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The Cadence of Gypsies Book Review and Giveaway

Today, I have a literary mystery up for review on reading list! The Cadence of Gypsies is the first in Barbara Casey's F.I.G. Mysteries.  After reading this one--I have been shuffling my reading list to get the other books of the series to the top!  What did I think of The Cadence of Gypsies?

Book Title: The Cadence of Gypsies (Book 1 of The F.I.G. Mysteries)by Barbara Casey
Category: YA fiction, 272 pages
Genre: Literary/Mystery
I received a complimentary copy of this book for use in my review.  All opinions are my own .

About the Book

On her 18th birthday, Carolina Lovel learned that she was adopted and was given a letter written by her birth mother in an unknown language. After years of research she travels to Italy on a mission to find the truth about her past. Carolina is accompanied by three extremely gifted but mischievous students the FIGs from Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women. In an effort to help their favorite teacher, the FIGs will have to use their special abilities to decipher the Voynich Manuscript, the most mysterious document in the world, and the one thing that is strangely similar to what Carolina was given. Their search will take them into the mystical world of gypsy tradition and magic, more exciting and dangerous than any of them could have imagined.

My Review

The author takes readers on a different type of adventure in The Cadence of Gypsies.  Many of us read action packed, death defying thrillers that keep us on the edge of our seat.  The Cadence of Gypsies keeps readers well engaged and turning those pages with a different type of adventure.  We follow an eclectic band of characters as they reveal their talents and selves to find the keys to a famous (and personal) mystery.  The pace of this novel is slow and steady with well developed scenes and well drawn "adventures" of a more heartfelt and intellectual nature.  I still found myself at peace with the story and followed it from cover to cover because the author pulled me into a realistic world and into seemingly real lives.  The author introduced me to the magic and lifestyles of gypsies and she merged the lives of modern day North Carolina, exceptional teens with an ancient world to create a very satisfying mystery adventure.

The characters create the F.I.G. mystery series.  The author took time to develop four very different--yet exceptional--characters:  the F.I.G.s and their mentor, Carolina.  I found these girls especially intriguing since I have my own resident F.I.G.S in my own girls.  The unique talents (or gifts) of the main characters make them an ideal puzzle/problem/mystery-solving-team--and the author made them connected "loners" in virtually every sense by placing them as orphans through various circumstances. While I didn't love the girls completely as individuals--I loved them as friends and I truly look forward to reading more F.I.G. style adventures with them.

Some twists and turns and surprises--with a lot a of logic and character insights.  I loved the way in which the author allowed the girls (and Carolina) to ponder the mysteries each in her own way--and connect the pieces as a whole.  The Cadence of Gypsies takes interesting looks at gypsy life, magic, giftedness, being "alone" and different--and finding an individual's "place" in the world.  The mystery (ies) of the novel had some twists and turns (some expected--others more of a surprise)--but, the characters maintained a more logical approach to things (even to magic) and analyzed their "clues" with their own set of talents of gifts.

Would I recommend The Cadence of Gypsies by Barbara Casey?   If you have an interest in ancient mysteries (and cultures) coupled with modern life, magic and gifted characters--and their interactions--this book is a wonderful launch to the F.I.G. series and should be on your reading list.  I found the magic and world of the gypsies interestingly written without pushing it toward fantasy.  I loved the characters of the novel and their unique gifts for the storyline--especially when combined as a group.  This (for me) is a wonderful start to the mystery series for young adults and grown ups alike--and I am very much looking forward to reading more books from this series over the next month!. 

To read more reviews, please visit Barbara Casey's page on iRead Book Tours.


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Meet the Author:


Barbara Casey is the author of several award-winning novels for both adults and young adults, as well as book-length works of nonfiction true crime and numerous articles, poems, and short stories. Her nonfiction true crime book, Kathryn Kelly: The Moll Behind Machine Gun Kelly, has been optioned for a major film and television series. In addition to her own writing, she is an editorial consultant and president of the Barbara Casey Agency. Established in 1995, she represents authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan. Barbara is also a partner in Strategic Media Books Publishing, an independent publishing house that specializes in cutting-edge adult nonfiction. Barbara lives on a mountain in Georgia with her husband, and three dogs who adopted her: Benton, a hound-mix; Fitz, a miniature dachshund; and Gert, a Jack Russel terrier of sorts.

Connect with the author:  Website


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Post a Comment

3 Comments

  1. Angela, I can't thank you enough for your wonderful in-depth review of THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES, Book 1 in The F.I.G. Mystery Series. I appreciate your time and the fact that you identified so many of the things I was trying to create by writing about these three exceptional young women and their mentor. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy the next two books in this series as much as you did this one.

    My very best to you and to your bloggers.

    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have always had an interest in the gypsy life! I would love to read this. I also like the cute cover!
    Thank you for the nice giveaway as well :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Allison. I have also always had an interest in the gypsy culture, so doing the research for this book was fun. The things I talk about, such as spells and herbal medicines, are based on fact. So I hope you get a chance to read it. As far as the cover, my publisher is also an artist. She has designed all of the covers in this series, and each cover shows an element of the gypsy culture. Thank you so much for your comment.

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