First of the six pack I wrote about earlier, and I really enjoyed this, but it had some issues, so it's 3.5 for now, but I suspect as a series that is going to go up.
Full review @ Booklikes ( )

This is the 1st book in a while that I've not be able to finish. I have a 50 page requirement; if I'm not hooked by 50 pages then I move on. And I'm sorry to say that was the case with The Unfinished Song: Initiate by Tara Maya.

I felt like I was reading book two in a series or started in the middle of a book. I was a little lost in the plot line and characters. I don't think there was enough back story given in the beginning of the book and found myself lost in some of the terminology that was used. I needed a glossary for some of the terms that I assume was fae language.

Even though I couldn't get into the book doesn't mean fae fans shouldn't check it out, it's been getting a lot of four star ratings on Amazon and Goodreads. It just wasn't for me.


RATING:

DNF
(did not finish) ( )

This is the 1st book in a while that I've not be able to finish. I have a 50 page requirement; if I'm not hooked by 50 pages then I move on. And I'm sorry to say that was the case with The Unfinished Song: Initiate by Tara Maya.

I felt like I was reading book two in a series or started in the middle of a book. I was a little lost in the plot line and characters. I don't think there was enough back story given in the beginning of the book and found myself lost in some of the terminology that was used. I needed a glossary for some of the terms that I assume was fae language.

Even though I couldn't get into the book doesn't mean fae fans shouldn't check it out, it's been getting a lot of four star ratings on Amazon and Goodreads. It just wasn't for me.


RATING:

DNF
(did not finish) ( )

Initiate had a slow start, but after the first couple of chapters, I couldn’t put it down.

All of Dindi’s dreams are surrounded by her love to dance. She wants to become a Tavedi, one of a group of highly respected dancers in her tribe. There is only one problem, Dindi is very clumsy if she knows people are watching her, so the only people who know how well she can dance are the faeries. Which brings her to the second problem, Dindi should not be anywhere near the faeries, because dancing with faeries can quickly lead you into the dance of death.

Dindi was an interesting character, she was flawed but there is obvious room for growth and the way Maya laid the story down we can easily see where that growth will occur. I loved Dindi because she is a dreamer, she frequently forgets her chores in favour of dancing with faeries and when she lets the faeries help her out, it usually has disastrous results.

Initiate started out slowly, as with any fantasy the world needs to be set up. The first few pages is what stopped me from getting into this story for a long time, I kept putting Initiate down because of all the new terminology. But after slugging through those first two chapters I got lost in Dindi’s world.

Maya’s writing style is one that I will need to get used to, it was a little jerky and with her terminology had me rereading certain paragraphs a few times to make sure I understood what I was reading, the story however was what kept me going.

Maya seamlessly weaves two other plots into the story behind Dindi, Kavio the disgraced Tavedi, who has been banished from his tribe and the story of Vessia, the Corn Maiden. Once again, Kavio’s first chapters were ones of mounting confusion, the terminology, figuring out why he was in disgrace and the familiar frustration of realising that a characters family has turned on them.

The Corn Maiden’s story however was so well started and written that for a few chapters I was only reading to get to the next part of her story rather than Dindi’s.

I did experience mild disappointment however after Initiate got the ball rolling. After such a big promise of faeries in this story, there were hardly any. Dindi dances with them a couple of times and they mess up her chores for her once but after that they hardly make an appearance unless they are elemental (such as water fae trying to drown the humans)

Initiate while having a slow start, finished strongly (not to mention the cliff-hanger) and although it was quite short it is a magnificent start to what promises to be a fantastic series. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next in this series, Taboo.

Find this review at storywings.com ( )

This is a very unique story with a lot of threads that lead up to one heck of a cliffhanger. At first, it took a while to get into because it is told from so many points of view, but once everyone is introduced and the exposition is over, the story really picks up. ( )