The Wish Rider
In The Wish Rider, Dara asks her friends to help her locate her birth mother when she learns that she might be living in New York City. It is where they enter into a dark, terrifying society that shocks and is more then they could ever have imagined.
About The Wish Rider
Seventeen-year-old Dara Roux and her two best friends, Mackenzie Yarborough and Jennifer Torres, the three collectively referred to as the F.I.G.’s (Females of Intellectual Genius) because each has an intelligence quotient in the genius range, have just returned from Frascati, Italy. It was there that their much loved teacher and mentor, Carolina Lovel, discovered that her birth parents were gypsies, and that she had a connection to the Voynich Manuscript, the most mysterious document in the world.
Now, with graduation from Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women behind them, Dara asks her friends to help her locate her birth mother when she learns that she might be living in New York City. Relying on Dara’s gift for speaking and understanding foreign languages, the black and white images that stir musical cadences in Jennifer’s mind, and Mackenzie’s mathematical calculations that normally provide numerical solutions and answers to life’s most difficult questions, the determined young women tirelessly go from one address to another in search of Dara’s mother.
Their determination turns to desperation, however, as they encounter a dark hidden society more dangerous and terrifying than they could have imagined. It is there that Dara hopes to find out why she was abandoned in a candy store all those years ago.
My Thoughts
I was really excited to read this book, especially after falling in love with The Cadence of Gypsies. While I still really enjoyed Wish Rider, there were some parts I wish were drawn out some more to give us a deeper look into Dara’s exciting adventure and maybe a little more depth with the F.I.G.’s unique abilities similar to the first novel but Wish Rider was unique and special in its own way.
In Wish Rider, we find Dara on a quest to find her birth Mother. Unlike the other girls, Dara had been abandoned in a candy store in her youth and that is how she ended up at Wood Rose Orphanage. It was her trip to Italy with her friends and mentor, that made her want to discover her past – especially when she finds out her Mother may be in New York. She decides to make the trip with her best friends and mentor, Carolina, because there was no way she could do this alone.
When they arrive in New York everything seems to turn dark. I loved how Barbara ties in the gypsy heritage and knowledge from The Cadence of Gypsies in this second book. I was not entirely sure about Dara’s Mother and what she was involved in but it was definitely dark and scary. I wish this part had been built up a bit more as I was a bit confused at this part of the novel. I just wasn’t sure about Dara’s Mother, what she was involved with and how this connected to the F.I.G.’s.
Wish Rider is a well written, second book follow up to The Cadence of Gypsies. We get an inside look at Dara, who although she has had a difficult past had turned into a wonderful young woman. A great follow up to the first novel in this series. You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Rating: 4/5
About the Author
Barbara Casey is a partner in Strategic Media Books, and president of the Barbara Casey Agency, representing authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan. She is also a manuscript consultant and the author of numerous articles, poems, and short stories.
Her award-winning novels have received national recognition, including the Independent Publishers Book Award. Her novel, The House of Kane, was considered for a Pulitzer nomination, and The Gospel According to Prissy, also a contemporary adult novel received several awards including the prestigious IPPY Award for Best Regional Fiction. Her most recent young adult novel, The Cadence of Gypsies, received the Independent Publishers Living Now Award and was reviewed by the Smithsonian for its list of Best Books.
Ms. Casey makes her home on the top of a mountain in northwest Georgia with her husband and three dogs who adopted her: Benton, a hound-mix, Fitz, a miniature dachshund, and Gert, a Jack Russel terrier of sorts. You can connect with her on her website.
The Giveaway
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
