A Singular Gift
By: Sue Santore
ISBN: 2940011446368
Published July 31, 2011
Available Format: ebook
My Rating: ★★★★★
Bonnie Jean Ryan’s grandmother is dying and passes down a very important gift—a gift that will cause Jean to grow up quite quickly. It will be up to her to hastily learn her magic, suppress the darkness, and win a very important battle between good and evil. Along the way, Jean is sure to learn some very significant lessons about friendship, family, selflessness, and love.
This is a fantastic coming-of-age story, with a plethora of little life lessons peppered throughout. In the beginning, it might appear that Jean is kind of a spoiled little brat, in a way. She is obviously the favorite of the dying matriarch and many in her family envy her for that. But, could any of them have shouldered the burden that is placed upon her with her grandmother’s final gift? I think not. Beneath the superficial, Jean is really an old soul with a big heart, albeit a confused one at times. She is sometimes easily influenced, and that has brought about some big problems in her life. Overcoming this vulnerability is one of the major themes of this story. Not only is it wrong to side with evil, sitting back and doing nothing to fight it is just as bad.
I am truly impressed with this story. Sue does such a wonderful job of getting into the head of a young teen and making her life and the lives of those around her so completely believable in the midst of so much fantasy. The book is very clean and great for the younger side of young adults—no language or mature situations to worry about. It reminded me at times of a little Chronicles of Narnia, with the magic hallway bit, especially when they venture into the Winter Room. The writing is spot on and the plot was fleshed out beautifully.
I adopted A Singular Gift and Sue as part of Adopt an Indie month. I am honored to have been able to read and review this delightful novel! Sue will be a special guest on my blog tomorrow, and you will have a chance to win your very own ecopy of A Singular Gift to enjoy! Don’t miss it…
