Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Mistwood
Leah Cypess
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: April 27th, 2010
Pages: 304

Rating: 4 stars

From Amazon: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.

Leah Cypess is a rising author in the world of fantasy. She writes a beautifully written story filled with rich characters and storyline.

Cypess creates a magical world where you have no trouble believing in. The plot is completely original, unlike anything you've ever read. Cypess weaves a beautiful story that contains all sorts of intriquite details. There were some moments where the plot was a bit slower and I wasn't quite as enthralled, but it always picked back up again. The writing in Mistwood is outstanding. It flows extremely well and keeps you drawn into the book. Every word on the page has its purpose, so there is no extra description to let the book lag. One of my favorite things about Mistwood was that Isabel remembered little, so you were trying to figure out things just as hard as she was. You had no idea which character you could trust or what was going to happen.

The characters were all extremely well written. I loved all of them. Every character was developed and you instantly connected with them. Isabel was such a fascinating character. She was never predictable, and you grew with her as she discovered more about her past. Rokan was an interesting character. He wasn't a character you could easily figure out either.

At Mistwood's conclusion, I was a bit sad, as the world was so magical and beautiful I never wanted to leave. Mistwood was a wonderful debut, from an author I am sure will have many more amazing novels to come.