I did not expect to like this book as much as I did, but this one is really great. I loved Kat's voice, the right blend of sarcasm and honesty. My favorite line was "She was old, BC old." Some of the lines were very clever and I found myself reading them over twice just to make sure I had caught them.Originally the premise, I thought, was a little off-putting. A California transplant lands in Minnesota and becomes part of an ancient, secret society of "Storks" who help lost baby souls find vessels (birth moms). I promise you this is not as lame as it sounds. Instead, Delsol makes use of folklore and legends to really bring this to life. It reminded me of the masterful way Gaiman works with Viking legends. I was very interested the entire story (in fact, halfway through, I pulled the Snow Queen off the shelf and read it, in case it was important to the story-it wasn't but I was glad to read it anyway).
The best part of the story was the hero, the love interest. My friends and I have had some serious discussions lately about the guys in YA fiction. Most of the time, they suck. In fact, my one friend says the only way she likes the "boy" in the story is when he is the protagonist. Some fully fleshed out boys of lit: Cassel, Ethan, Kyle (from YOU). Well, Jack breaks that mold. He is great. Not only is he a hero from birth, and Delsol shows us how he is a hero. It is not enough to just say over and over how hot a guy is, there has to be something to him. Jack's whole world does not revolve around Kat-this guy is saving the family farm, the town, runs the newspaper, is quarterback, and general all around guy who is liked. YAY! It's so nice to read about a guy who is not a paranormal entity and who has something going on besides being smoldering hot. We like-y Jack, a lot.
That said, I am so glad I didn't skip this one. I had to wonder a little bit about who this was written for, some of the pop culture references are a little dated (re: from my generation, not that I'm OLD, but still). Delsol mentions: Fatal Attraction, Blade Runner, and Pretty Woman. I know these are all classics at this point, but does the average teen know about Fatal Attraction? Would they get the Stepford wives comments? If they do, great, if they don't it's really not that big of a deal, I just thought it was odd. It made me love the book even more, but I don't just read for me, I read with my teens in mind.
I'm going to recommend this one as a frosty winter read. It's good stuff.
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