About the book:
Series: Journey to Rainbow Island Book 1
Age: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy adventure
Journey to Rainbow Island features Yu-ning, a girl of 11 years, who lives on Rainbow Island. This island is given this name because a rainbow, powered by the Seven Sacred Stones, is always over the island. However, the peace and beauty of this island is destroyed when an obsidigon, a black dragon, destroys many buildings in the village, takes her best friend, and takes the seven sacred stones. Darkness begins to creep into Rainbow Island's world of light.
Yu-ning discovers her special heritage and learns about the past war with the obsidigons.She learns that a dark wizard, Hobaling, conjured the obsidigon in order to gain more power and so darkness will reign. Yu-ning then embarks on a dangerous journey to find a long lost weapon that can defeat the obsidigon in hopes that she can rescue her friend and recover the Seven Sacred Stones. She is not alone during her journey since she is aided by her mentor, Metatron, and her animal friends, Suparna and Magic.
About the author:
*image obtained from her website
Christie Hsiao is the founder of Serenity Media Group, a global
entertainment company devoted to creating high quality film, TV, and
digital media projects. It is her vision to create positive
entertainment that is uplifting, international in scope, and that
catalyzes change. Christie believes in the unique power of story to
raise awareness and to compel societal transformation. Originally from
Taiwan, she holds a BA from UCLA in East Asian Studies and an MBA from
Pepperdine University. Christie went on to study film in New York City,
where she wrote, directed, and produced several well-received films
before starting her own company. Journey to Rainbow Island is her first
novel.My thoughts:
For a first time author, I think Christie Hsaio did a relatively good job. Yu-ning's world is exciting, full of vibrant colors, and beautiful, and I loved the provided maps and illustrations. It is a place where I would love to go! I also feel that this book would be great for young teenagers because it teaches about courage, love, and staying true to yourself.
This is a great book for those who don't like a lot of violence or scary imagery. The story does a great job teaching you that light exists in everyone and that it is your choices that brings the darkness into your heart. I liked how the book focused on love being the true weapon to defeat darkness. If you need a positive book, then this is a must read.
However, there are a few things that I didn't like about the book. I felt that there wasn't a lot of character development throughout the book. Yu-ning had the same philosophy and attitude through most of the book. Her faith and love never wavered (well, there were a few times it did, but it was like a paragraph length of doubt). I wanted to read about a character who struggled and still won in the end. So I didn't get really into the characters because I just didn't relate to them. Also, there were several times where there were some redundancies in the description which kind of annoyed me. For example she would say, "black obsidian".
Overall, I enjoyed the book and I would probably give the next book a shot because I'm curious to see how things end. I probably wouldn't reread it over and over like some other books I have.
Giveaway:
You have the chance to win a copy of Journey to Rainbow Island! This giveaway will run from February 26 and will end on March 4 at 11:59 pm MST. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner will be chosen.
Can't wait to get a copy of this book? Then head on over here to purchase it! Want more information about this book? Then head on over to the author's site.
*Disclosure: I received the book mentioned in this post at no cost in order to do this review. All opinions are my own. Howling Horn is not responsible for prize shipment to the winner as this is a sponsored giveaway.
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