Castle on the Rise: First Line Friday Review

Castle on the Rise: First Line Friday Review

Castle on the Rise by Kristy Cambron First Line:

“Fairy-tale weddings never included rain on the guest list.”

Don’t judge a book by its cover. But if it has a beautiful cover, you may want to give it a try. The endorsement on the front of this one is from Patti Callahan, and it says, “Enchanting and mesmerizing.” She could just as easily be talking about the cover as the story. The imagery on the front is welcoming and evokes the feeling of a fairy tale. Not that you’ll find a fairy tale inside the pages, though it begins with a fairy-tale wedding.

What readers will find is a beautifully written split time story featuring three different time periods, one in current day and two in Ireland’s history. The author did a wonderful job making Irish history come alive for the readers while drawing them into the lives of the fictional characters. And the weaving together of the places and families through the years is masterfully done.

With such a large cast of characters and stories to tell, it would have been easy to lose interest in one or more of them to a favorite. But I came to love each of them. Their stories, while similar in many ways, were all uniquely them. Joy, fear, love, and loss play a part in each life. And I’ll admit, there may be a couple tears staining the pages of my copy.

My Final Thoughts

For my review, I give Castle on the Rise a solid five stars. It’s a story I’ll keep on my shelf to return to in the future. I’ve already recommended it to friends, and I can’t wait to talk about the story with them. For those who take part in a book club, there are discussion questions at the end of the book.

Purchase Castle on the Rise on Amazon