Rating: 
Category: Fantasy Romance
Source: Copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis: When Anna starts to hear strange voices that no-one else can, at first she thinks she is going insane. However, the cause starts to emerge after she connects these voices with her family pets…
Anna has the ability to communicate with animals – she is a member of a race with powerful gifts. Realising them will require her to navigate an entire world she could never even have imagined.
Review:
First Impressions
Anuanna is written in a conversational, first-person tone that makes for a light read. The effect of this, combined with an intriguing prologue, meant that the story had me engaged quickly with little preamble.
Writing Style
As the author is self-published, I am unsure of her level of access to editors and proofreaders. However, their input would have been valuable. I noticed a large number of spelling and grammar errors that interrupted the flow as I was reading.
Plot
I loved the fantasy elements of the story as an animal-mad person: who doesn’t wish they could talk to animals? Interestingly, the author originally intended for Anuanna to be a film, which is clear in the highly visual and imaginative plot.
However, I found that the descriptions were often unnecessarily detailed, particularly in reference to setting. This overwhelming detail often diffused the plot’s energy and reduced my motivation to keep reading.
I felt that the story’s premise and tone, overall, made it more suited to a younger audience (I am 22). Unfortunately, the author’s explicit content warning at the beginning excludes under-17s, which is a shame because otherwise the book could be opened up to what I am sure would be an enthusiastic audience.
Favourite quote:
“from what we know they were kinder, not just to their own people but to the world and everything in it”
“There still are people like that”
Read if: you enjoy fun, light-hearted fantasy reads.
Cover image courtesy of Goodreads.
Which fantasy books have you read recently? Do you have any recommendations? Let me know in the comments – I would love to hear from you!
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