Alora

This was an enjoyable read. The main character, Alora, is the last of the Anmortals, a girl during the summer months and a white wolf with wings during the winter. She has grown up in the forest so it’s her playground and her home. Alora loves running around, what she believes is her domain, and looks upon herself as queen of the forest. She’s content with her life until she meets August, a mortal boy, who befriends her.I don’t like writing spoilers as I think people should make up their own minds about books, so I’ll concentrate on other aspects. In my opinion, Alora has been well crafted. She’s quite a feisty character who is very territorial, brave, and can be stubborn, yet there’s also a softer side to her. The author uses all Alora’s traits well. August was a bit weak. He behaves according to the people he’s with and easily bows to peer pressure. The only time he seems to be natural is when he’s with his adopted sister or Alora. His love for Alora is deep, but there were a few instances where I found myself questioning just how committed he was to her. However, these doubts were laid to rest at the end.The area Alora inhabits and travels around was well described and I found I could picture most of it quite clearly.There were places in the book where I felt it could have benefitted from a little more editing, but overall it was a good book to while away a few pleasant hours.

I couldn't get enough of this book!

Great read

The story starts as a light, fanciful tale as Alora flits around in her selfish, magical world of being an Anmortal. But as the years progress, she starts feeling seeds of loneliness and doubt. Is she the only Annortal left? Is the Windcomer real, or just a myth? And if he is real, will he devour her too? Megan does a wonderful job depicting the world that Alora lives in. I really enjoyed the winter seasons, when she would turn into her winged-wolf form. Megan’s descriptions of how Alora feels while in her wolf-form makes you feel a part of her as she’s soaring over the tree tops, hungry for prey.Then she runs across August, and her life is changed forever. August is a small boy when Alora first meets him, but as the years pass, she finds herself drawn to the human boy. I really didn’t quite get what she saw in August, I couldn’t connect with him at all. He has a wishy-washy personality, sorta like a Charlie Brown. His personality changed, depending on the people he surrounded himself with. I also didn’t like the relationship between him & his mother, and then at the end, his mother and father get back together again. Too fairy tale for me.When this story turned dark, and Alora found herself stuck in her wolf-form, I got upset and put this story away for awhile. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it struck a nerve in me. So good job, Megan. You made me feel an emotional response to the plight of your character. I also liked the interplay between Alora and Windcomer. I wasn’t really sure what Windcomer’s motives were. Did he really want to devour her, or was he in love with her? Their relationship was oddly appealing to me. Once I got past the dark-side of Alora, and she grew to realize what her destiny was, the rest of the story was pretty predictable.Here are my major points of contention. Even though this is a fantasy world, the author still has to follow laws of physics. How could Tanglemane pass through the briar patch in front of Alora’s cave, when August couldn’t? Windcomer wreaked havoc in the woods, flattening trees as he went. Why didn’t any humans notice him, or for that matter, that Alora never aged? When Alora, August and Claret are fighting Windomer on the island, how could Claret climb back down a steep cliff with a severely injured leg. After Alora and August climbed up that steep cliff, there was suddenly a small boat, next to Claret’s head. How did they get it back down the cliff? These types of implausible actions caused me to jump out of the story.In spite of the above, I did enjoy the story and recommend it for anyone who loves fairy tales with a HEA. I give it 4 feathers.

but she was so much more. She was free. Alora wasn’t afraid. She was Anmortal… I have to say that I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book, aside from the blurb, but with such a beautiful cover to go with said blurb, I knew I just had to read it!! While the storyline itself was very unique and interesting, I had to clamp down on my inner cynic until I got used to the overly flowery descriptions...of everything! But then the further in I read, the more I got sucked into the story, which in turn then sucked my inner cynic into the story too, I realized just how almost magical the wording was and how it fit this story perfectly! THIS PART I WROTE WHILE READING THE BOOK: I know Alora is this beautiful creation with so many unique traits & abilities - like becoming a wolf with swan wings in the winter months, but I did find her a little too high on herself. I found her to be a touch shallow in an innocent way - your beauty, your arrogance. A true Anmortal - but that just makes her harder to relate to, connect with. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and would recommend it as long as you treat it as a 'lighter' read. It is a rich story with the descriptions & details that make it so easy to picture everything in your mind, but it is not a deep or a "heavy/all-consuming" type of read by any means! Regardless, it IS a story worth reading which is why I gave it a higher rating, especially since I read it all in one go! Just because it isn't quite what I was expecting isn't any reason to rate it harshly. NOW THAT I AM FINISHED: WOW!! This book took its time grabbing me, but when it finally did IT NEVER LET GO! I am utterly amazed at how the last third or so changed to become the story I WAS EXPECTING! A FANTASTIC STORY!! It shocked me to the core at how it all turned out! So many different, unexpected but yet exciting twists & turns!! I recommend this to ANYONE who enjoys a great fairy tale/mythology type of story that completely transforms the further into the story that you read & sink into. (although I do want to point out that the length of the book is only around 90-100 pages, not the 286 listed on Amazon & Goodreads. I think that is the print edition.) I am eager to read more from the very creative & wonderfully talented author, Megan Linski!!