MISTWOOD by Leah Cypress

Mistwood
by Leah Cypress
Pub: April 2010/ HarperCollins
Teen Fiction
304 pages


Summary:
The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwood. But when she is needed she always comes.


Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.
Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat.


Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.


Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew.


Oh boy was this fun to read! Kings, castles, sorcerers, a strong heroine, action, political takeovers, mystery … I loved it. Its not often we find books where its the guy that needs protecting, which is one of the reasons I found Mistwood to be so refreshing.


There’s been an clear threat against the soon-to-be king of Samorna. And so enters Isabel, the Shifter.

Isabel is the elite when it comes to body guarding – its what she is. She shape-shifts into whatever she needs to be in order to protect the kings of Samorna.  Except now, with her memory loss, she can’t shift. She can’t protect Prince Rokan. But she’s not about to let anyone know that. And just because she can’t shift doesn’t mean she can’t fight. And fight she does. Isabel is a blast to read. At times she comes across cold and calculating, but we see her emotional struggles, her insecurities and her desire, above all, to keep Rokan safe. 


The writing is great, I was completely sucked in. Mistwood is written in third person, but we connect most with Isabel. Not that we don’t fall in love with Rokan and all the others of Samorna’s court. I was taken by surprise again and again by the many twists and turns.


My only two complaints would be,
ONE: Sometimes things seemed rushed. As in, Isabel would speak about talking with/spying on someone, but I was thrown because I hadn’t read about her doing those things. A minor thing but it nagged at me. 


TWO: There is romance in the air, but it wasn’t the main focus. Which isn’t a bad thing, just wasn’t as much romance as I would have liked. The love angle is sweet but, because there are more pressing matters, (like who the heck is trying to murder the reason for my existence?!) the romance falls in the background. It kind of sneaks up on you…the way it sneaks up on Isabel!

The Cover: It’s very good. I love the mists and the castle and would’ve liked less of her face and more focus on her eyes.

Opening Lines: She knew every inch of the forest, every narrow path that twisted and wound its way beneath the silver branches. They never should have found her.

It has impact, and provokes the question: How did they find her? 

Bottom Line: I loved MISTWOOD and highly recommend it to anyone 12 and up. It’s clean, action-packed fun with a “killer” role model.

About the Author:

I wrote my first story in first grade. The narrator was an ice-cream cone in the process of being eaten. In fourth grade, I wrote, my first book about a girl who gets shipwrecked on a desert island with her faithful heroic dog (a rip-off of both The Black Stallion and all the Lassie movies, very impressive).

 However, I took a few detours along the way to becoming a full-time writer. After selling my first story (Temple of Stone) while in high school, I gave in to my mother's importuning to be practical and majored in biology at Brooklyn College. I then went to Columbia Law School and practiced law for almost two years at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, a large law firm in New York City. I kept writing and submitting in my spare time, and finally, a mere 15 years after my first short story acceptance, I am going to be a published novelist. I am very excited about this! 

 

I live in Brookline, Massachusetts (right outside of Boston) with my husband Aaron, a researcher and doctor at the Joslin Diabetes Center, and our two daughters.

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