“GUARDIAN”
by Gillian Joy
REVIEWED BY: Wanda Hart
OVERVIEW
Headstrong and determined, Hannah always knew
that she would become the Guardian. She was the keeper and the protector of all
supernatural beings. What she didn't expect was that it would mean she would
have to endure the agonising death of her mother first hand as their
supernatural connection brings her to her knees, or that it would mean that she
could never be with the man she loved.
Blond haired, blue eyed Gabriel was her handsome childhood friend, but would circumstances prevent her from ever being able to explore her true feelings for him?
Jesse, the dark alluring but incorrigible vampire would give anything to be with her, but as the guardian Hannah is forbidden to fall in love with the supernatural.
With her life in turmoil over her conflicting emotions about Gabriel and Jesse and her frustration at being unable to exact revenge for her mother’s horrific death, Hannah flees her life in an attempt to start over. But can we ever really escape from ourselves?
There is no escaping destiny no matter how hard she might try and Hannah must learn to reconcile her commitment to her family with her responsibility as the Guardian and her duty to her heart.
REVIEW
Hannah is the girl next door. She is pretty, some
would say very pretty. She has as best friend a boy named Gabriel. He is the IT
boy in town. His father is the sheriff and thus a truly influential man. And so
begins the story like most other stories with a boy and a girl. Oh and a kiss.
But Hannah is not the girl next door. She is pretty yes but she has a destiny. She is the Guardian - the Venatorcustos. She was born from a line of Guardians. Her mother, Susannah served the world in this capacity for 600 years and her mother before her, well maybe as long as 3000 years. Hannah has a past, a destiny and a responsibility that would cost her everything she holds dear.
Guardians are responsible for Crudelitas! They are to make sure that they do not harm humans, that they do not take dominance over some group or the other. She is the keeper of order. Tough job when dealing with Vampires, mermaids and witches. To name but a few! Oh sorry. I did not mention that, that is what a Crudelitas is, did I? Luckily Hannah is born with all the collective memory of every proceeding Guardian.
But Hannah's memory could not save the life of her mother, her super human powers could do nothing to save the life of her father Jonathan and her love did nothing to chance the fate of her beloved Gabriel!
Structurally Guardian is fast paced and entertaining. The character development of Hannah and Bernard especially, is endearing. Hannah is truly human. The little girl grows up to be a wilful young woman and with that comes temper tantrums and impatience. Hannah is most certainly very human. And I loved this aspect of the story. Bernard. A character introduced nearly at the start of the book is portrayed as eccentric and loveable. He is a grandfatherly type with hidden depths that I myself can't wait to learn more about in the next book in this trilogy. One character however
never goes through any growth. I found that puzzling since the characterisation of main and peripheral characters are expertly done throughout the book. The character of Gabriel however shows a complete lack of growth. But it soon dawned on me that the answer is simple. Gabriel is perfect! He can't get any more perfect. I found this a brilliant characterisation move on Gillian’s part and loved Gabriel all the more for his state of being eternally perfect and eternally Hannah's first and only love.
I really loved reading the book. Peripheral characters are introduced with regular intervals and the depths of their roles in the story fully explored. The characters are either very human, very Angelic, perfectly perfect or truly evil. Very little grey areas exists in the world of the Guardian and this contrast to the real world is expertly revealed later on in the book when Hannah's' real life and her life as a Guardian meets in the living room of her house in Australia.
I always feel as if I should choose my words carefully when doing a review
as not to give out spoilers. With Guardian I find it especially difficult since it is indeed a tangled web Gillian wove.
I highly recommend Guardian to any lover of YA Paranormal literature and give it a six out of five scale rating. Not only do I recommend the book to readers. I would gift it to my best friend to read and enjoy.
Please remember that the second book in this trilogy is due for release in March 2012. Forever is bound to leave you begging for more!
But Hannah is not the girl next door. She is pretty yes but she has a destiny. She is the Guardian - the Venatorcustos. She was born from a line of Guardians. Her mother, Susannah served the world in this capacity for 600 years and her mother before her, well maybe as long as 3000 years. Hannah has a past, a destiny and a responsibility that would cost her everything she holds dear.
Guardians are responsible for Crudelitas! They are to make sure that they do not harm humans, that they do not take dominance over some group or the other. She is the keeper of order. Tough job when dealing with Vampires, mermaids and witches. To name but a few! Oh sorry. I did not mention that, that is what a Crudelitas is, did I? Luckily Hannah is born with all the collective memory of every proceeding Guardian.
But Hannah's memory could not save the life of her mother, her super human powers could do nothing to save the life of her father Jonathan and her love did nothing to chance the fate of her beloved Gabriel!
Structurally Guardian is fast paced and entertaining. The character development of Hannah and Bernard especially, is endearing. Hannah is truly human. The little girl grows up to be a wilful young woman and with that comes temper tantrums and impatience. Hannah is most certainly very human. And I loved this aspect of the story. Bernard. A character introduced nearly at the start of the book is portrayed as eccentric and loveable. He is a grandfatherly type with hidden depths that I myself can't wait to learn more about in the next book in this trilogy. One character however
never goes through any growth. I found that puzzling since the characterisation of main and peripheral characters are expertly done throughout the book. The character of Gabriel however shows a complete lack of growth. But it soon dawned on me that the answer is simple. Gabriel is perfect! He can't get any more perfect. I found this a brilliant characterisation move on Gillian’s part and loved Gabriel all the more for his state of being eternally perfect and eternally Hannah's first and only love.
I really loved reading the book. Peripheral characters are introduced with regular intervals and the depths of their roles in the story fully explored. The characters are either very human, very Angelic, perfectly perfect or truly evil. Very little grey areas exists in the world of the Guardian and this contrast to the real world is expertly revealed later on in the book when Hannah's' real life and her life as a Guardian meets in the living room of her house in Australia.
I always feel as if I should choose my words carefully when doing a review
as not to give out spoilers. With Guardian I find it especially difficult since it is indeed a tangled web Gillian wove.
I highly recommend Guardian to any lover of YA Paranormal literature and give it a six out of five scale rating. Not only do I recommend the book to readers. I would gift it to my best friend to read and enjoy.
Please remember that the second book in this trilogy is due for release in March 2012. Forever is bound to leave you begging for more!
WANDA’S star rating: 6/5
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2 comments:
Wow. Thanks Wanda :)
Always a pleasure Gillian.
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