3 out of 4 stars
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Imagine if you will a land where mirror images live, and shadows dwell. In this land, there is turmoil and sorrow. The true king is dead and an evil one rules in his place, only the young prince can save the people from tyranny. William Cleary is not that prince. Almost thirteen, he is thrust into a world where parallels reign supreme. He must help save the enchanted place known as Echoland, all while keeping himself alive and trying to find his sister, Emily, in the process.
Add a pinch of The Golden Compass, a dash of Narnia and throw in some of Harry Potter’s Dementors and you will get the essence of the young adult novel that is The Crystilleries of Echoland by Dew Pellucid. This book is so high fantasy that it was confusing when I first started reading. Everything begins in the middle of the story, and I was sure I was in the midst of the second or even third book in a very long series. To my surprise, there was only one novel. Ms. Pellucid thrusts the reader right in there without explanation or lagging, and I must say that I really enjoyed that. I can’t tell you how annoying it is when writers spend ages on backstory and by the time you get to the main plot, you just don’t want to continue. In this case, I felt myself being pulled in the moment I began to read, and I couldn’t be taken out of the fantasy until I was finished, which was at four in the morning in case you were wondering.
The characters are so well thought out that I felt like I could see every detail. Will Cleary is such a crisp and likable person that I wanted to hug him. Not to mention the side characters are just as beautifully described. The author was so on point with keeping the flow of the dialogue between characters seamless. It felt as if I was there witnessing the conversations as they occurred. The best part of it was that everyone sounded different in my head, which is what took this story to a whole new level.
Honestly, it’s hard to find fault in this book. However, in the beginning, and throughout, I did discover myself having to go back to read things over again because the plot was moving so quickly. The idea of a world where mirror images of ourselves, Echoes in the book, live is cool; but when it came to all the names for things, such as a “Sound” is a regular person, it was just too much information at once. If there were one thing that turned me off about the book, it would be the pace in which the main plot points were given. It was just too fast.
All that being said, the grammar is not too bad, a few missing commas here and there, and the story is something that keeps the reader on their toes. As far as young adult fantasy goes, I have to say that this is one of my favorites. Therefore, I will give The Crystilleries of Echoland by Dew Pellucid 3 out of 4 stars, and I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an absolutely fantastical time.
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The Crystilleries of Echoland
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