Joni Sensel

Ariel and her best friend, Zeke, are ready for Namingfest, a day when they choose one of the twelve trades and are tested to become an apprentice. When Ariel and Zeke find a telling dart, a long-lost magical artifact from the past once used to send messages, they decide to try to figure out how it works on their own. Before they can determine its message, however, two Finders appear in search of the dart, and they are forced to hand it over. Ariel, however, has a feeling the dart is meant show more for her, and unfortunately, so do the Finders. When she fails her Namingday test to be a Healtouch, they are sure that Ariel has another purpose, one linked to the telling dart, and they kidnap her. With Zeke secretly tracking the party, Ariel‰ÃƒÂ›Ã‚ªs quest to find the source of the dart and her true purpose has begun.

I enjoyed this one. The characters are all well-rounded and believable, and one of the strengths of the book is how Ariel, Zeke, and Ariel‰Ûªs self-appointed taciturn protector, Scarl, come together as a close-knit group. Scarl ended up being my favorite character, actually, because of his complexity (and what a well-suited name for him, too). Ariel‰Ûªs world also has an imaginative history. It‰Ûªs a world struggling to find itself again after a terrible blinding disease that crippled several generations in the past, and as such, much of the old knowledge is lost. There are forces that wish it to stay lost, believing that rediscovering old knowledge will cause bad history to repeat itself, but others see that this leads to stagnation from which their society will not recover. Villages no longer have the means to communicate with each other, and as no one travels, new knowledge is not disseminated. Ariel, as a Farwalker, has the ability to change this, though slowly. It has series potential but, thanks to an epilogue, doesn‰Ûªt rely on another book to complete the story. I had thought it was intended as a stand-alone (because of the epilogue) but Sensel‰Ûªs web site says a sequel will be coming in 2010, and she mentions a third book also, so I guess not. I will be glad to read the next one when it comes out. I hope it has lots of Scarl. show less

It was a quick, easy and pleasant read. Given the premise of a cemetery and a mystery I expected something more spooky but it is all really low angst.

Geth has been left at the altar and in her anger she casts a curse on the Wind to punish her former fiancé. To her surprise the Wind obeys but demands her hand in marriage in return. Now Geth will need help of her bff, a town witch and an old friend to get out of that mess.

What I loved the most about this book was the writing. The story went show more seamlessly and it was easy to follow. I enjoyed the historical setting and the touch of magic. The idea of the Wind as a sentient being is unique and the Wind ended up being my favorite character in the book; moody and self centered but not entirely evil.

Geth’s love life was quite a whirlwind; three fiancés within a week! Phew! Aaron was an amazing and dedicated friend but the romance felt rushed. I would have loved to see some backstory to understand their relationship better.

I would recommend this book to readers as young as twelve, maybe fourteen. For me it was unfortunately too tame in both magical and romance departments and maybe too short so some parts felt underdeveloped.

3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Backlit PR for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

As I was reading this book, I was getting the vibes of PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. This book was reading kind of like a love letter to Joni's late husband, Tony. I felt like I had a bit of an idea of who he was. There was love there between these two.

I do believe in intuition. It can be a powerful thing. Usually, when you experience these moments, you should follow and take heed of them as they usually will prove to be right.

The chapters are very short thus making this a quick read. show more As I was reading this book, it felt "raw" with emotions. I don't know Joni, but I am sure writing this book felt cathartic. Overall, this is a really good read. show less

This is the first book in the Farwalker’s Quest trilogy. It ended up being a good fantasy story that starts out a bit slow and then ends a bit slow. I did enjoy the characters and some of the events that happened in the middle. Nothing is really resolved in this book though. Honestly I didn't care enough about the story to continue reading this series.

This book is set in a post-apocalyptic world that has a very traditional fantasy feel to it. At the age of thirteen kids take a test to find show more out what their lifelong devotion will be. For example you could be a Treesinger (talk to trees to learn info) or a Healtouch (a healer and caretaker). Ariel is desperate to be a Healtouch like her mother, but none of that matters after two strangers kidnap her over an ancient dart device she finds.

I thought the whole story started out really slow and was pretty bored. The friendship between Zeke and Ariel is cute but their town-life is kind of lackluster. Things pick up pace a bit once Ariel is kidnapped and I enjoyed this part of the story. In this portion Ariel finds out more about what she is and how to use her abilities. However the ending was pretty slow again and I ended up just wanting the book to be done.

There’s a lot in here about friendship and family and using your resources wisely. This book is just the start of the adventure, nothing is really resolved by the end. To be honest by the end I just didn’t care enough about the story or characters that I even really wanted to know more.

Overall this is an okay book with some interesting elements. The backstory to the world is interesting and some of the abilities the characters have are also intriguing. The pace of the story is a bit slow and I was disappointed in how little was actually resolved in this book. I would tentatively recommend this to fans of adventure fantasy. This is one that kids may like more than adults. show less