Bluewater Grove Book 1 by Alec Whitesell, Craig Bonacorsi
Published on:  June 11, 2019

It always feels like a breath of fresh air when I read a book I enjoy and don’t have to talk myself into finishing.  The Necromancer’s Prison combines three of my favorite genre’s:  YA, science fiction, and fantasy. 

Description:
She wanted to find her place in the universe. She never imagined it might not be on Earth.

When Emily Murphy over slept the morning of her college entrance exam, she thought missing her test was the worst thing that could happen. She never expected she would wind up lost halfway across the galaxy, battling aliens with laser guns and mages hurling lightning.

Like most seventeen year olds, Emily’s main concern had been navigating the perils of high school, not surviving shootouts and sorcery. That changed when her school was attacked and a student was kidnapped. While everyone else smartly fled from danger, she recklessly ran toward it mounting an impossible rescue that would lead her on a journey unlike anything she could have imagined.

Dropped into a strange world teeming with merciless criminals and ruthless aristocrats, surrounded by violence and betrayal, Emily must untangle a web of intrigue and deceit to solve the mystery behind the abduction, save her classmate, and discover the destiny which awaits her.

It is either that, or die trying…

Thoughts:
This book was such a fun read for me.  One of the reasons for this is due to how consistent the pace and story-telling is through-out the entire book.  I’ve read many books that tend to get a little slow in the middle until the big climax or reveal at the end when the story finally starts  moving again.  So, I can’t tell you how pleasant of a surprise it was when halfway through I found myself realizing that the ‘slow down’ hadn’t occurred – that the action and story was still moving forward. 

Another one of the strengths are the characters.   I appreciated how each one of them had their own personalities and strengths that you could see were used within the story. Emily is the main protagonist and comes with a lot of courage.   Mason’s a loyal sweetheart.  But I really liked how quick-thinking and sharp-eyed Quinn was at times.  Except, I had a lot of conflict with how much I should like her.  At the beginning of the story she was presented as potentially a bully-type character since Emily tries to avoid her the morning the story starts.  However, other than a reference to a past event not too much is ever seen along those lines.  So, I felt a bit guilty when I started to really like Quinn and her pragmatic view of things in times of danger.

Outside of the plot, pacing, and characters a few other items stood out: 

One – I want to thank the authors for only referencing foul language, but not actually putting it in there.  By just referencing what Emily might be saying without actually saying the words it got the point across and made the book more enjoyable for me. 

Two – How everyone actually understands each other in the alien world does get explained eventually. So, if you are someone like me who asks some obvious questions like “Do aliens on different planets really speak English too?”  Don’t worry – there’s an answer.  However, what does still bother me a little was that it was taken for granted by some at the castle that Mason, Quinn, and Emily didn’t know anything about the social or political structure and then explained it to them.  If I were in the shoes of alien-planet residents, I think I would naturally assume that the trio knows the general structure of the society in which they live.  But, on the other hand, I know this information has to be explained to the reader somehow so it is a trade-off of sorts. 

The last item to mention is that the voice in the story is simple present active voice, I believe – it’s been a while since my last English class and I could really be off on that one and if so, I apologize.  However, while I didn’t notice it most of the time I was reading, there were at moments it did draw me out of the story only because it isn’t in the voice that books are typically written in. 

Overall, I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading the next in the series once it comes out.  I recommend this for anyone interested in any of three genres it consists of, especially YA.

Thank you to the author for the review copy and the opportunity to provide an honest review.