Release Date: April 28th, 2009
Genre:  Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 327
Rating:
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Goodreads Page: Click here
Series: Animal Magic Book #2 (Review of #1)
Summary: 

A love against all odds . . .

A battle against ancient forces . . .

He was once a king, turned into a bear as punishment for his cruel and selfish deeds.

She was a once a princess, now living in the form of a hound.

Wary companions, they are sent—in human form—back to a time when magic went terribly astray. Together they must right the wrongs caused by this devastating power—if only they can find a way to trust each other. But even as their attraction grows, an old evil resurfaces, and they risk losing each other and destroying magic forever.

Review: My word. I was a little iffy toward the first book in this series, but not so with this one. Mette really hit her stride here. This book was gripping, heartwarming, and just... magical.

It had a very strange plot (I wasn't really sure what the main goal of the story was) but that didn't matter. What mattered was the amazing way that the characters interacted and saw their world. And the love story was so wonderful. Just wonderful.

Something I found was interesting was that when we were given a snapshot of what had happened to the main characters of the first book, I discovered that I cared a lot more about them than I thought I did after I finished The Princess and the Hound. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder? Dunno.

But nothing compares to the two main characters in this one. Woah.

Have I mentioned how much I loved the characters in this book? After I finished it I went back and reread the last couple chapters, 'cause I wasn't quite ready to leave these characters. I'm still not. I wish I could go back and read it again for the first time.

There was something that really distressed me. There are some spoilers, though, so if you want to know what it was you're going to have to highlight the following paragraph:

So... they travelled back in time, right? But doesn't that mean they changed the course of history? Do George and Marit even exist anymore? If they don't, what was the point of the first book?! That whole idea was really confusing.

But other than that, beautiful book. I'm so glad I own a copy.

This review is part of Utah Author Month.


*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

P.S. I feel like this is not a good review. I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts about this book into words. Hopefully you all got the bottom line of: I liked it.