Book Review: The Spirit Keeper

After her mother and grandparents die in a raging house fire, eleven-year-old Sarah Redbird ends up in the custody of her aunt and uncle. Six years later, Sarah discovers the fire may not have been an accident at all, but a deliberate act of revenge.

Sarah’s family has kept the truth of their Native American heritage secret her entire life, refusing to acknowledge where they came from. But when a family that has direct ties to their past moves to town, Sarah’s true identity is revealed.

What Sarah soon learns is that some secrets are better left unspoken.

The Spirit Keeper
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 334 (paperback)
Part of Series: The Spirit Keeper #1
Purchased: For Review by the author
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Buy: Book Depository || Amazon (US) || Amazon (UK)

REVIEW:
I got this one for review after Emlyn Chand shared about it at Facebook. I haven't read many books with spirits so the title immediately caught my attention and after reading the summary i was sure i wanted to try it.

The Spirit Keeper is enjoyable and funny. It has an interesting story mixing, spirits, elements, magic, native american ideas and teenage life. The author gives more pages to the romance and the relationship between the characters in general, than the plot. Still it doesn't miss a bit. It gets you interested from the first chapter and keeps in you in until the last page. The writing is at the same time simple but bring life into the scenes. Especially the scenes with outdoor scenery, around Sarah's house, become really alive in your head.

Sarah is also a strong female lead. I loved how she has a clear image of what she is doing, and what will happen if she does something and how she doesn't moan for every single thing. She even tries to do everything her guardians say because she trust them. I loved how even though she had a thing for Adrian, she didn't let him do whatever he wants. When she had a problem with him, she talked. She didn't accept his action when they seemed fake just because she liked him. Which yes it's common sense, but in many books the girls are just standing in the corner and cry or something.
The rest characters are also really well created. Even when they had small scenes, you could see their characters and justify what they were doing. They are presented in a way, that you feel like you know them the same as Sarah even though you are not in their mind.

Easily one of the good books i've read this year. At the same time i was reading City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, and the difference on how much i liked the Spirit Keeper instead of CoLS made me stop CoLS completely since i understood what a waste of time for me was. One book(Spirit Keeper) filled me with excitement while the other(CoLS) made me sleepy.