Book review: Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton

My summary:

Teagan Wylltson led a perfectly normal life, she went to school and in her spare time she worked in a park taking care of animals. That’s until an unknown cousin move into her home and shortly after Teagan gets the blame for the death of a baby porcupine at work. The cousin, Finn Mac Cumhaill, is a handsome young man with a charming Irish accent but there is just something weird about him. It’s the very thing that made Teagan vomit the moment Finn stepped inside her home, a very unusual reaction just by looking at a handsome boy. Soon Finn, Teagan and her younger brother Aiden finds themselves traveling(and hunted) in Mag Mell, the horrible world of the goblins.

My thoughts:

Kerstin Hamilton has written a solid YA debut novel. Tyger Tyger starts out kind of slow but the pace picks up and draws the reader into an exiting adventure based on Irish legends and mythical creatures. At times there is perhaps a little too much information but I’ve come to the conclusion that this is often to be expected from a first book in a series/trilogy. The author spends time to introduce the reader to the most important characters and the world building.

When the goblin world, Mag Mell, was first mentioned it made me think of the world Polly and Digory first entered in The Magician’s Nephew(Narnia #1) but there’s nothing in Mag Mell that makes you want to lie down by the base of a tree and dose off. Hamilton’s Mag Mell is definitely a perfectly crafted unpleasant world fit for goblins to live in.

I enjoyed reading the varied characters Hamilton created. Here’s my short little introduction to some of the most important characters: a determined main character, a bunch of cruel and creepy bad guys, a couple of wonderful parents, a long lost grandmother, a mysterious freegan, a handsome and resourceful hero, a overprotective and stubborn best friend and a sweet little brother.

I for one am anticipating the sequel In the Forest of the Night(Goblin wars #2), I can’t wait to find out what Kersten Hamilton has in store for us next. It’s due out sometime in 2011.

The book trailer:

The cover:
The cover in itself is practically a fairytale, I love it! The tree is an important object/place in the story as well.

My rating of this book:
3.8 stars out of 5

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:
The Story Siren
Wondrous Reads
Imagination in Focus
Books and Movies
Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf

Want to know more?
Add Tyger,Tyger to your Goodreads wish list.
Visit Kersten Hamilton's homepage 
Visit Kersten's blog where she shares cools stuff
Follow Kersten on Twitter

Tyger, Tyger(Goblin Wars #1) by Kersten Hamilton
Published: November 2010
Pages(hardcover): 322
Publisher: Clarion
ISBN: 0547330081 (ISBN13: 9780547330082)
Full disclosure: ARC received by Clarion(a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt imprint) via NetGalley.

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.