Pearl North (1964–2022)

Pearl North is the pseudonym of another author, but this is apparently her first young adult novel. Thought I'd make that distinction since on Amazon it claims its from a debut author, technically true, but not really.

For a book nut like myself Libyrinth was a really fun read--the book has dozens of quotes from all sorts of famous literary works (The Diary of Anne Frank, Tale of Two Cities, Life of Pi) and technical manuals (Glenn's Complete Bicycle Manual). For the most part the quotes correspond almost perfectly with the current situation in fact, making me look at the quotes I could recognize easily with a different perspective. More than that though, North gives each book a distinct personality. Theselaides for instance is a bully and Anne Frank has a softer, gentler voice. Some are loud, some are high pitched, and some have a dark feeling to them.

I suppose its every book-lover's dream to live in a cavernous dwelling with so many books and shelves that one could literally become lost forever. The Libyrinth as a place sounded so perfectly suited to me that like Haly I found myself utterly hating the Eradicants (Singers) on principle alone. I can't begin to fathom a mentality that believes to liberate a book you have to burn it, but on the other hand I can't believe that as a people they wouldn't want to share their knowledge.

Haly was undoubtably my favorite character, but I grew to find Nod a really funny character. A revealation closer to the end made me want to go 'ew ew ew', but it made sense within the characterization of Nod and his attitude. I found myself tense and irritated by her friend Clauda, who seemed to be more interested in bungling around then forming a plan for much of the book. Impulsive is probably how best to describe Clauda until a major setback forces her to think long and hard. Selene by comparison ran hot and cold with me, depending on how she was acting in a situation. She was kind of contradictory--on the one hand not wishing to be Queen and on the other disliking her mother for not spending more time with her and extreme in her judgements.

The book begins with Haly, Clauda and Selene together before they venture out and then branches off to follow either Haly's adventures with the Eridicants or a combination of Selene and Clauda's adventures in Selene's homeland. The stories then separate farther as Clauda and Selene separate, but finally converge at the climax. The big Redemption the Eradicants believe in.

Its hard to put down, I won't lie. I read it during my Otakon trip and repeatedly found myself wanting to carry it with me even though it wasn't feasible with my plans. I wanted to snatch moments whenever I could to find out what mysteries Clauda uncovers or debates of religion Haly engages in. The end is satisfying and appropriate--in the beginning I wouldn't have thought it possible, but after everything Haly learns and experiences (as well as everyone else) I felt it was the only viable option left to save their civilization.… (meer)

I received a copy of True Nature from the author through the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s Don’t Buy My Love program. The story is told in third person through the eyes of Lake Clearwater, a naiad, and Forrest Oakwood, a dryad.



Lake Clearwater is eager to start his new position as Gem Lake’s conservation officer. Unfortunately, he isn’t off to a good start, almost dying in the snow in the woods until Forrest Oakwood finds him and brings him to the station. Lake is suffering from hypothermia and Forrest has to keep him warm. That isn’t so bad, but Forrest is attracted to Lake right off the bat. We soon find out that Lake feels the same for Forrest. However, neither does anything because Lake doesn’t want to lose his job and Forrest doesn’t believe Lake is gay. Forrest is also hesitant because of an incident in Forrest’s past that he is deeply ashamed about.

Lake and Forrest sleep in the same room, and at one point in the story, the author writes a particular masturbation scene where the action switches back and forth between the characters, each thinking the other is asleep. The scene flowed very well between the two characters without the jarring that can often happen when povs change.

The book reads like a fairytale. Lake is a naiad, a human that can take the form of a water spirit. Forrest is a dryad and spirit of the woods. We find that they are humans that turned into nature spirits, and that there is something else unusual about the town’s people. The 'people' were very well described and we can easily tell ‘what’ they are.

The author did a great job of tying names of the characters to their personalities and what they represented. When it came to the sex and the senses, the author described actions and feelings in terms of nature without becoming repetitive. The writing flowed nicely without dragging.

There are a couple of things I didn't like however. One was the overuse of the term, "Powers That Be," during sex. It sounded silly after more than one use. Next was the use of hand lotion as lube. The author has used hand lotion as lube before in her books and I'm wondering why not use olive oil or another cooking oil instead? I'm sure since they cook, they have it in the house. It's much less likely to get tacky with all that thrusting going on, plus it's natural compared to hand lotion with loads of artificial ingredients, since Lake and Forrest are nature creatures.

This is a fun, fairytale style read, with imaginative usage of words. Easy to read with a HEA, I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a low angst, fast and happy read. I give this 4 Stars


… (meer)