. He is also much older than young Catherine and well, for them to be romantically involved - which was obvious from the time they met - is a little creepy.

Finally (though I could go on and on) Will’s grandmother reveals a secret to Will, but, even though she’s been talking to Will all the time, she suddenly needs to tell only Catherine. The secret is to find a diary which will lead will to a secret (the real secret?) about his family history. The frustrating part was that Will knows that his mother has the diary and tells them this, but they wait for days before following up on this lead. Then, we have a fabulous cliff-hanger, which did not make me want to find out what happens next, because at that point, I really did not care.

This book really needed an editor - there were so many more things that I found frustrating, another example being the passage of time, very confusing - however, I am not sure there was enough to the plot to make it worthy of a series. I’m not really sure where the author will take the rest of this, but I am not intrigued enough to read on.… (mehr)

full review on talksupe.blogspot.com

The plot is unique and the book is an easy read. It's light, pleasant and refreshing. Catherine Dalry is a normal teenager who has an amazing family, going through the normal motions of life. But she got more than her fair share of Irish blood apart from having red hair and creamy white skin sans the freckles, she's the latest Banshee from her mother's side of the family. So her backstory is already prepped for the supernatural and all the fun stuff that goes with it.

Veronica Breville makes use of Irish myth wisely. It's always nice to read and get educated on other supernatural beings that litter the Earth, and a break from the usual fangers and hairy beasts are always a welcome challenge. As for the conflict in the story it's not as complicated as its counterparts. In my opinion, the confrontation with the Badbeh was a little underwhelming. The Badbeh are supposedly these badass body thieves and considering that Catherine and Zane, though charm protected, are newbies in the game, but somehow they managed to get away from these demons almost unscathed and they even saved/found the missing Guide! Beginners luck? I don't know, it was too easy and a little more adventure and roughing up could have been added to spice the story up a bit. I'm sure we'll be reading more about these villains in the succeeding book/s but right now, I see them more as a nuisance than threatening.… (mehr)