I enjoy Bell's "Farsala" books quite a bit and her "Knight and Rogue" books are on my TBR pile. She's the reason why I find pseudo political fantasies so engrossing in fact. Trickster's Girl however is not a fantasy. Its a futuristic, scifi, almost dystopian tale with magic. And a strong 'save the trees' message.

Kelsa was a troubled, grief-stricken girl who felt lost without her father. She couldn't connect with her mother or younger brother; she felt betrayed by her mother for doing what Kelsa felt was the wrong thing when her father was dying and has felt inconsequential since. She has no outlet for her fears or worries so when Raven appears--well she doesn't jump at the chance to take a cross country trip with an enigmatic stranger talking about 'magic', but it offers her an escape she decides to take.

I liked that Bell didn't have Kelsa immediately agreeing to Raven's request, that Kelsa maintained a healthy wariness in regards to his claims and beliefs. And the small jab that girls seem to fall for the mysterious attractive guy on first sight was amusing. I was less keen on her notion that stealing her father's ashes to bury them elsewhere was a healthy response. I understood why she felt she should, but it still didn't seem like a healthy rationale.

Raven was amusing and cryptic and aggravating in only the way the Trickster God (of any mythology or religion) can be. Even though he was very serious about healing the ley lines and completing the mission, that didn't stop him from being frustrating. He had an air of arrogance that he wouldn't let go--even asking Kelsa for help made it seem like he was doing her a favor by asking. As you can imagine Kelsa, who was more of a control freak then I think she wanted to admit to, didn't take this well. The two of them sniping at each other makes the majority of their relationship.

There was no romance. Which I am glad for. Extremely glad for. If Kelsa had suddenly developed a crush on Raven, or if Raven (after chapters of critisizing her) suddenly professed love, I may have had to punch something. These two never get along, so much as learn to tolerate each other to get the job done. Mutual distrust, frustration with having to deal with each other and the problems of dealing with unknown variables made it hard for them to communicate or travel peacefully.

Here's the thing, while Kelsa and Raven amused me, I wasn't particularly fond of either one. On numerous occasions I found myself questioning just how sane Kelsa was (considering she jumped straight from her anger and grief over her father's death into this life or death struggle to save the world...). Raven, for all the fact that he liked humans moreso than some of his peers, seemed to have very little by way of patience.

There is no doubt in my mind that Bell created complex characters, with a vivid landscape and engaging plot. Unfortunately the book was almost preachy about how humankind has destroyed the earth. The environmentalist vibe was very strong in this book, which made it a bit much to bear at times. ( )

Kelsa, distraught from the death of her father, is incredulous when Raven, a shape shifting boy, shows up and tries to talk her into a quest to save the earth. She thinks she is hallucinating due to grief. But the opportunity to take a break from her mom, and mourn her father in her own way is too much to resist, so she agrees and sets off on a quest that digs her deeper into trouble with every road she takes on her motorbike.

I am guessing Trickster’s Girl is the first in a series, because the quest is not over at the end of the book, but Kelsa’s part in it seems to be. I didn’t like the end. Kelsa had grown and learned to accept her father’s death, dealing with her grieving fairly well, but she didn’t finish what she started—which is something she and her father always did. I’d invested in her and wanted to see the completion of the quest. The ending felt rough, as if the author had hit a page limit or deadline and needed to finish for publication. I wanted to be invested with Raven’s character, but Ms. Bell made sure that I remembered he isn’t human, with comments from him to reinforce that notion. If the afterword is to provide sympathy for Raven and make me want to know more about him—it doesn’t.

This novel is appropriate for middle school readers with its adventure and no real romance between Kelsa and Raven. It’s a bit heavy handed on the “stupid humans destroying the planet” message. I would have liked to have seen an addendum explaining some of the Native American mythology.
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Doesn't have the depth of de Lint, but the characters are fun and interesting and the story is good. ( )

All the trees are dying and no one can find a cure for the plague affecting them. No one, it seems, except Raven - the mysterious boy who promises magic and world-wide cures to a grieving Kelsa. Kelsa, however, just wants to be left alone. She knows her father would have done anything to save the dying trees, though, so she hesitatingly agrees to help Raven on his quest - even though she doesn't trust him.

On the whole, I enjoyed Trickster's Girl. The beginning was a little shaky, but the writing and plot evened out as the book continued. Bell also combined ancient mythologies with a near-future setting, which worked better in some places than others. At the beginning it was completely jarring, but by the end it evened out. ( )

Trickster's Girl is not like the average young adult fantasy. For one thing, there's no romance. The whole book is very focused on the quest and on saving the environment. Although Raven is hot, he is demonstrably not human.

Similarly, Kelsa does not constantly rely on him to save her. She is no Bella Swan, constantly tripping and needing to be carried. He saves her sometimes, but there are even more times where she saves herself or she saves him. I really loved that aspect of Trickster's Girl. Kelsa doesn't kick ass; she's a normal girl, but she can take care of herself. She makes a lot of the big decisions and reacts maturely to most of the situations in which she finds herself. Kelsa is, despite the running away from home to troop around a couple countries with a supernatural guy she barely knows, a fairly good role model.

The best part for me was the view into the future Bell has created here. The book is set a minimum of 85 years in the future, as Kelsa sees graffiti from 2094. America is, unsurprisingly, a bit different. There are some cool new technologies, like cars that hover a little bit off the ground and electric vehicles. On the converse side, there are numerous references to the damage to the environment done by humans, such as the bioplague wiping out the rainforest in South America. One really cool aspect is the description of how the new swear words developed, so watch for that. Also some dystopian elements, which I loved of course!

The quest itself is a neat idea, what with the environmental impact and all of that. Still, the way she healed the ley line was so incredibly lame. She would toss a pinch of dust and recite an incantation/ode to some element of nature: glaciers, trees, animals, etc. This does pay homage to the medicine man and perhaps resemble an Indian ritual of some sort (I confess that I do not know), but, either way, the incantations are super stupid. They just don't seem earth-changing.

The writing of the book was quite good, except for the aforementioned incantations and Bell's repetitiveness with regards to Kelsa's opinions of Raven. A sequel is in the works, currently titled Traitor's Son, for which I will be on the lookout. ( )