Review: Mistwood (Mistwood, #1) by Leah Cypess

The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwood. But when she is needed she always comes.

Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.

Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat.

Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court... until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.

Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart... and everything she thought she knew.

Talk about the author staying one step ahead of the reader until the very end! Leah Cypess is a mastermind in my opinion, she had me guessing until the very end. As her YA debut novel, Mistwood is sure to make an impression on readers everywhere.

This was a story of mystery, intrigue, romance and danger and although Cypess presents readers with clues and puzzle pieces throughout her tale, I didn't stand a chance at putting it all together until she was good and ready to tell me. I will say that at times I loved that I was no closer to solving the mystery that is at the center of Mistwood, but it also frustrated me to no end.

Her writing style and character development have set the stage for what I'm sure will be a fabulous future of upcoming releases from Cypess. The main characters in Mistwood were incredibly unique and fresh and my only complaint where they are concerned is that I would have liked to have been able to get to know them even better. Will there be a sequel? I think there's room for one and would definitely enjoy reading more about Isabel and the whole royal family.

The ending left me torn. On one hand the surprises blew me away, but on the other hand I did feel like it was all wrapped up very quickly. And after having a mystery like this one last throughout the entire book, I thought it was strange the the conclusion really only took up a few pages. I'm hoping Cypess just didn't want to drag out an ending that wasn't meant to be the final glimpse we get, if there's a sequel in the works than I'm slightly happier and more understanding as to why the ending wasn't stretched out with more detail.
With the paranormal genre being so popular at the moment and the repeated characters like vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc...being in just about everything it was a nice change of pace to see a completely new type of character. Isabel is completely unique and I for one do not want this to be the first and only time we see the shifter, more of the likes of Mistwood would be completely welcome!

I gave Mistwood (Mistwood, #1) 3 shamrocks!!!