Very good read, I want a sequel now. ( )

[Thanks to Goodreads and Plume for the ARC!]

Katie is a miserable, poor Irish immigrant living with her abusive parents in 1700s Pennsylvania. Syawa is a Native American seer, somewhat of a god, who has a vision of her and makes an incredibly long trek with his companion Hector to find her. Katie's life is turned upside down when she is taken captive (along with some family members) by these two unknown men. What seems to be a horrible situation quickly rectifies itself when Katie finds that she enjoys their company and is being treated much better than she ever was by her family. Soon, Katie, Syawa, and Hector split off from the rest of her family to journey back to Syawa's home.

I have to admit, I struggled through the first part of the book. I was battling a boring plot with no real direction, and I just could not get used to the 1700s English. When I finally got sucked into the story, I couldn't put the book down. I was sneaking pages constantly!

I do have a few qualms with the book, nothing major, but still things that stood out for me. For one, I thought Katie's change from thinking of her captors as savages to thinking of them romantically came a bit too quickly. Second, she seemed to be able to express herself in their language of gestures almost overnight, and their spoken language within weeks. Of course, it took longer for her to become fluent, but it still seemed very quick. Finally, I got fed up with Katie and Hector going back and forth explaining why they weren't good enough for each other. Just be together or don't, stop arguing about it!

All in all, it was an enjoyable book once I got past the rocky start. I laughed out loud, got a little teary, and was just generally entertained. Final rating of 3.5/5 (for the questionable beginning), rounded up to 4/5 (for the awesome rest). ( )

The Spirit Keeper is such a lovely, exquisite, unexpectedly touching book, that it almost left me in tears.

Katie is a poor Irish uneducated eighteen-year-old girl whose only dream in an early colonist America is to escape the drudgery of her life. Be careful what you wish for because when she is captured by a pair of Indian savages she is given the opportunity to change her life completely.

Syawa is a Seer of his tribe and he's been travelling for two years looking for the Creature of Fire and Ice who will bring the gift of Immortality to his People. When he sees Katie with her fiery red hair and clear blue eyes on a raid to the colonist farm, he knows that he at last found her and it's up the the young woman to make her choice and go on an epic journey with him and his silent and grumpy bodyguard "Hector".

Katie is completely taken with a gentle, smiling Syawa and decides to escape the misery of her living with the family which totally hates her without understanding the complexity of her decision, thinking only that Syawa wants to take her as his wife.

They go on their epic journey where every village on their way greets Syawa as a Prophet and celebrates his story of finding the Creature of Fire and Ice, and by the time Katie starts to understand the complexity of her role and her decision there is no turning back.

This is a book about a pure cultural clash, wonderful nuances of two very different languages, self-search and love. It's profound, it's tender and it's beautiful. If you are in the mood for a bit of Last of The Mohicans slash Pocahontas, go for it. It's lovely, touching and unhurried; the characterisation is gorgeous. ( )

I really enjoyed this novel about Katie O'Toole, a young woman living in Colonial America who finds herself taken captive by Indians and embarking on a long journey with two Native men to help fulfill a vision. A vivid portrait of the American continent prior to European expansion emerges and Katie makes a number of discoveries about her own life and future during the journey. Good reading. ( )

Did not finish.