Shining Ones: Legacy of the Sidhe by Sanna Hines
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description

In the Shining Ones, one girl’s disappearance sends a group of people on a journey to save the secret Dannan world from being destroyed. The Irish legends are true, and the Dannan, a race of super beings have powers untold, but their ancient enemies, the Formorians, are trying to break their cycle of renewal and bring the world into the order they so crave.

Review

I loved the premise. When I started reading, I got excited, recognizing the Tuatha de Dannan from another book loosely based on their legends (Shearwater by Derek Murphy – you can read my review here). What starts as a search and rescue party turns into a quest to save Dannan-kind, and quickly escalates the stakes as they’re swept from America to Ireland.

I love the feel of the book (one complaint I had of Shearwater was that it was set in Ireland but it didn’t feel like any of the characters were Irish). There are plenty of colorful characters to fill the pages, and the way the stories intertwine is quite interesting.

I ended up with the 4-star review because I couldn’t put my full excitement behind the book. Between the vast cast of characters, each with two or three names apiece (or so it seemed), and the intense legendary reliance, I got lost a few times along the way. I kept going, “who?” and “what happened?”. While the main story line was relatively straightforward, I found those extra elements a little much for my poor sleep-addled brain to process.

That being said, I do recommend the book, and think others should give it a try. It’s a good story line with a lot of intrigue, a splash of romance, and plenty of mystery to uncover.

**This book contains some mild language, and one or two sexual interactions that go physically past where I usually like to see, while still fading to black for the actual act itself. Although labeled a young adult book when I received it (though the Amazon page says it’s for ages 13 to 3000 ) I would not classify this book as young adult. Rather, I feel it’s more New Adult/Adult.

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