Contains: Descriptions of violence towards adults and children.
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy/ Urban Fantasy
Awards: 2013 Finalist, Best Indie Book Awards, The Kindle Book Review
About The Book: When young Adrian Howell discovers he possesses powerful telekinetic abilities, he is plunged into a sinister world of warring paranormal factions and terrifying government organizations. Adrian must discover what really happened to his missing sister. But to do this, he will first have to find his place among fugitives like himself, and protect the life of a deeply scarred child who can speak only through her mind… a child who will change Adrian’s life forever.
My Thoughts:
Wild-Born kidnapped my sleeping hours! I had to admit, rather sheepishly to a close friend, that I had been up until the early hours (3am), finishing this first book.
I did not expect much because I read so many books, I keep my expectations low, but Wild-Born exceeded all of my expectations ten-fold. The book is written in first person from the point of view of a young teenager, Adrian Howell (also the pen name for the actual author). It’s not often as readers that we get to see and experience a fictional world from the mind of someone so young. It was a refreshing change from recent books I’ve read.
Well written and error free, I was surprised to find out that Howell had self-published his work. It was flawless, which is amazing since there are usually a couple of typos in a self-published eBook.
The story-line is not unique, but it is cleverly filled with details, thoughts, and multi-layered characters, that the story-line becomes nothing short of epic. You won’t even realize how much this story has to give at first, as with any great masterpiece. Howell has woven everything in, thread by thread, piece by piece. You go from the gentle life of a young teenager with little in the way of concerns and worries, to the emotional and complicated adult world where the main protagonist has to grow up quickly.
Adrian Howell is the main male protagonist and as I said before, he is a young teenager (13 I think). I liked his character, though he wasn’t my favorite. Delving into Adrian’s point of view and mind, the author brought this character to life. He had some incredibly complex thoughts but the author still managed to attain Adrian’s youth and immaturity – he was believable and likable. OK, he was a little bit annoying and whiny to begin with but he’s basically a kid and that’s to be expected and in the end he matures nicely.
Alia was my favorite character. She’s a 7/8 year old (she has a birthday in the book), with a very traumatic and brutal past (so be warned). She is adorable despite her tragic past, and incredibly powerful. She centers Adrian’s character and keeps his morals in line, and a very nice sibling-like relationship forms between the two. The author was very clever here, as Alia’s character captures your emotions and tugs at your heart strings. You will not want to put this book down because you have to know what happens to her.
Cat, Adrian’s real sister, is a minor character in this first book but I suspect she becomes a major character in the follow-ups. She was a typical young girl, annoying at times in that kid-like way, but also sweet and compassionate. Cindy, is Alia’s guardian, and also becomes Adrian’s guardian too. When she first appears in the story, you are a little wary, just like Adrian, of her hidden motives. However, Cindy is genuinely a lovely character with a big heart. Ralph, though not necessarily evil, starts off as the bad guy – his motives are suspect, and I can’t make up my mind if I like his character or not. He’s an old guy but he’s powerful and dangerous, despite his age.
Howell did an awesome job with the buildup and the ending of this story, although it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, the ending is immensely satisfying. A lot of reviews say this story is tailored towards young-adults, but Wild-Born is a more adult read in my opinion. There are some difficult topics, violence towards children particularly, which younger readers may find a little distressing, I mean even I was cringing a little and I’m 23!
Overall, Wild-Born contains a mixture of darker and happier elements. The story is mature and imaginative and your eyes literally glide over the error-free pages. I can’t think of anything that Howell could have added to this story to make it better. I have a backlog of books to read, but I’m definitely adding this series to the list.
Find “Wild born” now on Amazon!
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About The Author
Caitlin Lynagh is a blogger, writer and soon-to-be author. Her first novel, ‘Anomaly (The Soul Prophecies)’ will be published in January 2016. She lives with her mother and spends most of her time in a messy bedroom, tapping away on her laptop. Caitlin claims to have an imaginary bookshelf in her head where she stores her favourite books (until she can afford her own place and a real bookshelf). She enjoys reading and discovering new authors and confesses her love for everything about the written word; it is her life, work and passion. Caitlin plans to continue to study and learn, even in her dotage. For further blogs check out: https://thebookigloo.wordpress.com/
