Lives Entwined in Kind. Book One.

Mel Parrish

“But to create beauty you must first have beauty within you.”

Master Abrax was for all intent and purpose a grumpy irritable hermit of a man. Most think of him as unkind and mysterious, there for most were rather scared of him. He lived in a grand mansion tucked away far from others, only few knew him and even those that did know him, still saw him as an enigma. He decided to live away from his family, away from people, away from the world as he knew it, and it appears he may know it quite a bit better than most. One day an old woman, one who was far older than he was, showed up at his door, holding a baby far to young to be away from home, changes the life of Mr. Abrax forever. This man who has Tucked him self away, is about to be thrust back into the world.

This book is so much more than the cover leads you to believe. The magic and fantasy are so unique and yet feel so at home all at the same time. The audio book is absolutely wonderful., The narrator made it feel like he was sitting there telling you a life story solely for you to hear and learn from. This had the same feeling as reading Artemis Fowl and the Golden Compass for the first time in all the best ways.

The magical characters weren’t just important just because of a long life, skills or magic. They were important because they were uniquely them and they were more than what they were born into. That’s such an important message through the story, not just bluntly thrown in your face but a message strung though out from the story that resonates even when your done.

The species of magical beings you meet are vast, however there is a bit left up to the imagination if you don’t often read fantasy books or take in context clues easily , and it being a book that is for a younger audience that may be new to the fantasy realms they may have a harder time figuring out who is who. However, with that being said this is the first book, and id be interested in seeing if we get more details in the books to come. As with the Mer, when they told their story at the beginning we got a lot of details.

The book as a bit on the “cozy” side of fantasy, not to much in the way of big conflict. There was tension and there is set up for conflict as well as over all plot movement. The cliffhanger at the end will keep you wanting more.

The story as a whole is whimsical and magical. This is a new brand of story telling that I cant wait to get more of and share with others!

Thank you NetGalley and Initium Books for the ALC.