Sunday, January 1, 2012

Gateway - Review




Title:  Gateway
Author: Sharon Shinn




Synopsis: “Adopted from China and raised in St. Louis, Daiyu is used to feeling a little out of place, a little restless.  But what kind of adventure is there in the Midwest?  One day, while she’s at a city fair near the Gateway Arch, Daiyu spots a gorgeous black jade ring, and when the elderly vendor tells her that “black jade” translates to “Daiyu”, she impulsively buys the ring and wears it as a token of her heritage.
          “It is much more.
          “Daiyu walks through the Arch on her way home.  She never gets there.  Instead, she passes into another world, another version of St. Louis – where almost everyone is Chinese.
          “Now she has more adventure than she could ever have imagined.  Taken to a safe house, she is trained as a spy in order to help topple the existing government.  Daiyu spends hours learning  refined manners and niceties and flirtations to pass among the elite – and steals moments to be with handsome Kalen, the only person in the alternate world whom she truly trusts, or truly loves.
          “There is only one problem.  Once her task is done, she must return to her own St. Louis, and leave Kalen behind… forever.”

Review:  I should start out by saying that I love Sharon Shinn’s novels.  Her Samaria Novels and The Twelve Houses Novels are my favorites.  When I picked up Gateway I somehow failed to miss the fact that it’s a young adult novel.  Not that there’s anything wrong with young adult novels.  I read plenty of them.  It’s just not what I was expecting when I picked up Gateway. 
          That said, even though it’s not what I was expecting, this is an amazing story.  I love Daiyu, and her quirky family reminded me of my own family.  The descriptions of the worlds and the people were fascinated and rich with a new culture.  Kalen and Daiyu stole my heart with their young love and innocence.  As a bonus surprise Gateway didn’t end the way that I thought it was going to.  Usually I can have the ending of a novel figured out about halfway through reading it, and with Gateway I thought that I had.  Nope, surprise!  This was a delightful, quick read that I highly recommend. 

Publisher: Viking
ISBN: 978-0670011780

If you like this book you may want to read:



Archangel by Sharon Shinn (ISBN: 978-0441004324)



Abarat by Clive Barker (ISBN: 978-0062094100)


4 comments:

  1. Never heard of this book before but it seems so cool!!! Thanks a lot for the review :)
    Added at my TBR ^^

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  2. Sounds like a very nice romance. Love the cover, too.

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  3. I have never heard of Sharon Shinn before but this book sounds amazing, and the gorgeous cover doesn't hurt ;)

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  4. I've read a few of Sharon Shinn's short works and found them to be enjoyable, this on caught my eye a while ago, it really does sound like a good book. Your review is one of the first I've seen about it (in the blogger verse). Thanks for the review, think it's definitely one I need to get my hands on.

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