Rating: 3.5 Stars
The Girl From Far Away by Jennifer Austin is a YA fantasy story that has elements of Science Fiction also. It was an interesting take on alternate worlds and has an XMen feel to it. An enjoyable read.
The story is told from two points of view. The first is Jess’s and she is from Earth. The other POV is Ella’s whom lives on an alternate earth, called Biack, which has more advanced technology. The two characters are linked somehow (there was never really a good answer on this and I’ll talk about this later) because they both experience the others life through their dreams.
Jess’s life has been difficult. She has lived with an abusive stepfather and a mother who appears to be an absentee parent. Also, it turns out her friends are not much of friends. Her brother is the only person she is really close to and he is no longer around after a run in with their stepfather. On the other hand, Ella has lived the life of privilege as the daughter of the King and she will one day become the Queen of Biack.
It has been foretold that Ella and others will be born with special abilities and they come in a time of great need for Biack. Jess discovers she has a special ability when the “falls” into Biack. She is disoriented but found and quickly befriended by Ella. Yet Jess does not trust easily and ends up in the hands of the Red Shirts an organization that is trying to start a coup. She will have to learn to trust before she can be saved.
I liked the characters in this book. Not only did they feel real but the actions and dialogue were correct for the age. I especially enjoyed the character of Jess. The author did a great job of rounding out her character and I understood her. However, I wished we had gotten more character development for Ella and the some of the secondary characters. The roles they played warranted it and further development would have enhanced the story. I have a feeling that this was intentional because the ending was such that I can see a sequel in the future. If the author spilt all the beans now there would be nothing to look forward to.
The beginning, roughly 20 pages or so, was a little slow. Once you get a little deeper into the story there is a lot more action and the pace picks up a bit. I never got bored with the plot. There was enough meat there to keep me interested and the subplot worked nicely, though it didn’t really get resolved.
In addition, there were also things hinted at but never really explained. Like theories on how the kids’ special abilities were acquired. The story just says they were born with them. I wanted to know if it was a mutation maybe because of the radiation from the sun or if it was believed to be something else that caused it. Again, I have a feeling this is intentional for the reasons I have already mentioned. Intentional or not, I missed it and wished there had been a little bit more world building.
This is a good solid debut YA story. I have no doubt that it will appeal to lovers of YA. I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.