Review of The King in the Stone

The King in the Stone by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban is an irresistible blending of history and legend. It’s a love story, a quest, an action-adventure tale, and a time-travel epic. Yes – all of those things – but mostly it’s a crackling good story that kept me reading well into the night. It’s told from alternating points of view of Andrea and Julian, two star-crossed lovers.  The courage and determination of these characters, along with the complexity of their relationship keep the story moving along with plenty of twists and turns. There are a lot of other characters, but Ferreiro-Esteban handles her large cast so deftly that there is no confusion as to who’s who. One of the things I liked best about the book was the setting. Though the author doesn’t include a lot of lengthy descriptions, she manages to endue the mountains with such a sense of ancient wisdom and mystery that make it believable that this reality-bending adventure could actually happen. The writing style fits the story, with passages that are as magical as the mountain setting, yet the prose remains uncluttered and is never intrusive.

I was given an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The release date is July 25, 2016.