Lions, and Tigers and Gargoyles...OH MY!

Expected Publication: September 8th, 2012
Redemption (Hearts of Stone # 1)
By: Veronique Launier
Flux
ISBN-13: 9780738730745

Guillaume: For five hundred years I've existed as a gargoyle. Perched atop an old Montreal church, I've watched idly as humanity wanders by. With the witch Marguerite gone, there is no one left to protect, nothing to care about. I never planned to feel again. But then a girl released me from my stone restraints, allowing me to return as a seventeen-year-old human boy. I must find out all I can about this girl's power . . .

Aude: Getting attacked twice in as many days is strange in itself, but even stranger is the intriguing guy I keep running into. There's something so familiar about him, like a primal drum rhythm from my dreams. But spending time together only raises more questions--about my heritage, a native Mohawk prophecy . . . and an unearthly magic threatening our city...

Review

   Aude, called 'Odd' by her friends, thinks that she is abnormal to begin with.  All she wants is to stay in the background of life, except when she's on stage with her band Lucid Pill.  But then she is attacked twice in one week and her life begins to spiral out of control, shifting her priorities.  It might be important to finally find out who her Father was after all...and maybe puzzle out why she might have a connection to an ancient Mohawk prophecy that seems to fortell the apocalypse.  Guillame was a gargoyle for over five hundred years.  But only for the last seventy have he and his brothers been on top of a church in Montreal, forced to watch the world pass them by.  Once able to shift between human and gargoyle the end of the family line of their charge, witch Margeurite, put an end to that ability.    Marguerite's family had a bargain with Guillame's - protection in exchange for the essence that kept the gragoyles alive.  Then Aude is attacked near their church and chants some words, bringing them to life again.  But without a witch of Margeurite's line to give them essence, the boys will become gragoyles again soon.  Determined to find out why Aude was able to wake them, Guillame insinuates himself into Aude's life to get the answers.  But Aude is hearing tribal drums and having odd encounters that point to her involvement in a prophecy.  The gargoyles aren't the only ones interested in her and it will take some team work to make sure that they all make it out alive - starting with Aude and Guillame trusting each other.  I thought that I had read almost every type of supernatural fiction humanly possible.  Then I saw this book and the word GARGOYLES in the description and flipped out!!!  I was super excited to read something so out of the common way.  Plus, the connection to Mohawk culture completely sold me, because I love anything Native and always have.  Aude is stubborn, a little bit selfish but totally full of heart and love for her Mom and her friends.  Guillame has lived a long life with plenty of mistakes, but he still has something in him that is heroic and redeemable.  My main complaint would be the slow-build, but that is understandable considering it's the first in a series.  I liked the double point-of-view, because it let me see things from Aude AND Guillame's perspectives which fleshed out the story considerably.  The major conflict was with the Terra Cotta Man and it felt resolved too easily, but I can see the makings of a superb villain in Vincent.  It will be interesting to see where Launier goes with it.  The romance wasn't immediate which was a nice change from most YA paranormal books.  The shock of Aude's heritage was pretty interesting as well.  I should have seen it coming but didn't.  I am really excited and highly recommend this for anyone looking for something fresh and original.

VERDICT:  4/5

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is September 8th, 2012.*