Review: Breath of Air

Her name was Capri, and she was Air.

She was born with a gift she didn’t understand. A gift so strange, so remarkable that she had kept it secret for as long as she could remember, despising that it made her different when all she wanted was to be normal, to belong. As an orphan, belonging to someone, anyone, would have been an incredible blessing, one she would have given up all that she had just to get a taste of.

But the truth was that she didn’t belong in the orphanage in Virginia, or even in the United States. In fact, she didn’t belong with human beings at all. Because she wasn’t one of them, not really. She was something much more extraordinary.

She could shift the direction of the wind, create billowing clouds out of nothing, and charm birds into dancing on her open palm. She belonged to an elite group of beings, responsible for preserving the balance of nature and the safety of Earth from an underworld that deserved to be feared, and needed to be controlled.

And after years of being lost, she had at last been found, and now the truth of how she had ended up so far from home was becoming horribly clear to her.

But there’s someone who doesn’t want her to return; someone who knows Capri was the only witness to an act of heinous treason and violent murder. And when she begins to search her memories for details of the night she was taken from her home, details that will implicate a killer, she finds herself the unwary target of an otherworldly dark force intent on silencing her by any means possible.

Blurb from Goodreads.

Lindsay's review




First things first: the cover. Let's be honest, we all judge a book by its cover, even when we say we don't, and this one made an amazing first impression. I was actually a little sad that I had an ebook copy, because it makes fondling the cover a little difficult. It's exquisite!

Since the cover promised me it would be great, I dug right in. It had a slow build to it, not a ton of excitement in the first half, but the characters started to grow on me. It wasn't until I was headed into work, without my kindle!, that I realized how much the characters had gotten under my skin. For a full nine hours, I found myself just itching to get back to them.

I'm not really one for rehashing plot, since the synopsis has already laid it all out for you. I will tell you, however, that Katie Jennings wins major points for creativity. This is the first book I have ever read about Dryads, although the other mythical beings are often written about. We have the Fates, the Furies, the Muses. I'm sure most of you have heard about Serendipity? The Dryads may be lesser known, but, in this case, no less fascinating.

Capri is an Air Dryad. Simply put, she has control over the wind. Only, having been raised in an orphanage, no one has ever taught her how to use her amazing gifts. As a main character, she is the perfect balance of strength and humility. As a supporting cast, we have her friends who are an Earth, Fire, and Water Dryad. These four friends have the elements covered! And, of course, what's a good book without a little heat? Enter sexy Fury, Rian. Dark and mysterious, the reader is left wondering about him, and wanting more. Luckily, there are still three more books to the series, so I'm able to get my fix.

So that concludes my first review for CR. WOOT! WOOT! A huge thank you to Lori for giving me the opportunity to voice my opinions in a public forum, and thank you to Katie Jennings for providing a copy of her book for review.