“The Healer’s Dance” by Jeanette Raleigh

Review by J (Sack-Boy)

What Worked: The premise was cool. I like the ideas of the clans, the main characters seemed well fleshed out too. There was a lot of unique magic, political systems, and other story elements. The plot twists were enough to make me feel for the characters, and I especially loved the romance story between the two main characters. I don’t want to spoil it, but to have a love so pure and real? Was a nice treat to read about for a change. It did feel real. The chemistry, and how they go about their romance, was just basically perfect.

What Didn’t: The writing could use a little tightening, but Raleigh definitely knows how to tell a good story. With some cleaning up, she will further become more amazing at the craft. There were some setting details that weren’t detailed. I assumed this was high fantasy given the content though, and imagined a sort of middle earth kind of atmosphere. Another thing that kind of bummed me out was that instead of detailing in the narrative more about the clans and how they function with the “seconds” and all that, it just given in an author’s note blurb at the beginning. I would have loved to see even more of the clan in action, and really dive into their culture.

Over all? It was a fun read. I’d recommend this for anyone who wants something clean, full of adventure, and looking for a rather epic quest with relate-able characters. I especially am looking forward to seeing if there is another book coming out.

Rating: 3.5 stars