Book Review: Day of First Sun

Title:  The Day of First Sun
Author:  Sheryl Steines
Pages:  354
Publication Date:  2010
Version:  Paperback (Received free via giveaway on Goodreads.com)
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction/Fantasy

Summary Via Goodreads.com:
"Annie Pearce and Cham Chamsky are tracking the vampire Sturtagaard when they are enlisted by the FBI to solve the murder of Princess Amelie. This isn't an ordinary murder for the Wizard Guards, this is a magical murder of a non-magical princess. They must determine who killed the princess and in the process they learn there was more to her murder than originally thought. As they dig deeper into the mystery they must do so in front of the world while still protecting the secret of who they are and their lives in magic."

My Review:
Annie and Cham are best friends, have been from little on up, they are also coworkers, confidants to each other, and slowly becoming lovers.  They work for the Wizard Guards, a kind of FBI agency for the magical world.  They are called in on a murder of a non-magical princess because it is looking to the FBI agent that there is more to the scene than he can see himself.  Times like that are when he calls in Annie and Cham.  It is up to them to find out who murdered this princess and why she was murdered in the first place.  What or who, was she mixed up with?  There is so much more to this murder as they dig deeper into it.  With so much at stake can they get to the bottom of it all?  Can they prevent the most detrimental event that will have ever happened in the magical or human world?  Can they make sure the magical world stays a secret from the "normal" human world?  Will they survive all the mysteries and the interrogations with such volatile players involved?

Ok, I have to say the theory behind this book was great.  I loved the thought of magical and non-magical alongside each other.  I loved the murder mystery of it all too, which is what drew me to this book.  It was something I hadn't seen much of before...a murder mystery, yet fantasy and magical too.  I can't honestly say I loved the book, however, I did enjoy it for the most part.  First of all there were things I liked in the book and the writing.  I did enjoy the characters of the book and their dynamics.  I enjoyed watching them develop and I enjoyed seeing Annie and Cham as they realized that their best friendship may be morphing into a bit more than that.  Another upside to the book was the fact that it was pretty descriptive and seemed to have a lot of action/adventure in it all in all.  Some of the comical parts were enough to make you groan, but they also had to make you chuckle because they were so bad.  The story did also seem to plug along for the most part.  The reason I say I didn't love the book was this...at times I felt like it was just a bit too drawn out.  Also, and maybe more so, it could get a bit confusing at times.  I'm not sure if I was just not into it so missed things or if it really bounced around that much.  I just felt that at times I was unsure what I was reading really had to do with anything in the main plot.  Some things were also left unanswered in my mind; made me feel like the book didn't finish some of the things that were talked about or that were brought up.  With such great descriptions for some things, others things/events in the book lacked any description and seemed out of place to me.

All in all I have to give 4 stars I think.  I was leaning toward 3, but the descriptions, characters, and main plot idea were really great I thought.  So the things I didn't like really weren't detrimental, just annoying.  Also, perhaps it was just not my kind of book or one that I am used to, so that played a role in why I didn't like it...not so much that the book was bad.

4/5 Stars