Whispering Wood

This story read like a poorly-developed first, possibly second draft. The main character ("Val") was supposedly in her late 20's but comes across as a petulant, immature young girl. Val has some interesting aspects where she is tuned into the forest and the land, especially the 'heart tree', so what the heck was the author thinking by not designating her the Hunti prime? With such a strong narrative lead in, developments inexplicably fizzled as someone else in the family took over.

Add in a perfunctory romance: Sebastian, who was the oh-so-charming rogue and unpredictable smuggler-thief, especially with this eye-roll, cringe-worthy "I always loved you", and Val's "oh, I loved you too but didn't know" response. Such unwriterly tropes show more detract from any reader-engagement.

A real shock was Shinn’s loss of her usual excellent pacing: the story was into chapter 27 before anything actually happened. Finally, we see the plot take off. Except nope, over-the-top-action for a couple segments, followed by a chapter or two and the finale of Val's adventure hiding from pursuit in the Challinbar grove on her family estate was a flatlined rescue; ultimately, a boring dénouement was so trite, it was hard to believe someone else didn't ghost-write the story.

Where is the talent that is so evident in the first 4 Elemental Blessings books, not to mention the wonderful heroines like Zoe, (Troubled Waters), Rachel (Archangel, Samaria series), Senneth (Mystic & Rider, Twelve Houses series), for example? More importantly, where is her editor? Readers may be very disappointed with how Elemental Blessings was continued. show less

3.5 stars rounded up because I've been a Sharon Shinn fangirl since her 1996 debut [b:Archangel|97961|Archangel (Samaria, #1)|Sharon Shinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388606676l/97961._SY75_.jpg|3102308]. It's been seven long years since the last novel in the Elemental Blessings series, [b:Unquiet Land|28953458|Unquiet Land (Elemental Blessings, #4)|Sharon Shinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1463260849l/28953458._SY75_.jpg|47822345], was released. Shinn provides a helpful list of characters in Whispering Wood and the basics of the world she has built for the series, but I still had to go back and review the descriptions of the previous four books in order show more to fully appreciate the fifth.

Valentina is the newly crowned King Darien's sister, a "hunti" whose blessings include steadfastness, certainty, resolve and determination. She's introverted, organized, and change-averse. But when she agrees to stay in Welce's capital city for a while after the coronation, her life becomes more chaotic as she develops complicated new relationships with Darien's wife and his daughter, as well as other Welce luminaries. She also reunites with her childhood BFF Sebastian, whose wild, adventurous "sweela" personality has led him to an illegal smuggling career.

There's a lot of talking in this book, and not much action, until the final 50 pages. Until then, things happen around Val that could have dramatic effect on the kingdom, but she's usually an observer or unwilling participant. Between the lack of forward momentum and the need to keep checking the character list to remind myself who is related to whom, I enjoyed this book less than most other titles by this author. I suspect that at least part of the problem is that Shinn has self-published her last few books and lacks the editing support that she (or any author) needs. Boo hiss to Ace Books, which released the first four entries in the series but not this fifth and (presumably) final one.

Reading this book felt like seeing old friends from whom you've grown apart - you're happy to see them but it's a little awkward and not quite as satisfying as it used to be. show less

Maybe this is because I'm ready to move on to something else after reading five of these books in a row, but I thought this one was pretty meh. It seemed like the author was a little bored with this world as well; the plot and world-building didn't feel as vibrant as usual. A part of me hopes that Sharon Shinn will write a Yori book though—she would be a much more interesting protagonist than Val, that's for sure.

Oh, how delightful to return to Welce to learn about the hunti-folk. I do secretly wish that another person ended up as Prime, but aside from that the story was a great mix of old characters and new and it was just the book I wanted to read right now. I fear this might be the end of the series. I hope the author is inspired to take us further in the future.

The final addition to the Elemental Blessings series is about Darien Serlast’s younger sister, Valentina, who shares her brother’s elemental affinity for hunti -- wood and bone.

Val is in the capital city, Chialto, at her brother’s insistence when she spies Sebastian Ardelay, her roguish best friend from childhood. Sebastian has told Val he wants to avoid attracting Darien’s attention, and she begins wondering if he’s involved in the smuggling -- and worrying for his safety.

Like the others in this series, this is about a young woman working out her place in the world. It was interesting getting a different perspective on familiar worldbuilding concepts and familiar characters. After I finished this, I reread the first book show more Troubled Waters (because I couldn’t remember that very clearly) and then bits of the others (which I remembered better!).

Sometimes it was hard to be hunti, all precise angles and strict rules. Sometimes she had to rest all those edges against something a little more forgiving.

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