Summers at Castle Auburn By Sharon Shinn Release Date: Buy it Today! ACE Fantasy Ratings Action Romance Characters Overall Purchase on Amazon. Purchase at Powell’s. Find independent bookstores.

Illegitimate daughter of a royal lord, Coriel’s time is divided between her life n the village as her healer grandmother’s apprentice and her summers at Castle Auburn, where she lives as her uncle’s ward and spends three glorious months with her beloved half-sister.

The summer that Coriel is fourteen, the world is wonderful as she rides with her sister, flirts with the prince, and goes on a hunt for mysterious aliora, a fey prized for their services as slaves.

The summer that Coriel is fifteen is disillusioning, as she realizes the cruelty of her idolized prince, the pain in her sister’s eyes, and the injustice of slavery.

The summer that Coriel is sixteen, she will give everything to keep her sister from a painful marriage and fix the injustices of her world, even if it never means another summer at Castle Auburn.

We all have those books and movies that we return to year after year, an annual re-watching and rereading that we just can’t resist. Summers at Castle Auburn is at the top of my list of books that I just can’t resist. Even though I’ve read it at least four times now, I find myself excited with every turn of the page, rediscovering the characters and plot details as I read.

Sometimes it’s hard to write a feminine character that is innocent and non-combative, yet has an inner strength and attitude that connects with the modern reader. Females like that can come off as silly or stupid, innocence confused with naivety. Luckily, Coriel manages to start the book as an innocent youth and moves on to become aware of the world around her, without becoming cynical. Coriel is an excellent teenage character, strong without needing to be a warrior woman. In fact, Coriel is a healer, more interested in healing wounds than inflicting them.

Like the Harry Potter books, as Coriel grows up, her viewpoint of the world widens and the reader is able to observe more and more characters and plot depth. I enjoy a book that lets me be just a step in front of the character, and Coriel’s early naivety about the world allows the reader to realize things before she does, yet not feel like she’s stupid for not noticing yet.

While the actual world that the story takes place in is rather standard fantasy fare, the characters bring it to life. Every character stands out on their own. Even now, as I write this review, it’s been about four months since I last read the book, but I still can remember the cast and scenes clearly. The standardization of the world works for its benefit in this case, because the reader doesn’t spend much time thinking about the world, but instead focuses on the characters and story, which are what is really important. All the world building can’t cover up bad plotting or weak characters.

Ratings Reasons:

Adventure 4 - Pretty average adventure and pacing, but it’s kept me reading it straight through, no matter how many times I pick it up. Most of the action/development is internal though, as Coriel grows up.

Romance 4 - I really like the main couple, though I think I like them better the more often I read the book. It’s one of those couples that I didn’t exactly see or plan on until it happened, and the first time I kind of said, "Huh?" but rereading it, the pairing was there and developed in such a way that it’s clear the characters will work out together. Plus, I like the secondary pairing as well. While Shinn’s books are known for romance, I usually feel like the romance isn’t actually the focus of the book, and when the pairing comes together, I usually feel like they will realistically work on compatibility instead of "OMG, twue love!"

Characters 3 1/2 - While the characters are all based on typical fantasy archetypes, they still all had unique voices, especially our narrator, Coriel.

Overall 4 - This is simply a book that I fell in love with immediately. I can’t recommend it to enough people.