*ARC provided by NetGalley
Normally I prefer to start a series with the first book, but when I saw Wayfinder (book 2 in the Worldwalker Duology) listed I couldn’t help myself. The cover was nice and premise sounded very interesting. Overall, it turned out to be an enjoyable read. This was a little more on the high fantasy side as opposed to urban fantasy because you spend a great deal of time in the Barrowlands (a post-apocalyptic land for their Faerie-kin). Thankfully, even though I didn’t read the first book the author catches you up to speed.
The book is centered on Lara Jansen, a not-so-ordinary tailor that has special powers allowing her to be a human lie detector. Her gift makes her very attractive for the beings of this other world, so she reluctantly trades her sewing kit for a magical staff that proves challenging to control… Or is it trying to control her? Either way, she needs it to fend off enemies in the Barrowlands as she tries to rescue her beloved Dafydd, the Seelie prince who originally sought her out for her gift to save his world. As she takes this journey she meets many powerful characters, some friend and some foe.
I found it very easy to immerse myself into the story. There’s a lot of decent action and world-building and the magic was cool. Lara isn’t particularly special or quirky, but the character experiences the necessary growth into her roles as a Truthseeker and then a Wayfinder. The romance for me is a little bland, but this may have been because I didn’t read the first book where a lot of the development happens. As it stands, this book didn’t need that angle to be interesting.
I liked C.E. Murphy’s writing style and I felt as if the pacing was just right. I enjoyed this book enough that I have added the first book to the TBR queue. As a Duology, we’re not committed to an on-going series which is good and bad. I appreciate that the books didn’t drag on, but I think this could have been a decent on-going series if handled well. Either way, I recommend this series.