Today, I am reviewing the Fantasy story Tatyanna (Light and Darkness Book 1) by Lindsay Johnston. A solid and enjoyable “portal” fantasy which pulls elements from both Eastern and Western mythologies, we follow the titular Tatyanna as she grapples with feelings of alienation and being pushed to the fringe...only to find out that those feelings are justified. She is different. She’s destined to save a world.
I give this book a 4/5. Here is my breakdown.
Characters: 4/5. I enjoyed these characters very much. Tatyanna was interesting and fun to follow as she went through her journey, although I did feel that some of her reactions to the strangeness were a little subdued; she seemed to accept things much more easily than I would have at 21. Her companions, especially Emmett and Dimitri, were also well-fleshed out and real. My favorite, though, was Malek, the Phoenix Lord (I don’t know if that was an official title or not). He felt extremely realistic and deep, and I look forward to learning more about him!
Plot/Storyline: 4/5. Nice and solid. While I wouldn’t point to any elements of this storyline that really wowed me or made me stop in amazement or shock, I did enjoy the entirety of the book. I didn’t notice any holes or unrelated elements that would have pulled me out of my reading. The story is classic, a standard “hero’s journey,” but that doesn’t make it any less fun to read.
I give this book a 4/5. Here is my breakdown.
Characters: 4/5. I enjoyed these characters very much. Tatyanna was interesting and fun to follow as she went through her journey, although I did feel that some of her reactions to the strangeness were a little subdued; she seemed to accept things much more easily than I would have at 21. Her companions, especially Emmett and Dimitri, were also well-fleshed out and real. My favorite, though, was Malek, the Phoenix Lord (I don’t know if that was an official title or not). He felt extremely realistic and deep, and I look forward to learning more about him!
Plot/Storyline: 4/5. Nice and solid. While I wouldn’t point to any elements of this storyline that really wowed me or made me stop in amazement or shock, I did enjoy the entirety of the book. I didn’t notice any holes or unrelated elements that would have pulled me out of my reading. The story is classic, a standard “hero’s journey,” but that doesn’t make it any less fun to read.
Flow: 4/5. The book moved forward at a good clip, taking just enough time to set the scene before dropping the next bomb. The only reason this didn’t receive a higher score is due to the author’s tendency to ignore contractions in dialogue. The dialogue itself was solid, even enjoyable, but the constant use of “I will” rather than “I’ll” or “He is” instead of “He’s” makes the speech seem stilted and artificial. Contractions are your friend!.
Spelling/Grammar: 3.5/5. There were several minor typographical errors and a few moderate problems that I noticed. A couple of times, there seemed to be paragraphs that duplicated content immediately previous to them, almost as if Johnston had gone through and changed it up during an edit but forgot to delete the previous version of that paragraph.
Overall: 4/5. A solid, fun, enjoyable work that I’ll recommend to anyone who likes this kind of story. While a few elements were classic and a little derivative, I really liked the way Lindsay put them together and fleshed out her world. The universe she’s created is, itself, unique and interesting, and I look forward to the sequel.
