Castle, Jackie. Illuminated (The White Road Chronicles). Kindle edition, Castle Library, 2012.

This Young Adult fantasy drew me in from the beginning. I loved the protagonist, a young lady with a past she can’t remember, now living under the thumb of a harsh ruler who claims to be her father. Despite her mouth getting her in trouble with friends and foes alike, she strives to find the truth about her real home and family.

The best thing about this book, besides the page-turning suspense and adventure, is Castle’s wide variety of well-drawn and true-to-life characters. Each major character comes in with issues: past hurts, prejudices, or insecurities… and most try to deal with those issues. Their struggles and varying degrees of success give the story an overall tone that is both hopeful and redemptive.

The book could have benefited from a more thorough proofreading. Normally, awkward punctuation and wrong-word errors distract me so much I cannot finish a book. But this story was so good that I kept going, right to the satisfying end. If you are not a grammar Nazi it probably won’t bother you. I recommend this story to you, and truly look forward to the next book in the series. (Added January 2013)

I am linking up with my friends at Jen’s Soli Deo Gloria sisterhood.

Thanks for reading!
Jan