The Toadhouse Trilogy Book One

The Toadhouse Triliogy (book 1) by Jess Lourey, July 17, 2012. 300 pages. Published by Toadhouse Books. Source: Author for review.

Aine (pronounced "Aw-nee") believes herself to be a regular teenager in 1930s Alabama, but when a blue-eyed monster named Biblos attacks, she discovers that the reclusive woman raising her isn't really her grandmother and that she's been living inside a book for the past five years. With her blind brother, Spenser, she flees the pages of the novel she's called home, one terrifying step ahead of Biblos' black magic. Her only chance at survival lies in beating him to the three objects that he desires more than life.

As she undertakes her strange and dangerous odyssey, Aine must choose between a family she doesn't remember and her growing attraction to a mysterious young man named Gilgamesh. Only through treacherous adventures into The Time Machine, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Tale of Two Cities, and the epic Indian saga The Ramayana will she learn her true heritage and restore the balance of the worlds... if she can stay alive.

First Sentence:

The sky is the color of blueberries and cream.

Due to my busy schedule, The Toadhouse Trilogy book one has been sitting in my TBR review stack for some time. While it may have taken me some time for this one to make its way to the top of the stack, I really enjoyed the story and world the author created.

I have two feelings regarding Book One of the Toadhouse Trilogy. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the imaginative world that the author created and seeing how the characters would respond to the danger they found themselves in and whether or not they would be able to solve the riddles that would take them closer to their goal; on the other hand, I would have liked to have read this one after it had been polished up a little more.
  One of the things I found myself enjoying most about this book would have to be the plot. I enjoyed the little twists to the stories that Jess Lourey used Aine and company got caught up into the storylines of the books they traveled in. It definitely made for an interesting read as you watched them try to remember what they knew about the book and the things that "happen" in the worlds of the books that is not in the book (confused you, didn't I).

Alright, so one of the things that I enjoyed the most about Jess Lourey's book would have to be the world and how Aine, her brother, and a couple others have to travel between different stories in quest to find the three objects that will lead them back to their home and mother. I loved the way the author wove into her book all the tales of the different books they traversed through and how Aine handled the loss of what she had considered to be normal. It was definitely interesting to watch her grow into the knowledge of her abilities as the book progressed.

Even though I enjoyed the story and world of this one, there is one thing that kept me from fully loving book one of The Toadhouse Trilogy. So, while it is an interesting story, I do believe that the book would have benefited from a little more polishing and editing before being published.
   The biggest problem I had with The Toadhouse Trilogy is that the tense seemed to keep flip-flopping between present and past, as, well as the narrative style. While that did make it a little hard to read, I enjoyed the author's story so much that as I was able to push through to the end. The only other thing that could have used some work in this one would be fewer descriptive words. At times, there were too many descriptive words used to well...describe aspects of the worlds and feelings of the characters.

Final Verdict: Book one of The Toadhouse Trilogy, An interesting fantasy book with a strong, level-headed heroine.

Book One of the Toadhouse Trilogy earns 3.75. out of 5 pineapples.