Review: The Fire Opal by Regina McBride

There was a time when Maeve O'Tullagh led a simple life; a time when she and her mother, Nuala, collected kelp on the foreshore near their cottage in Ard Macha; a time when she played among the Celtic ruins with her older brothers and daydreamed about the legendary Holy Isles, an enchanted land ruled in a past age by a beautiful goddess.

But after Maeve's sister, Ishleen, is born, her mother sinks into a deep, impenetrable trance. For years, Maeve tries to help her mother "awaken," and then the unthinkable happens: Ishleen succumbs to the same mysterious ailment as Nuala.

Heartbroken to think that her sister and her mother might be lost to her forever, Maeve sets off on an unimaginable quest to a world filled with fantastical creatures, a web of secrets, a handsome, devious villain who will stop at nothing to have her hand in marriage—braving them all to retrieve a powerful glowing stone that will help her recover the souls of her loved ones and bring them home to Ard Macha.

An adventure-filled and spellbinding novel, The Fire Opal will enchant fantasy readers young and old.

As an Irish girl I will admit to being somewhat biased coming into this book. With scenery like the brilliant Irish landscapes, laid out for readers to picture while experiencing the journey that was The Fire Opal, what can you expect? I was already half in love with the story before finishing the first chapter.

McBride gives her readers magic, mythology/folklore and realism all wrapped up neatly in her debut YA novel. She has made the cross from writing adult fiction to YA fantasy quite seamlessly in my opinion.
Our main character, Maeve O'Tullagh was fierce and brace and built for an adventure. With a will of her own she becomes quite the opponent for the mean spirited (and hateful in my opinion) Tom Cavan. She even proves that she is a worthy adversary for an ancient and foreboding Goddess of days old and long forgotten. Not too shabby for a 19 year old girl.

This is a story that had me wondering about so many things throughout; will Maeve "save the day" so to speak? Will she be able to rescue her mom and sister in time? Will evil really conquer good? The only aspect I was truly disappointed with was the ending. It might just be me but I found it lacking. I would have appreciated more information. At the same time, although it didn't feel like a traditional cliffhanger, maybe McBride is setting up her readers for future works involving these characters? I can only hope and wait and see what McBride has in store for us.

I gave The Fire Opal 3 shamrocks!!!

In My Mailbox (8)

This is a meme that I first heard about from Kristi over at The Story Siren and immediately wanted to jump on board.

Every week we’ll post about what books we have received (whether they’re bought/borrowed, etc… you get the idea). This is generally done on Sunday, but I’m told that it’s really whatever day works for you; I’m going to be posting mine on Fridays because I tend to post less on the weekends.

Everyone participating will try and visit other lists to comment and possibly pine for the new arrivals everyone’s talking about. I’ve learned that it’s a great idea to really try and stop by at least two or three lists because I’m constantly finding out about new books that I’ve later added to my TBR list.

So this week was slow on the new purchases...mainly because I'm still trying to get through the old ones, but I was lucky enough to be able to get one that I've been waiting on for a while.  

The Fire Opal by Regina McBride

There was a time when Maeve O'Tullagh led a simple life; a time when she and her mother, Nuala, collected kelp on the foreshore near their cottage in Ard Macha; a time when she played among the Celtic ruins with her older brothers and daydreamed about the legendary Holy Isles, an enchanted land ruled in a past age by a beautiful goddess.

But after Maeve's sister, Ishleen, is born, her mother sinks into a deep, impenetrable trance. For years, Maeve tries to help her mother "awaken," and then the unthinkable happens: Ishleen succumbs to the same mysterious ailment as Nuala.

Heartbroken to think that her sister and her mother might be lost to her forever, Maeve sets off on an unimaginable quest to a world filled with fantastical creatures, a web of secrets, a handsome, devious villain who will stop at nothing to have her hand in marriage—braving them all to retrieve a powerful glowing stone that will help her recover the souls of her loved ones and bring them home to Ard Macha.

That was it for my mailbox this week but on a more exciting note, starting Monday I have a really fun week planned for the blog...it's Angel Star themed and there will be a review, (of course) and an interview with the author, Jennifer Murgia.  I'll also have a post about the Gaithersburg Book Festival which takes place tomorrow, Murgia will be there along with a lot of other great authors I'm looking forward to meeting.

And there just might be a new contest that everyone will want to get in on...because you guys know I don't like to go to a book signing and not share the love with you guys....so stay tuned next week for some great fun!

It's Friday and you know by now what that means....it's Book Blogger Hop time! I can't tell you how many great blogs I've come across and started following week after week thanks to Jennifer's weekly meme that gives everyone a chance to get their blog noticed...so head on over to Crazy-for-Books and let me know what you find.

Just another reminder...don't forget to enter the contest for your chance to win one of four great books! Just click on the contest tab at the top of the page and you'll find the link, contest ends May 21st.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Quote of the Week (4)

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be some kind of library."

--Jorge Luis Borges

I'm with Borges on this one....I went home to visit the family this weekend for the holiday and couldn't resist making not one but two trips to their local B&N because I apparently didn't get my fill the first trip.  Their B&N is not quite as big as the one by me, but I'm always interested in the book displays and which books the workers are recommending at the time.  I added a few to my collection but am still wishing the countdown would move a little faster for some of the books I'm waiting for.  Here are two that are coming out soon, but of course never soon enough!

The Fire Opal by Regina McBride which comes out May 11, 2010.

There was a time when Maeve O'Tullagh led a simple life; a time when she and her mother, Nuala, collected kelp on the foreshore near their cottage in Ard Macha; a time when she played among the Celtic ruins with her older brothers and daydreamed about the legendary Holy Isles, an enchanted land ruled in a past age by a beautiful goddess.
But after Maeve's sister, Ishleen, is born, her mother sinks into a deep, impenetrable trance. For years, Maeve tries to help her mother "awaken," and then the unthinkable happens: Ishleen succumbs to the same mysterious ailment as Nuala.
Heartbroken to think that her sister and her mother might be lost to her forever, Maeve sets off on an unimaginable quest to a world filled with fantastical creatures, a web of secrets, a handsome, devious villain who will stop at nothing to have her hand in marriage—braving them all to retrieve a powerful glowing stone that will help her recover the souls of her loved ones and bring them home to Ard Macha.

And let's not forget Mistwood by Leah Cypess  which comes out April 27, 2010.

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 Mistwod.

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.

And in keeping with the countdown theme of my normal Monday rants, there is a contest going on as we speak for anyone who is interested and also counting down to the May 18, 2010 release of Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia.  Michelle over at Windowpane Memoirs is hosting a contest with awesome swag related to the book and the upcoming release.  I entered, don't you want to?

Let me know what books you're wishing had already been released, I could always use a few more entries in my already overrun list of TBR.

Happy Reading!