WITCHLING [Paperback]

YASMINE GALENORN (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Berkley (2006)
• ASIN: B000P41H0S
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,159,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes two bestselling urban fantasy series: the Otherworld Series (Sisters of the Moon Series), and the Indigo Court Series, both for Berkley. She's also written a paranormal mystery series (the Chintz 'n China Series) for Berkley Prime Crime, a short-lived mystery series (the Bath & Body Series) under the name of India Ink, again for Berkley Prime Crime, and eight metaphysical nonfiction books (Llewellyn Publications and Crossing Press).

Yasmine is a shamanic witch, and walks an eclectic path. She considers her life a blend of teacups and tattoos--the former in her china closet, the latter on her skin. She's a theatre major, a graduate of the Evergreen State College (Olympia WA). She lives in the Seattle WA area with her husband and is the mother of four cats.

Because so many people ask, you pronounce her name this way: Yaz-mihn (NOT Jasmine--it's a "Y", not a "J"). Last name is pronounced: Gal-eh-norn The accent is on the first syllable.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If Witchling were a soda it'd be diet., July 27, 2007

By 

Rhianna Walker "Rhi" (Northwestern US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Witchling (Sisters of the Moon, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Attempt at a witty review title aside I think it conveys my overall opinion pretty well. If you love paranormals with heroines akin to Buffy or the Halliwell sisters this is right up your alley. Any comparison to literary heroines would bring those gals down just a little.

Meet the D'Artigo sisters, mom was a human, dad is fae. Oldest sister Camille, a witch, tells this first story. Operatives for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency they are the protectors of the line between Otherworld (their home realm) and Earth. When a baddy from the Subterranean Realms threatens to upset the balance between the three realms Camille and sisters Delilah, a shapeshifter, and Menolly, a vampire, have to kick some bad guy butt. Throw in the rich setting of the Pacific Northwest and some hot guys to keep the lust tension going and you have the perfect light reading.

While not quite as well built, planned and plotted as other heroines in the genre don't count these girls out. Characters like Rachel Morgan or Mercy Thompson are the caloric equivalent of a regular cola and these would make a great diet substitute. Lighter reading for in between the meatier series's. Enjoy!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun Urban Fantasy read, May 27, 2007

By 

Diane Raetz (West Milford, NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Witchling (Sisters of the Moon, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Three sisters, half human, half fae work for the Otherworld Investigative Services and are stationed in Seattle.

The good: The worldbuilding is excellent. Full blooded humans (FBH) live side by side with creatures from the Other World including, but not limited to giants, sidthe, cryptos, weres and vampires. Unlike most paranormal books the author makes an effort to make the sidthe, weres and vampires different than humans. FBHs are both facinated and repulsed by the recently revealed fae, some gawk and other protest the fae's presence on earth. The unrest in the Other World is completely believable as is the demon's desire to invade Earth and the Other World.

The bad: Although the relationships between the sisters is believable and the cast of characters is enjoyable, the relationship between Camille and her boyfriends is not. I found it impossible to believe that after six years of celibacy she would take two lovers, and consider a third, in the course of one week. Also the story is set up so that Camille's magic shorts out, but it always seems to happen in the most helpful manner.

In my opinion the book is misclassified. It is paranormal or urban fantasy, not a paranormal romance. There is no relationship resolution and to be honest the romantic entanglements are the least important part of the story. For those looking for a romance novel, this isn't for you. For those looking to start a new Urban Fantasy series, I can definately recommend Witchling.

36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sorry, just plain bad writing..., February 6, 2008

By 

R. Wolfe "Morganacat" (AZ, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Witchling (Sisters of the Moon, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Where to start? This unoriginal book is an attempt to cash in on the rising popularity of urban paranormal fantasy (done well by authors like Laurell K. Hamilton or Jim Butcher) but falls way, way short. Nothing is believable, not the characters (who all talk exactly the same - like a teenager, from the human to the ancient dragon), the relationships, or the setting itself. There's a huge lack of successful world-building here. But the absolute worst thing would have to be the dialogue. I can't say how many times I wanted to toss this book for the trite and cheesy dialogue alone. If a friend had given me this book asking if I thought it could be published, I would have said absolutely not. Yet here it is, and people are actually giving it good reviews??? I wouldn't even expect bad young adult fiction to be THIS bad. (I like YA fiction.)

Other examples of bad writing: a couple of the bad guys' names are "Bad A** Luke" and "The Psycho Babbler". The book is always understating or overstating things - characters laugh at inappropriate times and I can't even count how many times the main character "shakes" herself every time she has a [gasp] thought. Even a couple gratuitous sex scenes couldn't save this book. One of my favorite examples of awful writing... "My arm burned like a mother-sucker." Direct quote, no editing on my part.

The sad thing is that I actually wanted to like this book. Galenorn writes good pagan nonfiction. Sadly, she should stick with that. Big time pass on this series - I won't be reading the others. The only reason I finished it was because it was a gift. If I'd stopped after 30 pages like I wanted to, I would have settled on 2 stars for effort, but after slogging through this waste of paper, I'm giving it 1 for my suffering.