Book Review: Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton

Title: Tyger Tyger
Author: Kersten Hamilton
Genre: YA paranormal fiction
Publisher: Clarion Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: ARC for book tour with Winsome Media Communications
First line: Please, Teagan Wylltson’s fingers curled in American Sign Language as she spoke.

Everything is falling into place for Teagan Wylltson. She gets good grades, she’s on track for college, she has a job she loves and a wacky best friend named Abby. A wacky best friend who tells her she’s sure that Teagan is about to be attacked by goblins. Tea humors Abby, but is too distracted to give it much thought – distracted by Finn Mac Cumhaill, the boy who has just entered her life. He’s connected to Tea’s mother’s family, Irish Travelers, and when he’s around, strange things begin to happen. Tea is determined to stay away from Finn.

It isn’t long until Tea discovers that Abby was right – and that Finn is descended from a bloodline of goblin fighters. The stakes get high when the goblins go after her family – and Finn is the only one who can protect her and help get her family back together.

Tyger Tyger combines three of my very favorite things: Irish faerie lore, YA paranormal fiction, and a page-turning story with terrific characters. While the story is suspenseful and creepy and dark in all the right ways, the characters are what give life to this book. Teagan and her love for all living things; her brother Aiden with his musical gift of the bard; crazy Abby who is loyal to Tea above all else; Tea’s ancient grandmother Mamieo who still has a fierce fight left in her; and the mysterious and sexy Finn.

There is also much in this book that deals with the human condition, with the choices we each face every day. While Tyger Tyger isn’t a straight allegory, there is definitely a representation of the human fight between flesh and spirit, between the darkness and light we are all capable of. Hamilton only touches on this battle in book one, but there is potential for it to play out more fully in subsequent books in the series.

I was fascinated by the Irish faerie lore, the creation myths, the story of the Sidhe and their royalty and the fierce warrior, Fionn Mac Cumhaill. The ancient tales are told by the spunky Mamieo, who ties with the young Aiden as my favorite character. This is the first book in the proposed Goblin Wars series, one that has amazing potential. If you like YA paranormal fiction, this is one to check out.

(An ARC of Tyger Tyger was provided to me by the publisher for the purpose of reviewing it for this blog tour. Many of the links on this site are Amazon affiliate links. If you click on any of these and subsequently purchase anything, I will receive a small percentage in commission.)