Review: Between by Megan Whitmer

Between

Author: Megan Whitmer

Series: Between

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Pages: 384

Amazon - TBD

Release Date: 29^th July 2014

Synopsis: When a supernatural freak of nature forces her family to separate, seventeen-year-old Charlie Page must turn to her frustrating (yet gorgeous) neighbor, Seth, to help reunite them. Seth whisks Charlie to Ellauria—a magical world filled with the creatures of myths and legends—and tells her of the Fellowship, the group charged with protecting mystical beings from human discovery. (All except Bigfoot: that attention whore is a total lost cause.) But when Charlie learns that she's under the Fellowship's protection herself, well, "stressed" is an understatement.

Ellauria should be the safest place for Charlie while the Fellowship works to find her family, but things in the mystical realm aren’t what they seem.

Magic is failing, creatures are dying, and the Fellowship insists Charlie holds the key to saving everyone. With her family still missing and the danger in Ellauria growing, Charlie doesn't know who she can trust. She's dealing with a power she never asked for, falling for a guy she can't have, and being forced to choose between her destiny and her heart. And if she chooses wrong, she could destroy magic forever.

Charlie may be in over her head.

Review: 4 out of 5 stars 

Between is a book that started off a little strange for me, everything seemed to happen at such a rapid pace that my head was spinning, one moment everything was normal, we have siblings conversing and a family dinner and in the next moment we are thrust into fantasyland or in this instance the Between, it was all mind blowing but in saying that it quickly settled down and I started to really enjoy this book, to the point where I stayed up until all hours just to finish it.

Seventeen year-old Charlie Page was a likeable character without a clue as to her importance in a realm she never knew existed until she is attacked by a ‘Mothman’ and her life as she has known it she soon discovers was based on complete lies.

Separated from her mother and brother when she was whisked away and now in the mystical realm of Ellauria, Charlie is forced to navigate through her new reality and hone in on magical abilities she didn’t know existed, all with the help of someone she thought she knew – Seth but he too isn’t who she thought he was.

Seth is a broody, protective sweetheart; I adored his interactions with Charlie and the sweet stolen moments they were able to share but a relationship between them is my favourite kind - forbidden but I won’t tell you why. Their chemistry was wonderful.

Also helping Charlie was Keiran, I thought he was fabulous and I thought we’d have a love triangle which I always dread but nothing eventuated thank goodness, I was surprised by Keiran’s past and I am intrigued about what is to come of him now.

The world-building was interesting and the plot entertaining with some great action scenes. There was never a dull moment as we see Charlie train, search for her mother and brother, work out why magic is weakening and the Between wilting and also learn about why Charlie had been hidden and her importance to the realm, It all came together nicely.

After the rapid start things slowed down and we got to enjoy the amazing imagery of the Ellauria setting which was wonderfully detailed and vivid, you could picture everything clearly which I appreciated. I also liked the creatures that reside there such as fairies, centaurs, elves, unicorns, harpies etc. and the part the Fellowship play in all of it. The bad guy was also quite interesting, I’m curious to see how everything now plays out in future instalments.

Between doesn’t read like a debut novel, it is very well written and engaging with some wonderful dialogue and witty banter; I am definitely eager to read the next book in this series.

Thank you to Spencer Hill Press via Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Between by Megan Whitmer.

About the author: Megan Whitmer lives in Kentucky with her family. She loves all things Southern, and has a soft spot for football, kissing scenes, and things that sparkle. Aside from her personal blog, she's also a contributing blogger forwww.YAmisfits.com,www.allthewritenotes.com, andwww.herkentucky.com. When she's not writing, Megan spends her time drinking absurd amounts of Cherry Coke Zero and wishing someone would pay her to tweet. Her debut novel, a YA fantasy called BETWEEN, will be published by Spencer Hill Press in July 2014.