Book Review: "The Restorer's Journey" by Sharon Hinck

When a foreign threat invades their comfortable home, Susan and Jake soon find themselves drawn back through the portal to the world of the People of the Verses. Now Susan will struggle to love a people who have become her captors, while Jake suffers a tragic betrayal and discovers his destiny as the next Restorer.

I'm still not a fantasy fan but this is one series that I have enjoyed thoroughly. This is mainly due to Sharon Hinck's writing and her ability to suck you into the story even if you are totally unfamiliar with the genre, like myself. The story picks up right where The Restorer's Son left off it's a shocker right from the beginning. Two from the other world have now come into our world and the Mitchell family has to figure out a way to get them out. Mishap and mayhem occur as Mark, Susan and Jake do their best to return to Lyric. I would have liked a bit more time seeing how the outsiders fared in our world but it's not really an issue. When returning to Lyric, the family faces obstacles and consequences they didn't expect and find themselves amidst another battle that will threaten the lives of all those they have come to love. Lyric is like another Middle Earth or another Narnia. It's a world that Sharon has completely created. I normally shy away from fantasy because it's hard for me to grasp different worlds in relationship to our own world. I did have problems with this in the beginning of this series but by the time this book came around, I was totally able to accept the idea of Lyric.

There were some parts that I did feel drag on a bit. This was mainly during the scenes where the characters were waiting for action. It wasn't boring, just felt like there was a lull in the scene and in the reading. The ending also left me a bit hanging. I understood why it had to happen, yet at the same time I could foresee problems trying to explain the situation. It didn't seem like an easy way out to end the story yet at the same time I felt like something else could have happened. Either way, I would love to see a return to this series in the future. Sharon has done an excellent job of making non fantasy fans enjoy the fantasy world and stretch both their imagination and reading tastes.

The Restorer's Journey by Sharon Hinck is published by NavPress (2008)

This review copy was provided by the publisher