Book Review: Cybele's Secret

Cybele's Secret
by Juliet Marillier
rating: 5 starts out of 5
"it was amazing"

You may recall a book review from last May called Wildwood Dancing, Cybele's Secret is the companion novel to Wildwood. This book picks up the story of Jena's younger sister, Paula the scholar, who is on a trip to Istanbul with her father to help him in his Merchant duties. However this trip is a special trip where her father has a particular religious artifact in mind. This is a treasure that must be handled carefully and with secrecy as the city officials do not like the idea of pagan religions or their religious artifacts anywhere nearby.

Istanbul is not the safest place, upon their arrival they receive news their contact had been murdered. They must tread carefully, and get a strong body guard as well. Enter: Stoyan. Stoyan is tall and muscular with a menacing appearance and fighting skills unmatched by all, not to mention young and single and deliciously handsome if a little uneducated about reading and writing -- nothing a scholarly girl would (initially) find interesting. But Stoyan can't be the only love interest around or the book wouldn't be so good. Enter: Duarte de Acosta Aguiar. A tall and handsome pirate captain who catches the eye of every woman he passes. He is a scholar as well with a somewhat bad-boy reputation that always gets what he wants. He is in Istanbul for the same artifact, Cybele's Gift. (I fall for Duarte every time I read this book.)

And it wouldn't be a Wildwood book without a few visits from the Other Kingdom where fairies place tests for human folk to learn from in order to pass.

I liked this book even better than Wildwood Dancing. The story is captivating, feeding my imagination and making me dream.