| Title | : | The Ivy Gate |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
| Publication | : | First published December 15, 2011 |
Only a week ago, she would have laughed at the thought. Her father was dead. Her friends and boyfriend had left town for college. Greatness would never be for her. She remained at home, with her mother, watching life pass her by.
Until she found the gate.
Now, the very life she took for granted is in danger, as are the lives of those she had ever loved. For behind the gate is another world, and a race begging for her help. This world—a mirror of her own—exists on a plane above the earth. She is warned that another world, with another, “evil” race, exists below. All three worlds had been kept safely apart. For a time.
The worlds are spiraling together, and in a matter of days, they will merge. The end is near and Katherine, by fate or chance, is the only one with the power to save them all. Which could make her the perfect weapon. Both races want her. Both tell different truths and histories. Maybe the merging is just what everyone needs. Is she willing to die trying to save a world that works so well without her? Or will she stand by once more, in hopes that maybe, this time, things will work out on their own?
The Ivy Gate Reviews
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**Originally posted on frommybookshelf.com**
Katherine Townsend has been having visions. Nothing serious, just one minute she's in her life, and in the next blink, she's in a sun-filled meadow, and blink, she's back. They happen about once a week and that's that. She's been having them since her dad died two years ago and she won't tell anyone about them because she's pretty sure they'll think it's because of her dad. She lives in a factory town that is slowly dying at a coffee shop that has almost no customers. Her boyfriend left her. She still lives with her mom. Little does she know that she just has a couple of days to save the world. She is the child of two worlds that have been separated from ours through an ancient magic, and unless she can figure out keep the worlds from crashing back together again, everyone and everything she knows will be destroyed.
OK, I really wanted to like this book. I had a hard time deciding how to review The Ivy Gate, only because I did enjoy reading it, I just felt there was a lot of room for growth. Kahler's writing is really beautiful and quite vivid and he has some great imagery, but... Well, too many times he tries to use unique sentence breaks and structures to create a sense of break in Katherine's thinking and time due to the visions that in some cases it became hard to follow what he was trying to convey. Add that to the number of typos in the book and I kept finding myself pulled out of the story.
SPOILERS AHEAD
There is also the basis of the story that I found very confusing. Katherine has a blue eye and a green eye, and this is because once upon a time there were two races on Earth before humans, the blue-eyed Erenfell and the green-eyed Til'Dara. The Til'dara were magical and the Erenfell were more scientific. Each race has a different history and mythology, but basically they were at war with each other and the Erenfell separated the planes of existence to keep the Til'Dara from destroying everything. This is where I became confused; it was never made abundantly clear how many planes of existence were made. I had the initial impression that there were two, but later it was mentioned that there were three, which made more sense with the story. It all seemed very vague. Maybe it was supposed to be, but it felt too vague for me. Or maybe I just missed something in the reading, but needless to say, I found myself more confused than not during my reading.
END SPOILERS
The book is perhaps too short, as well. By the time I was halfway through, I was already hoping that this was book one of two, if not a series, as there seemed far too much going on to wrap up everything before the of the book. Kahler did wrap everything up, and did it in a reasonable manner, but I think the book would benefit greatly if it was longer. It just seemed to me that Katherine, who started out the book with no prior knowledge of the existence of the other races and then found out she had mere days to save the world with no information from either side on how to do it, gained far too much knowledge far too quickly. I know there is a need for the suspension of disbelief in a fantasy novel, even one I would consider urban fantasy, but this just seemed to require too much of a suspension. I would like to see Kahler revisit this story someday, later in his writing career, and expand on this idea. It's a great idea, don't get me wrong, but I think it would be even better if he took time to nurture it and let it grow a little, along with his writing technique. I'll definitely be looking for more from Kahler in the future. -
A *very* promising debut. Loved everything about this book, despite a few very minor editing issues. I've been following this author, Alex, on Youtube through the YA Rebels (whom I love), and his Friday vlog is by far my favorite. Even if I'm super busy, I'll find time to watch his vlog. Wow, kinda stalkery, aren't I? O.o Well, otherwise I wouldn't have heard of him and would have missed out on this gem of an ebook. Sigh. Anyhow, I highly recommend reading this book. I still have to read the bonus first chapter of Martyr included in this ebook, and then Jarrett which I downloaded recently, but I have a feeling I'll enjoy those just as much, if not more. I can't wait to see what else this author has in store for us! :D
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It's really a shame this book couldn't be more than what it was. The plot was rushed and quite convoluted and the odd "flickering" of her visions was just weird. With some further research in good fantasy fiction writing and generously increased bulk in the story overall, this has the potential to be an interesting and compelling read. If Kahler were to perhaps revisit this book after 10 or so years of immersive writing, I'd actually be curious where he'd take it.
