May 25, 2012

VBT: Review, Seized by Lynne Cantwell


Author: Lynne Cantwell
Title: Seized
Series: The Pipe Woman Chronicles (#1)
ASIN: B007MGRCBU
Publisher: L. Cantwell (March 20th 2012)
Disclaimer: Copy received for review purposes.

Buy your copy: Kindle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The winter solstice 2012 won't be the end of the world. It will be the beginning of the end....

Naomi has a pretty sweet life. Respected as a skilled mediator, she has an almost uncanny knack for getting people on both sides of a dispute to agree. And her handsome boyfriend Brock has just proposed to her. But a white buffalo calf is bowing to her in her dreams. And who is the Native American man who has been following her around?

Naomi doesn’t know it, but things are about to change...” GoodReads’ blurb

This story got me at the mention of paranormal and Native American (what can I say, I’m in a never ending quest for stories involving folk and myth!) and it delivered.

In all honesty, I don’t know enough about the subject to judge its accuracy or lack thereof, but after reading the book I never questioned the lore—and that’s huge bonus points in my book. I feel as if I knew a lot of details about Native Americans, their legends, some of their quirks... and also about mediation and law firms, which is the background for the main character. The author used the myth to build her own, rather than trying to fight against it, so it all blends together. So, great worldbuilding? Check!

The characters were on par with the world and myth developed here. The novel is not long, and it’s the first book in a series, so there’s still plenty of room to evolve and change and also to discover, but even then no one felt “shallow”. I found something to like about all the cast (well, the good guys at least) and while the bad guys were... well, bad, it wasn’t “because villains are needed”. I could get their motivations and, sadly enough recognize their type.

I wish I could run into my very own owl instead of my very own business shark, but ah well. Hope’s the last thing to go and all that (and yes, you’ll get the owl reference when you read the book).

The plot was well handled, well paced, and very current with events (come on! It’s the end of the world!).

There were a couple of things I didn’t like that much, though... or rather, one thing I didn’t like and one thing that made me arch my eyebrow.

The thing I didn’t like was the religious conflict. I loved the idea of the Native American gods coming back to remind mankind of its rightful place, but not the conflict with the Christian God. It might change in future books, but from this one, I think the same thing could have been accomplished without “devilizing” God. And even if the conflict had been so important, the gods’ revenge is leaving out Islam and Judaism, which are both major religions who also encourage their followers to shun other gods and, generally speaking, could be blamed of the same things the book places on Christianity. In normal circumstances, this would be enough to knock my rating down a star, but I’m honestly curious about the story and kind of understand that it’s just fiction, so, a few raised hackles aside, I’m letting it go with a warning.

The thing that made me raise my eyebrow was how fast Naomi jumped to conclusions about her special abilities. If we had seem more cases of her commenting something, and then something happening, it might have seemed more natural but I felt like her suspicions and realizations were a big, convenient leap of faith. Again, since this happens quite early one, it serves to jumpstart the plot, and later on the are no more cases of jumping logic, I’m just commenting on the fact (in case it’s one of your pet peeves).

All in all, if you’re okay with the issues I mentioned, I recommend this book for you. It’s engaging, original, with likeably and quirky characters that I got to care about.

18 comments:

  1. When I am reading a book I want to immerse myself. To this I would imagine that Lynne carried out extensive research.

    Pertinent points raised in the review.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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    1. Hi marybelle! I'm toying with the idea of including a bibliography at the end of the last book, lol.

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  2. Thank you for hosting Lynne today.

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  3. ¡Hola, Ron! Thanks for the kind review! Happy to answer questions.

    To your criticism: Judaism and Christianity have the same God, right? And White Buffalo Calf Pipe Woman does say there are others in the world who have been chosen as Naomi has.... Hmm, thanks for the idea! ;)

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    1. Hi Lynne! Thanks for dropping by!

      Yeah, technically it's the same god but while all religions are technically similar in their core, I think Judaism and Christianity have grown too far apart to be in the same sack... Then again, I'm no expert! :) I noted it because it's a sensitive topic more than because it's wrong, though.

      In any case, if an idea came about thanks to my comment... I'm so happy to hear that!

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    2. :) I do appreciate your comments!

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  4. Omg that cover freaks me out!! haha. I haven't seen this one before. It sounds very original too but I'M not sure about the whole religious though. That usually puts me off. Glad you liked it overall though! Wonderful review!

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    1. Thanks for your comments, Giselle! The owl is eye-catching, isn't he? :)

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  5. This story seems to have a lot of tension in it. However, from the review, I would say that it would definately be a great read.

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    1. Hi MomJane! Just trying to keep things interesting. :)

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  6. I think this is the best review yet. Sorry your tour has come to an end Lynne, but it has been great getting to know you and your work. Look forward to talking with you again some day soon.

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    1. Hi Karen! I'm sorry it's the last day, too -- we've had some interesting discussions. Thanks for following the tour!

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  7. I appreciate an honest review. I'm intrigued by the Native American and paranormal elements. I love the presence of an owl. My mother collects owls (not real ones!) so there has always been an abundance of them present in our home.

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    1. Catherine, your mother probably doesn't have an owl like this one. ;) Thanks for your comments!

      (This is the comment I removed below -- I realized I'd put it in the wrong place. Teh intarwebz confuzzle me sometimes. ;) )

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. Thanks again to Ron for hosting me today. It's been fun! Hope to see everybody again soon.

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  10. Hey, Ron! As usual, you've penned a great, informative, and very honest review! Kudos to you!! I'm so glad you mentioned the conflict with Christianity. That's a major turnoff for me, so I definitely won't be reading this book. The same thing bothered me about the first book of the House of Night series, "Marked". The authors include a lot of negative comments about Christians, whom they refer to as "People of Faith" (ironically, I find this to be a beautiful title). In one of the first chapters, they even had the nerve to write that ALL Christian men are pedophiles! Now, that's completely disrespectful. If you want tolerance toward your religion, then you've got to extend it to other religions. Although I'm a Christian, I don't agree with those who thump their Bibles and condemn other religions. I appreciate all religions, myself. (Well, I DON'T like the way Muslim men treat their women...)

    Thanks for the great review!! :)

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    1. Thanks for the comment, Maria! I agree with you :)

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