Prince Etcheon and the Secret of the Ancient by Joann Arnold REVIEW

Etcheon always believed he would live and die in his small village that he moved to with his grandmother Granna Fela-safe, loved and protected.
But with Granna's death comes new information about Etcheon's royal heritage and destiny, which suddenly throws him in the middle of a battle against a wicked king. On the run from hideous beasts sent to kill him, Etcheon is saved by a mysterious girl, a tree with magical powers, and several amazing animals. With his new friends to protect and teach him, Etcheon undertakes a journey that will challenge his abilities and define who he needs to become- a warrior-prince charged to save his people.

 This was definitely a fantasy read for me. My second fantasy read in my life lol. The other fantasy book (series really) I read was The Chronicles of Narnia. Because I read The Chronicles of Narnia I gave this read a chance. I almost said no to this book because I truly am not a fan of fantasy. But I am a big fan of the Narnia series and I am trying to read outside of my comfort zone at least a little bit. And...I am glad I said yes :)
There were ares of the book I didn't care for. I didn't like how (to me) the author was too descriptive at times. Every look, a little breeze, anything seemed to be read into too much for me. How she worded sentences at times made them a bit of a tongue twister for me, too wordy at times. Like in the very beginning of the book, the first few paragraphs seemed that way. There were areas that seemed that way. But I guess it goes with the theme/time of the book. Like with The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Hence why Hannah Hurnard wrote Hinds Feet on High Places; at least to me lol. That book seemed to be the easier to read version of The Pilgrim's Progress. So I Won't give too much grief for the added wordings;)
On another note, I think that the Ancient Tree is supposed to be like the god, or the higher power in this book; Like the Lion in the Narnia series. I liked Etcheon's character. Even though I feel he has a lot of growing up to do, some maturity to gain, he has all this inner strength that he doesn't seem to be aware of until he is forced to step up to the plate throughout the book. He seemed to be very humble and always did as he was told, always asking questions along the way.
It bugged me how the 'mysterious girl, Tarainisafari' who Etcheon called Taraini for short and his eagle friends/protector, Barok seemed to never give him a strait or actual answer. It always seemed to be 'you will know in time' or something else. Don't get me wrong, Taraini seemed very nice, gentle and sweet but I felt that he almost never got an answer when he asked a question.
Yes, there are a few annoyances in the book for me, but in the end it was an enjoyable read.
I would recommend this read to most.
The cover is very fitting.


                                                                                I received this book for review from Media Guests
                                                             Thank you Michelle for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.