Review: The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff

Synopsis: The Gales of southern Ontario can change the world with the charms they cast, and the prefer to keep all this power in the family. The Gale Aunties are in charge of this clan, or like to think they are. Alysha, like all her cousins, often finds herself beset with too many Aunties trying to run her life. So when a letter from her missing Gran arrives telling her that she's inherited a junk ship in Calgary, Alysha is ready and willing to honor her grandmother's last request to keep the shop open and serve "the community." The Aunties, of course, want her to find out what really happened to gran and come right back home, where they have her future mapped out for her. It isn't until she arrives in Calgary that Alysha realises it's the fey community she'll be serving in the The Enchantment Emporium - and that one person's junk may be another person's magical treasure. Finding out what happened to gran will not be easy, especially since Alysha has no way of knowing just how much otherworldly trouble is brewing in Calgary. And even calling in family reinforcements may not be enough to save the day... (from the back of the book)

Review: First, let me stipulate: I believe Tanya Huff is a good writer, but I don't always like her work. In particular, what bothers me is the liberal sex her characters engage in, and the way sex is often a central line in her books. This, I suspect, is a combination of my own prudishness and my beliefs about right and wrong. This book was no exception. I experienced the same nagging uncomfortableness I often get reading her work.

Outside of that one general complaint, I find her work imaginative and her characters complex and anything but flat. The stories are fast passed, engaging and I enjoy the worlds she creates. I sometimes find her sentences and syntax odd, but not in a bad way. I will continue to read her works, but cautiously, and I know my hesitation is due to personality and beliefs, and not Huff's writing.

Bookmarks: 6 of 10

Awards: none

Date Finished: 2-19-2011
Pages: 473