Keertana @ Ivy Book Bindings

The Shifter is a mystical being, called upon by kings to defend them at all costs. The loyalty of the Shifter is binding, its powers unstoppable, and its success guaranteed. However, when Prince Rokan travels to the Mistwood forest to find Isabel, the Shifter, begging for her help, he is far from certain of her loyalty. Isabel too is unable to trust him as her memory has failed her. She only remembers parts of her past and, to add to her confusion, she finds that she is unable to shift inside the castle. The Shifter has no feelings, the Shifter is not human, but human is exactly what Isabel is beginning to feel. From the surface, Mistwood seems to have all the qualities of an excellent book: the cover is gorgeous, the summary is engaging, and the first few chapters are intriguing. However, after that it all goes downhill. Isabel, the Shifter, is our narrator and although I found her personality to be interesting, she made for an unreliable voice of the story. As the Shifter, Isabel has no feelings. Without Isabel feeling interested or worried about the characters, I was unable to care much for them either. The plot of Mistwood, despite centering around an assassination attempt, false prince, and treachery, came across as unnecessary, second-place, and boring. Isabel and her struggles to unravel her past and come to terms with who she was ended up being the central idea the plot was focused on. The story managed to be interesting, compelling me to read till the end, yet it fell flat. The idea was unique and excellent, but the execution was ultimately its downfall. Furthermore, Isabel's confusion, her conflicting emotions with where her loyalty lay, and the deception of countless characters succeeded only in confusing me. Sadly, I was not even interested enough to clear up my confusion and simply continued to read, hoping to reach the end. That being said, Mistwood was not a bad book. Its premise was interesting, the characters unique, and the world it creates is magical. Furthermore, I loved Prince Rokan and his humanness - a quality that I was unable to find or relate with in the narrator herself. In addition, Mistwood was intriguing enough to have me thoroughly finish the book. Yet, I did not enjoy Cypess's writing style and will definitely not be reading any of her other books or the companion novel to Mistwood. Despite having an excellent, rich, and original idea, Mistwood did not turn out to be the book I had hoped for it to be.