“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 Mistwood. 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.” –Book Cover
Mistwood is a very mysterious world and we get to discover it’s secrets along side with Isabel. She is a mystical being, The Shifter, but she is suffering from some kind of amnesia and doesn’t know the extend of her powers. Legends says she is bound to protect the King, that she’s loyal, incredibly strong and indestructible. She was enthralled by the Prince Rokan, to protect him from unknown treat. But something is wrong and Isabel is intent on discovering why.
Mistwood is a journey of mysteries, lies, adventure and treason. The whole plot is developed to keep the reader on it’s toes. Allegiances are created and broken, secrets are revealed, but in the end Isabel doesn’t know if she can even trust her own instincts.
Cypess worked really hard to write an intricate but complicated story. A plot so full of twist and turns you never know what to expect next and she built the perfect characters for it.
Isabel doesn’t know who she is, doesn’t know to trust and she’s trying to find her own identity with sparse memory randomly coming back to her. She has feelings The Shifter shouldn’t have and don’t know how to deal with it. Drowned in insecurities, passion, love and anger, she is blindly trying to find her way.
Rokan is a loving man with good intensions but he is holding dark secrets. Is he holding critical information from Isabel in hopes of keeping her by his side. But not necessarily for the reasons he thinks.
The book is a lot about mind games and it was well developed, but I felt like the plot was stalling at some point and found myself craving for more action. The end fulfilled that need, but I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. It sure was surprising though.
Overall, this is a good YA Fantasy novel, so Kudos to debut author Leah Cypess. She built a completely out-of-the-box novel, in a fantastic medieval atmosphere.
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