Review and Giveaway: Finn Finnegan by Darby Karchut

Finn Finnegan by Darby Karchut 

Publisher- Spencer Hill Press

Release-March 1st 2013

Pre-Order-Amazon / B & N

Finn (not bleedin' Finnegan) MacCullen is eager to begin his apprenticeship. He soon discovers the ups and downs of hunting monsters in a suburban neighborhood under the demanding tutelage of the Knight, Gideon Lir. Both master and apprentice are descendents of the Tuatha De Danaan, a magical race of warriors from Ireland. Scattered long ago to the four corners of the world, the De Danaan wage a two thousand year old clandestine battle with their ancient enemy, the Amandán, a breed of goblin-like creatures.Now with the beasts concentrating their attacks on Finn, he and his master must race to locate the lost Spear of the Tuatha De Danaan, the only weapon that can destroy the Amandán, all the while hiding his true identity from his new friends, Rafe and Savannah, twins whose South African roots may hold a key to Finn's survival. Armed with a bronze dagger, some ancient Celtic magic, and a hair-trigger temper, Finn is about to show his enemies the true meaning of "fighting Irish."

My Thoughts:
Thirteen year old Finnegan (Finn) MacCullen  is a decedent to the Tuatha De Danaan, an ancient warrior race of mythical beings from Ireland who battle their sworn enemy the Amandan, Goblin like creatures who can disguise themselves among humans. It is an old Celtic war to the death for the solid price of returning to their home land, Ireland.

Finn begins his apprenticeship with the Knight, Gideon Lir and as he trains his young student they begin to wonder why they are attracted to so many Goblin attacks and soon believe that the beasts are looking for the lost Spear of the Tuatha De Danaan. It's a race to see who can find this fierce spear first, for it's the only weapon that can truly destroy the Amandan. 

Finn never felt like he belonged before, but soon he will come to see what fate really has in store for the young lad after all.

Going into this book I never realized it was a middle-grade YA story, but it actually worked out better since I'm always looking for a new adventure for my son. I think he's going to enjoy Finn Finnegan and his Irish temper just as much as I did!

I had a lot of fun with this book. It has so many captivating qualities that made this standout for me. For one thing, I adored the writing!! I could tell that not only did Darby Karchut have fun writing this world, but she put in a lot of heart and energy into making it imaginative and creative. The rich, deep celtic tongue took a little bit to get use to, but once I got the voices straight in my mind, it added to the experience in ways that I never expected.

The world itself is set in today's time, but there were times I was so caught up with the lore around these characters that I would forget.

I've read many different kinds of paranormal and supernatural beings in my reads, but I don't recall reading to much about Goblins, which made this even more exciting and intriguing. Darby did a fantastic job with this lore, really making it her own as well as coming up with a shinny new take on the Fey.

Add song, magic and a wicked temper to arm you in battle and you've got one helluva great read here.

I really loved all the characters. When we first meet Finn, he's an eager kid who stumbles with pure excitement. He wants to prove something to himself and others around him. He's not just some halfer, he's a true warrior and he wants to succeed. But his temper, stubbornness and constant disobedience seems to always get him in more trouble then it's worth. Still, Finn has a good heart, he's loyal, brave and is the kind of characters that readers will go the distance with.  

Gideon is my favorite character. He's firm but fair, hard but gentle. This has such a lovely master/apprentice, teacher/student/ father/son friendship that I can't help admire. The way they look out for each other is extremely touching. I also love the easy wit, banter, sarcasm and the fondest between them.

I also liked what Rafe and Savannah brought into the story. It was interesting to see how the friendship plays out with Finn's secret.

There was some touches on racism in this one and how it affected Finn and his friends, but it was nicely dealt with. The only part that I didn't care for were the overly curious neighbors and the measures in which they took in the very end. The added conflict felt unnecessary and annoying to the story line, especially when the reader already establishes Gideon to be good people. 

All in all, I had a lot of fun with this book. The writing is outstanding and funny. The plot is exciting and unique, the mythology is fascinating, the ending is unpredictable and has a great great twist and finally these characters are so well written and easy to connect with from the very first page, on. 

I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel. I can't wait to see where Darby Karchut takes Finn and Gideon next! 

An Excellent adventure fit for all ages!

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                                                                   4 Snowflakes

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