Wayfinder Review

Wayfinder (Truthseeker 2)

-       C.E. Murphy

Publisher: MIRA

E-Arc with thanks to netgalley and MIRA

Lara Jansen is a truthseeker, gifted—or cursed—with the magical ability to tell honesty from lies. Once she was a tailor in Boston, but now she has crossed from Earth to the Barrow-lands, a Faerie world embroiled in a bloody civil war between Seelie and Unseelie. Armed with an enchanted and malevolent staff which seeks to bend her to its dark will, and thrust into a deadly realm where it’s hard to distinguish friend from foe, Lara is sure of one thing: her love for Dafydd ap Caerwyn, the Faerie prince who sought her help in solving a royal murder and dousing the flames of war before they consumed the Barrow-lands. But now Dafydd is missing, perhaps dead, and the Barrow-lands are closer than ever to a final conflagration. Lara has no other choice: she must harness the potent but perilous magic of the staff and her own truthseeking talents, blazing a path to a long-forgotten truth—a truth with the power to save the Barrow-lands or destroy them.

This is the second book in the Truthseeker duology and I haven’t read the first book! (I think it’s catching and the blame lies solely with Melissa from Books and Things!) This definitely puts me at a disadvantage at the beginning of Wayfinder as it feels like you’ve just opened a book in the middle and started reading. Lara drops into the middle of a battlefield and from there the action doesn’t stop with Lara running from one side to another, from one world to the next.

I liked Lara and her unique power of being able to tell truth from lies – even her own thoughts are impacted by this power. She’s been caught up in an Elvin family feud, civil war and age long enmity between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. But she has become her own person, embracing her power and leadership skills. There are a lot of characters introduced and most of them had suspect motives so Lara never knew if she could trust them or not. This kept me on the edge of my seat and I kept changing my mind about which people she should trust!

One element I found a little repetitive was the amount of talking and explanations that happened. Every time Lara met up with someone else, what had happened so far was explained. At first this was useful seeing as I hadn’t read Truthseeker, but it continued as earlier points in Wayfinder were repeated as well. I was paying attention! I didn’t need that many recaps! And despite this, some characters in Boston turned up out of no-where (to me) and seemed to be a little pointless (although I loved Kelly!).

However, the story was gripping and I was never bored. There was loads of intriguing elements, from the staff to the love interest, Dafydd. While the end wraps up Lara’s story – I still felt like I wanted to know more – perhaps I need to pick up Truthseeker and see if the first book will answer my questions! Generally though, I’d recommend reading the series in order though!

Recommended for fans of Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Briggs. 7 out of 10.