Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Song-Initiate-Young-Fantasy-ebook/dp/B004H4XE5I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403142400&sr=8-1&keywords=tara+maya
Amazon description:
DEADLY INITIATION
A DETERMINED GIRL...
Dindi can't do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi's clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan.
AN EXILED WARRIOR...
Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn't commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don't kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father's wars and his mother's curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her... assuming she would even accept the help of an exile.
My review:
1 out of 5 stars--I was able to finish it, but I would not read it again.
I feel my rating needs an explanation, so bear with me while I give a brief synopsis before I go on to give my reasons for only giving this book one star.
The story follows a number of characters, and eventually all of the various stories bring the characters into Dindi's life. She is a youth from a very rudimentary village--as in, the people live in huts made of dirt and their lives are focused on survival. Dindi dreams of becoming a Tavaedi (a magic-user whose powers are invokes through dance), and she will get the opportunity to try for a position in the secret society during her initiation into adulthood. However, Dindi's world is one of strife, and the journey to the place of initiation is more dangerous than she could have imagined.
First let me focus on what I liked about the book. The author is quite a talented writer, and she paints a world that is immediately engaging. The dialogue is natural and convincing, and there are bountiful details that make the world seem more real. The author has given thought to what the people would eat, what they would wear, what tasks would be necessary each day, etc. I love such practical details. It makes a story more rich for me. And even though Dindi (and the other characters involved in this story) belonged to a world vastly different from my own, I could still relate to what they were feeling and how they handled various situations. I remembered being fourteen years old (as Dindi is) and feeling like a misfit, wanting to be so much more. The author made that connection with me as a reader, and I really cared what happened to each of the characters. I would have loved to see where the story took them.
However, I will not read future books in this series, nor will I read this one again.
The world in which this story takes place is a dark one. That is understandable. After all, there has to be some sort of conflict, otherwise there would be no story. Unfortunately, the author was quite detailed in the forms of darkness found in this story. It describes several instances of rape, cannibalism, infanticide, torture, and battle (not just fighting, but descriptions of the blood and gore). Not to mention a brief scene that contained some nudity (mild, I suppose, compared to some other books, but still there), and some abrasive language. There were several times I almost stopped reading because of how sickened I felt inside. In my opinion, this book should not be classified as YA fantasy. I would not want the teenagers of my family reading this kind of content.
Now, I understand that these are (unfortunately) very real situations. I don't mean to act like things such as rape and murder do not happen. That being said, I want to read books that leave me feeling better for having read them. This book did not do that for me. The author has slated the series to be 12 books long, and she has said that it has a happy ending. Personally, I do not wish to trudge through figurative mud in order to arrive at a destination that could have been reached by other means.
I acknowledge that I have rather conservative standards, and I know that the things that bothered me may not bother others. Still, I felt it important to write a review so that those who share my conservative standards are aware of what this book entails.
On a purely technical note, I didn't care for how often the story jumped characters. It was more than halfway through the book before any of the separate stories came together. It gave it a slightly disjointed feel, which I didn't like. As I read I assumed that eventually all of the different people would be relevant to the main story (Dindi's), but it took a while for that to happen. There was also one instance where modern slang was thrown into the dialogue (which is a pet peeve of mine), but it only happened the once.
These are relatively minor things, though. My main reason for the poor rating is the content. If you are not bothered by such things, then you may like this book. If you are more sensitive (as I am), then I would advise against reading it.
For more details on my rating system, click here.
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