Sapphique

I can't believe I've let my review of Sapphique by Catherine Fisher go this long!  I mean, I finished it in March, but, its a busy time of year for a maestra.  Thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoyed the video clip I posted describing how I felt while reading it.

From Goodreads.com:
Finn has escaped from the terrible living Prison of Incarceron, but its memory torments him, because his brother Keiro is still inside. Outside, Claudia insists he must be king, but Finn doubts even his own identity. Is he the lost prince Giles? Or are his memories no more than another construct of his imprisonment? And can you be free if your friends are still captive? Can you be free if your world is frozen in time? Can you be free if you don't even know who you are? Inside Incarceron, has the crazy sorcerer Rix really found the Glove of Sapphique, the only man the Prison ever loved. Sapphique, whose image fires Incarceron with the desire to escape its own nature. If Keiro steals the glove, will he bring destruction to the world? Inside. Outside. All seeking freedom. Like Sapphique.
I should say that I was a bad book blogger and didn't realize that Sapphique was the second in the series.  I just read the synopsis on the Breathless Reads book tour website and thought it sounded pretty cool.  One of the hallmarks of a good series is that each book can be a stand alone novel, and Sapphique definitely has that.  Did I have questions that probably could have been answered in book 1, had I read it?  Yes.  But did it ruin the story and make it hard to read?  No.  I did have to reread the ending to make sure I understood what was happening, but other than that, it was fine.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Sapphique.  I'm guessing one of the reasons I've had such a hard time writing this review is that, while it was really good, I had such a hard time wrapping my head around the entire idea.  I mean, I'm a very literal, black and white kind of gal.  And Sapphique is a book with so many twists and turns that I was blown away.  I don't want to give away the story but WHOA. 

Sapphique is definitely a fantasy book, and not in the "flying witch and wizard" or "sparkly vampire" sense of the word.  Sapphique is has whole different worlds and realms that flow in and out of each other.  I stepped out of my comfort zone to read this, but I'm very glad I did.