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Black Swan Rising (2010)

by Lee Carroll(Favorite Author)

3.48 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0765325977 (ISBN13: 9780765325976)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Tor Books

series

Black Swan Rising

review 1: Garet James thinks she’s a normal 20 year old but she’s really a Watchtower, one of the four fey protectors of the universe! When Garet enters a watchmakers shop one day and acquires a silver box matching her mother’s swan engraved ring, events begin to happen which turn her life upside down: A group of suspicious burglars shoot her father, putting him in the hospital, and steal some of the expensive paintings from his gallery; a mysterious mist covers New York causing everyone to go a little ‘mad’; and Garet starts to see people for what they really are… the fey. With the help of Oberon, her father’s nurse and the King of the Fairies, aiding her to discover her true identity, ancestral heritage and powers, Garet soon learns about the evil alchemist John Dee ... morewho is set on releasing the demons Despair and Discord on NYC.I’d been reading a lot of Young Adult books before reading Black Swan Rising and this was one of the reasons I picked it up as I knew it was more of an adult read. The beginning of the book felt slow but I related this to the adult and descriptive writing style which I had not experienced for such a long time. However, elements of the vast world-building of the fey and the villain, John Dee, also contributed to this ‘slow feeling’ because aspects of the history, the explanations of alchemy and the New York setting went over my head. I even had to google some of the history of alchemy to understand some of the world-building. Some elements of the story I did like however were the references to England and William Shakespeare which I was able to relate to and grasp a little better. However I also struggled to fully understand some of these references but I’m not an English Literature graduate or classical reader - Maybe this was a sign I need to increase my knowledge :-)Overall, Black Swan Rising was more enjoyable the further I got into the story however my feelings are it had all the ‘right elements’ but never quite excelled. I enjoyed the introduction of Will Hughes’ character and, although the romance element was all a bit ‘blah’, I do hope to learn more about Will and his family’s heritage as well as how he and Garet develop their friendship/family connection/romance relationship. Certainly from the ending, it looks like this may be a major plot within book 2 which I will be picking up and continuing with shortly.
review 2: Garet James is a jeweller with a lot of problems, due to the recession her fathers art gallery has not been able to shift their inventory and a hefty loan is due, with no money to pay it with. On the way back from the lawyers office, a downpour begins and Garet ducks into the first open doorway she can find, an old antique store. The friendly owner offers her inside and she takes a quick look around to see if there is anything she can use in her next creations. However the old man spies her signet ring (the one her mother left her) and shows her a mysterious silver box with the same inscription. He then offers her $1000 if she is able to open the box and bring it back to him the next day. That night she uses her wielding tools to open the box, but accidentally burns the papers inside. She leaves the box out and goes to bed but wakes up soon after as the alarm in the house has tripped. Burglars are inside and she goes downstairs to find their paintings missing and her father shot on the floor. From this point on her life becomes very strange and the 'ocular migraines' she's been getting since she was younger may be due to something else entirely. A whole new world of fey and vampires, dragons and demons is opened up to her, how will she cope?I really enjoyed reading this book, Garet is a wonderful character and it is nice to see main characters that have some power but are not overly over-powered. I really liked Will as a character as well and the role he plays throughout the book. I also love that you can't tell which characters to trust and it's ever changing as to who wants what and what will they be willing to do to get it. I cannot wait to read the second book in the series and am throughly looking forward to finding out more. If you like paranormal romances or urban fantasy books i'd highly recommend reading this book! I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review! less

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