Runes by Ednah Walters

Runes is the first book in a new fantasy series by veteran Ednah Walters, a story that plays on teen paranormal adventures and ancient mythology. I was pulled in by the cover and blurb, and read it in a few days. Here's what I found:

What I liked: It was hard to put down. I know enough about the genre to have a good idea of what to expect, but despite myself I kept wanting to read the next page. I was attached to the characters and swim team, and very much intrigued by the possibilities behind the Runes. I also loved the fact that this was something other than vampires and demons and werewolves. I honestly didn't know what the Runes were about--and I loved that. There was also a good emotional depth that brought the story home--such as the disappearance of Raine's father and the death of a friend.

What I didn't like: The writing was not good. It was actually pretty bad. There were typos, the use of "to" instead of "too," and more abstract problems like bulky description paragraphs and excessive use of fancy dialog tags. The male lead, Torin, was also pretty stereotypical and unbelievable. He's supposed to be hundreds of years old and dedicated to living life by the book--but in days he's swooning over a seemingly ordinary teen girl. Yeah right. The author's age also slips in occasionally: there are two separate references to going to a video rental store, and one scene clearly describes a specific Beatles song being replaced with "some modern stuff." I think Raine would be able to identify it further than that.

Overall rating: Pretty good for what it is and what it's trying to be, and I am actually looking forward to the sequel. But it's far from great literature and suitable only for a light but fun read. Only one rejection slip out of five! (That's four stars... since I'm the rejected reviewer, I'm rating with rejection slips!)

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