Starling (Starling Saga) [Hardcover]

Lesley Livingston (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 28, 2012 | Series: Starling Saga

Mason Starling is a champion fencer on the Gosforth Academy team, but she's never had to fight for her life. Not until the night a ferocious, otherworldly storm rips through Manhattan, trapping Mason and her teammates inside the school. Mason is besieged by nightmarish creatures more terrifying than the thunder and lightning as the raging tempest also brings a dangerous stranger into her life: a young man who remembers nothing but his name—the Fennrys Wolf. His arrival tears Mason's world apart, even as she feels an undeniable connection to him. Together, they seek to unravel the secrets of Fenn's identity as strange and supernatural forces gather around them. When they discover Mason's family—with its dark allegiance to ancient Norse gods—is at the heart of the mystery, Fennrys and Mason are suddenly faced with a terrifying future.

Set against the gritty, shadowed back-drop of New York City, this first novel in award-winning author Lesley Livingston's epic Starling Saga is an intoxicating blend of sweeping romance and pulse-pounding action.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Thrilling and intense; pulls you along like the inevitable rush toward Ragnarok.” (Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey series)

“I’d recommend anything by Lesley Livingston.” (Claudia Gray, New York Times bestselling author, in USA Today article)

“Livingston’s intense novel will satisfy eager readers.” (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA))

“There are special effects and eye candy galore, making for a quick, pulse-pounding read.” (Publishers Weekly)

Praise for Wondrous Strange:“Enchanting ... Readers will revel in the hints of Shakespeare within the text as they are introduced to faerie creatures both familiar and ‘wondrous strange.’” (School Library Journal)

Praise for Wondrous Strange: “Will capture readers eager for romance, magic, and suspense.” (ALA Booklist)

Praise for Darklight: “Will enthrall fans, and its cliffhanger ending will leave them screaming for more.” (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA))

Praise for Darklight: “Readers will delight in the ongoing romance, the glimpses into the Otherworld, and meetings with all four Kings and Queens of Faerie... in the world of Twilight read-alikes, Livingston’s novels stand out.” (School Library Journal)

Praise for Tempestuous:“The third and final entry in the series that began with Wondrous Strange, this ends the story just right. … The romance! And the battles! And all the Shakespeare! It’s enjoyable [and] well-plotted.” (Kirkus)

Praise for Tempestuous:“Livingston brings this trilogy to a strong and satisfying conclusion, and readers will enjoy every minute, while wishing it did not have to end.” (School Library Journal)

Praise for Tempestuous:“Livingston’s artistry at creating imaginary worlds that exist side by side with contemporary New York remains strong...fans of the first two entries will gulp this one down with gusto.” (ALA Booklist)

About the Author

Lesley Livingston is a writer and actress living in Toronto. She has a master's degree in English from the University of Toronto, where she specialized in Arthurian literature and Shakespeare. She is the author of Wondrous strange, which won the Canadian Librarian Association Young Adult Book Award in addition to being a White Pine Honor Book, as well as Darklight and Tempestuous.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen; 1 edition (August 28, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062063073
• ISBN-13: 978-0062063076
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Cliffhanger! September 23, 2012

By Lauren

Format:Kindle Edition

You have to wait no time for action in Starling! It starts off with Mason, her brother Rory, Toby(the fencing teacher), Cal and Heather finishing up fencing practice when a storm rips through Manhattan and they are stuck inside of the fencing gym. The storm is a little bit more than they expect: they can't get out & suddenly there are Draugrs attacking them. Then out of nowhere there is a naked boy named Fennrys who fends off the monsters.

I knew this was going to be action packed but I had no idea it would dive right in! Starling focuses around Norse mythology which I actually hadn't read prior to this book so I was flicking back and forth between Google every so often.

After the storm Mason and Fennrys start to become very close and there are more strange encounters along the way. This book was a match made in heaven for me, I prefer more action and story with just a little bit of romance. It fit the bill perfectly.

I love Mason as a character. She's feisty but smart and she wasn't completely perfect. Mason has severe claustrophobia which hinders her along the way.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this book and you won't be able to put it down! The ending is one of the biggest cliffhangers I have ever seen in a book. I was astonished(in a good way) and now I absolutely cannot wait for the second book!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as amazing as I thought it'd be September 10, 2012

By Lauren

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

It started with a broken window, hoard of black-bluish beasties and a *hot* naked guy with a case of amnesia. Needless to say, I was hooked from the beginning.

Starling caught my attention right away but unfortunately it couldn't hold it. I may have started out with a high opinion but towards the end my happy feelings tapered off leaving me very let down. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot to love about Starling, but there was also a lot to dislike.

Mason Starling is extremely likable as the main heroine. She's very gentle yet totally kick-ass. Mason can basically be your best friend or your worst enemy. When paired with a sword, you best hope that she's your friend because she can be downright deadly. Heather was also a great female character. She starts out as Mason's frenemy then quickly become one strong, loyal and protective "true" friend. Two other standout characters were Rory and Roth... two Starling brothers and two complete opposites. I REALLY hated Rory. (We're totally meant to... at least I hope). He's entirely self-absorbed, petty, and downright homicidal. If it would help advance his status, Rory would literally kill his own sister. As far as I know it there's nothing reputable about Rory. Then there's Roth, edgy and mysterious and regarded as the "golden" Starling child. He basically can do no wrong. Especially compared to Rory, Roth is placed on an extremely high pedestal. And finally the fifth character that I found rises above the rest is Fennrys Wolf a.k.a. Mr. Amnesia. It was hard really getting to know him mostly because he doesn't know himself (LOL). But his protective and sweet-natured ways do shine through the confusion and memory loss, especially around Mason.

There's also quite a few other characters but I don't feel they're entirely worth mentioning. Many times I actually asked myself "Why do we need to meet this character or what purpose do they play?"

Starling featured 3rd person multiple POVS. "Oy vey." I don't know if it's because I don't read many 3rd person POVS or it was Livingston's style but half the time I was utterly confused, not knowing who was saying or doing what. I had a very hard time keeping track and distinguishing between multiple characters. Many times I had to re-read a section. I also found the sheer number of POVS overwhelming. Just about every character introduced was spotlighted either frequently or periodically. There was just too many people to keep up with.

The mythology aspect was pretty interesting and entirely unique. Before Starling I'd never read any book featuring Norse gods or myths. From the synopsis I figured we'd just be dealing with Norse, but surprisingly we also get some Egyptian and Greek god(s) interfering in the story. I personally love whenever an author features multiple mythological beliefs and paths because I'm a firm believer that all gods stand on equal footing.

I know very little of Norse mythology so luckily Livingston provides us with the inside scoop to get us familiar with the Norse "tales of old". There was also a downside to these scoops. The majority of the time I found myself waist-deep in information overload. As a newbie I was fed a bunch information regarding Ragnarok (Norse version of "the end of the world"). Many times I was confused when a character would act a certain way because of Ragnarok, especially when it came to the other gods. I felt like I was given a lot of information but couldn't actually utilize it fully.

Overall Starling was a decent book. It was an entertaining yet difficult read. Although the story and characters we're imaginative and detailed; I just found too much fault when it came to the mechanics. I'm sure I'll read book two but I don't think I'll necessarily rush to get it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic characters and awesome mythology! October 25, 2012

By Kaitlyn (The Bookworm)

Format:Hardcover

When I started Starling, I wasn't sure to expect. I've read Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston, and I thought it was good, but I wasn't interested enough to pick up the rest of the series. So I was a little wary of reading Starling. But at the same time, I was hoping it would be good, because I am a crazy huge fan of mythology. I ended up really enjoying it!

But first, I admit it, I don't know much about Norse mythology except a little that I learned from the movie Thor, lol. I'm definitely more obsessed with Greek mythology, but after reading Starling, I think that Norse mythology is completely fascinating and I wish there were more YA books out there with it!

So, onto the characters. I really admired Mason as a main character. It was especially cool that she actually knew how to fight; she took fencing lessons ever since she was little. I loved all the scenes where she was fencing. I also liked that she was smart and logical. She didn't run around making stupid decisions, she thought things through.

Fennrys was wonderful too. I loved how his character developed throughout the story. He doesn't remember anything about his life, and the struggles that he went through were all realistic and made me feel for him. The rest of the minor characters were a great addition. Like Heather - I disliked her at first but she totally grew on me throughout the story! And Rory, Mason's brother...wow. He was an...interesting character. Yeah. And he was kind of creepy.

The plot, however, didn't pull me in right away. Yes, the book does start with a big battle, and there are lots of other fight scenes throughout the book, but despite the action, I felt like the pacing was rather slow. Might be just me, though. Anyway, the Norse mythology stuff was amazing. That really drew me in. It was so interesting and I loooved learning about Odin and the prophecy and all that cool stuff! Wonderfully done!

As for the writing style, it was okay. Livingston tends to write super long paragraphs at times, which annoyed me. Maybe that was why the pacing felt slow. Sometimes there was a lot of description too, which seemed like it just dragged out the story. Yes, it was helpful in describing the setting, but it felt like a little much. But aside from that, her writing was sharp and well-done. I especially loved the dialogue, it was witty and had me chuckling at certain parts!

I think Starling is a great, highly enjoyable read for anyone who loves mythology. I loved being able to look into the world of Norse mythology and I cannot wait for the next installment in this series!