When the Whisperer speaks, the universe listens.
Growing up, Talia had never given much thought to the gray-robed Whisperers and their powers over reality. Their business was protecting the world; hers was hunting in the forest around her village and trying to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately for Tal, one Whisperer in particular becomes her business when she accidentally injures his companion, a talking cat-shaped creature named Morel.
As punishment, she becomes the Whisperer’s prisoner, whisked away to his island home for a year and a day of servitude. There is much to do — for both the Whisperer and for Tal — as he prepares for the ritual that must be completed every hundred years to ensure the safety of the world. Tal does as she is told; her priority is to simply finish out her sentence and return home to her family.
Yet there are many secrets on the island, many oddities, and they tug at Tal like an itch. As the year goes on, she learns more of the Whisperer, his duties, and the horrifying evils that he and the other Whisperers keep at bay. But secrets still a room that is always locked, a stone monument in the woods, crimson flowers whose very name causes the Whisperer to storm away.
Unbeknownst to Tal, something is watching her, and what she does now may alter the fate of the world.
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Y.R. Liu
29 February 2024
YA | Fantasy
234 Pages
My Rating ~ 4 bites
Talia is impulsive and reckless. After she’s grounded from hunting because she shot her cousin’s pet bird, she's finally allowed to go hunting again, but only under the supervision of her older brother. So what does she do? She sneaks away and shoots the Whisperer’s Voice who is in the shape of a white cat. All because she didn’t take a moment to make sure what she was aiming her arrow at was actually game. Again. I have to tell you, not feeling any liking for Talia at this point. When the Whisperer declares he is taking her prisoner for a year and a day I feel Tal is getting off lucky though she doesn’t feel that way. Too bad.
Tal’s life as the Whisperer’s prisoner is hardly torture. She has chores to do, but they aren’t anything onerous and then she can spend the rest of the time doing whatever she wants. I wish I was a prisoner of the Whisperer. With all his books I’d never be bored. Plus, an island to wander on? Oh, yeah! Sign me up. *sigh* Anyway, life (and the year) goes on and as the 100 year ritual approaches, more and more tears in reality happen as seals start to fail. All 13 Whisperers are working hard to make sure the monsters don’t cross over into their reality. But that’s not the worst thing happening. There’s something else, something the Whisperers thought they’d contained. And Tal is about to do something stupid. Yet again.
This is an entertaining fantasy with an interesting world. The monsters are creepy and Tal can be an impetuous idiot at times, but her heart is in the right place. The ending seems a bit rushed, but there’s obviously more to come. I’m invested enough to read Book 2.
Y. R. Liu is a writer of dark fantasy and speculative fiction who spent more of her childhood in imaginary worlds than in the real one. A devourer of books, she has a particular fondness for bittersweet sacrifices, pyrrhic victories, and otherwise less-than-happy endings. Her fascination with the tragic and the fantastic extends to her own writing as she weaves tales of both woe and hope.
When not writing, she enjoys good food, shiny trinkets, and Wikipedia rabbit holes. Currently, she resides in Montreal with her family.
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