Review: Light of Lorelei by Jen Minkman

There is no light without shadow,
no truth without sacrifice,
and no way to keep us all from harm.
Aska wants more out of life than being a temple girl in the St. Brandan Convent of Brandaris. Her life-long service to the Baeles-Weards is the only reason she wasn't killed immediately after birth – she is atoning for the sins of her parents. Her Anglian mother and Skylger father were never supposed to love each other and have children, and Aska is reminded of her low status and illegitimacy by her fellow temple girls every day.
But then she meets Tjalling, a young, mysterious, and charming Skylger fisherman who doesn't seem to care that he is not supposed to befriend her. Soon after they meet, the island falls prey to the largest Siren attack in the history of Skylge and Aska is beginning to doubt the wisdom of the priests. If the Light in the Tower really keeps the people from harm, why are the Shriekers taking more and more lives each day?
Adding to her inner turmoil is a secret meeting with Royce and Enna, who want to recruit her into their resistance movement, an unexpected confession from her best friend Melinda, and Aska’s realization that she likes Tjalling a bit too much for her own good.
Soon, she is going down a road there is no turning back from, forcing her to make choices that shake the foundations of her world.
For Aska, there is only one true choice – to bring the truth to light.

Shona's review 5 of 5 stars

It's been 12 hours since I finished this book and I really am struggling to put down in words what I want to say... What I do know is actually feel quite for having given the first book in this series 3 stars, because without that first book this second book wouldn't be the book that it is. There was so much built in the first book to lead us into this book, and I knew Minkman had done that deliberately, but at the time I still felt cheated, we finally got some of those questions answered. And the wait was totally worth it.

Aska was everything I wanted Enna to be, she railed against the life she was given and she questioned not just the world she grew up in but everyone around her. To everyone else she seems this little naive Temple Girl who will never be able to do anything with her life beyond being a Temple Girl but inside she is stronger than they realise and she has the power to turn things around for not just her but for her people.

I read most of this book in one sitting, I just couldn't put it down... and now I'm chomping at the bit for the next instalment. I need to see what happens next.