Hi there everyone, Paul here today with the Last Enchanter Blog Tour. I was very excited to be invited to participate in this tour. The Last Enchanter is a Middle Grade Fantasy by Laurisa White Reyes. If you’re not familiar with Ms. White Reyes, she runs the Middle Grade Mania blog. If you haven’t checked it out, you can click here, or scroll down our blog in the right hand side to find the button. I chose to write a review for my post on the tour and I made an excellent choice. Before we get to the review, let’s learn a little more about Ms. White Reyes and The Last Enchanter.
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In Book I, THE ROCK OF IVANORE, enchanter’s apprentice Marcus Frye and five other boys set out on a dangerous journey to locate the Rock of Ivanore and bring it back to their village.
I am a full-time mom of 5 kids aged 4 to 18 years, a homeschool mommy, a college graduate, and an avid scholar of the history of ancient Christianity. My dream is to be a best-selling author. My other dream is to earn an M.A. in history and theology.
The question I hear most often is “How do you find time to write?” In all honesty, I have no idea. I guess if I didn’t write, I’d go nuts. My kids know that if Mommy doesn’t get a little time to herself every day, she gets cranky. And when I get cranky, the only thing that can remedy the situation is a bar of Godiva chocolate.
Okay, now it’s time for my review.
What I liked best: I really liked the character Marcus. He displays a certain vulnerability that I think readers will connect with. He is not some larger than life hero. Many times he is frightened and has physical ailments, but he presses on and reacts in a very human, realistic way. He is a great main character; I loved him. As a side note I thought Xerxes, particularly his appearance, was very cool and clever.
What missed a bit: The only miss for me was the Pey Wey characters. This is very minor because it has nothing to do with the characters themselves or their part in the tale, but with the name “Pey Wey.” For some reason this name reminded me of the Ewoks in The Empire Strikes Back. I felt like the name Ewok, as with the Pey Weys, felt a bit juvenile. This did not distract from the story at all and is probably a personal quirk, but to me it missed just a bit.
Overall: I really, really liked this book. I must state that I have not read the first book in the series, The Rock of Ivanore, and that didn’t matter at all. I had no trouble following this book. I also really appreciated the fact that this book did not end in a cliffhanger. There will be a third book in the series, yet this book felt complete. For those of you that follow me, you know I am not a fan of cliffhangers, and I really appreciated the fact that this book ended this particular tale. I think young readers will love this book. The author does a great job of sprinkling in great characters (Rylan, Brommel, to name a few). I loved Lael. She is a real firecracker. All in all; a hit! I recommend you read this book as well as the 1st book in the series (which I intend to do).
is giving away a brand new
There are many ways to win:
1) Take a pic of you and your copy of THE LAST ENCHANTER – post it on the web (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, a website, etc.) and email the link to: laurisawhitereyes(at)yahoo(dot)com
2) Follow Laurisa’s blog and/or Facebook page
3) Tweet about this giveaway
4) Leave a comment below
The winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter.
Thank you so much for hosting!
You’re welcome Laurisa ~ it was my pleasure!
Paul