Something different! And yet familiar in the way all YA books are. I enjoyed reading about the bush setting, as it is totally unfamiliar to me. Lots of twisty-and-turney moments, but also slow in places. overall very enjoyable.

I went into this one blind. I loved the cover and thought it was just calling to me. When I started to see some Christian ideals I was like... oh noooooo. I have a difficult relationship with religious stories. Some are a HUGE hit and others are so condescending and annoying I just can't. As someone who is agnostic I appreciate religious tones in fiction, when it is well done. This was well done. I enjoyed the ideals and the setting. I loved the values being taught and the concepts. The characters didn't annoy me.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this title. I will review this title at a different date.

I am not generally the person who reads books that are steeped in Religion in any way because it does not interest me. However, I think that Songlines is a great way to get a little bit of understanding to certain Religions as it does not push you into it. It allows you to gracefully fall into the information without feeling choked by the information. The World is beautifully woven together to form a gorgeous world filled with detail.

However, what I do not like about the book is that there was way too much teen angst, woe, and melodrama that could have easily been avoided. If there had been more focus on what the book was SUPPOSED to be about without all the nitty gritty teen stuff it would have been SPECTACULAR. The writing, the story, the setting was absolutely breathtaking until I started reading about all the other not so fun stuff.

Is this a book I would bring to my library? Likely yes because it does include a lot of items my students look for but at the same time it doesn’t exactly capture my attention so will it capture theirs once the angst shows up? Those are always my thoughts on books to bring into the library because I don’t want students bringing back books saying they are boring. I will happily purchase this in the future as well as any sequel as long as we tone down the angst.

When you pick-up a book with a subtitle about the Eden you (probably) expect a certain amount of religion. I prepared myself for this, as Christianity and I have a tumultuous relationship (to say the least; raised Christian but follow a very different religion today). I was pleasantly surprised that the use of Eden and religion in Songlines was extremely well done.

Religion and Eden
Yes the Garden of Eden, the Bible and God are all factors in Songlines. But unlike most books with these elements, Carolyn Denman hasn't written a Christian or even overtly religious book. Instead she's taken some well known aspects of Christianity and used them to bring magic into our world. The use of religion here isn't intrusive to the story; and wasn't a problem for me at any point. It's actually a positive point of the story in that it allows our characters to easily accept many of the 'magical' things happening as it's a part of their accepted life long religion.

Cheesy YA?
For the most part Denman manages to keep things relatively non-cheesy. With one exception regarding a floating sword (all I could think of was Legend of Zelda and Link grabbing spinning swords). However there is no doubt that Songlines is YA. It has many of the typical aspects you'd expect including: awkward friendships and possible love interests, lack of authority/power over situations, and a spunky, stubborn lead gal. As I always say, you cannot complain that when you read a YA book it reads like YA; as that is the entire point.

Lead Heroine
Our leading teenage girl is fairly resilient. I like how she doesn't immediately give into believing what she is told about Eden existing and she doesn't allow herself to be manipulated by the adults or situations around her the way some YA heroines do. Denman has given us a teenage girl that is easy to cheer for and respect without ever forgetting that she is still a teenager with awkward moments, difficult thoughts and lots of confusion about everything.

Overall
I give this four stars because it is a really good read for what it is. It's the kind of book where you read the blurb and you get exactly what you are expecting. There's nothing too intense or trigger worthy that I can think of. It's a solid good ol' YA book that is well-written with a clear plot. It's hard to fault a book when all the pieces fit together so nicely. The thing that Songlines isn't is all that special or something above and beyond the average YA book; and for me that's okay but does make it only four star worthy and not five stars. It's missing that special something. I will definitely carry on in the series and read book 2 as it is a good story, I like the characters and while religion sets the basis for the book it's not preachy at all.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

This is a most unusual YA fantasy set in a rural Australian setting, fusing biblical stories with stories from the Aboriginal dreamtime to create a very special place hidden away from the rest of the world. This first in a series of novels is about the sentinels who are given the task of protecting this hidden place and preventing it from being found by the rest of the world.

The characters include the older generation who have been looking after the hidden valley and a set of teenagers about to finish high school who are just growing into their abilities. A coal seam gas mining company has been testing near the valley so they will need to learn their roles and learn to harness their powers if they are to keep the land protected. With likeable characters, a little romance, a magical hidden valley to explore this is an interesting and original start to an intriguing series.

This novel has a promising premise as it follows Lainie, a young girl who wants nothing more than to escape the backwoods of Australia and go live in the city and attend university. It is a typical coming-of-age premise of a young individual seeking out a chance to spread their wings and escape their repetitive simple lives. However, the twist here is that Lainie is not an ordinary human; she is a Cherub, a creature meant to protect the gate from humans. It is an interesting enough premise, and the book cover is beautiful enough to draw in any reader.

However, the novel itself pales in comparison.

Songlines is one of those novels that was difficult to hold my attention. The detail that went into the description of the setting and backdrop was terrific. It is beautiful how Denman can create that backdrop in such magical way without losing realism. Then there was the approach to Judeo-Christian religion. It was respectful in the way it captured religion and took the ideals of Eden and transformed them into mythology. The novel is incredibly respectful, so for that; the novel holds merit. What is hard to get a handle on is the characters and the dynamics.

Lainie’s relationship with Bane is one that is not only predictable but cliché. These are two characters who hate each other that are destined to be with one another. As a cliché trope, it is one that is fine to work with, especially when the reader can connect to the characters. However, Lainie and Bane are challenging to connect to, and their guardian-sentinel forced relationship takes away half of the magic that could have been used to build up their dynamics. As a couple, the fact that they are forced together, it does not come off well to the reader, and both characters do not jump off the pages. They are lackluster, and the reader is not given much depth to their relationship, at least not enough to make the reader care about them. Their voices are stagnant.

Now, while the detail may be incredible, the pace of the story is incredibly slow. It is hard to get a firm grip on the direction of the novel because it is almost as if two stories are going on here, but neither is built up well enough. It is as if the reader is driving between the fork on the road, looking at both roads for direction. It just takes too long to capture the reader's interest, following the slow pace and adding in scenes that do not add anything to the plot or the character development. They are, quite simply, nothing but filler, lacking any substance.

Once again, as compelling as the novel could have been, it ultimately just fell flat.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This is the first book I have read by this author and was a little unsure of her style. The concept of guardians are there to protect the Garden of Eden was an unusual concept to say the least. The FMC was a likeable character, but I found the story to slow in some places. There were times when the description in place would take away from the story at times. I am not sure about the romance in the book for it just felt off to me.

Songlines by Carolyn Denman captured my attention from the first. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, as they were very original. The mention of Aboriginal tribes was a surprise. The story takes place in Australia and the main characters are charged with guarding the Garden of Eden. How the author describes each scene is amazing! I would totally recommend this book to the librarian and to the students as well. Loved this book!

Songlines is the first book in The Sentinels of Eden series by Carolyn Denman and is a young adult fantasy. A captivating fast-paced read that is fresh and unique. The characters are well-written and develop nicely as the story unfolds. I enjoyed reading Songlines and look forward to reading more in this series and from Carolyn Denman

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. This was a very good story! I loved the author's writing style, the characters and their interactions, and I really enjoyed myself during this read! Will read more from this author in the future and next book in the series!

Songlines is an enchanting mix of the mythological and the real, in a fantastic contribution to Australian Young Adult fiction. Carolyn Denman refuses to pander to a young target audience, and instead provides them with a rich and developed story that can easily be enjoyed by those of all ages.

Hi friends! Back again with a review from Netgalley! Thank you to Netgalley for the privilege of reviewing books and the following opinions are my own.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book, and I’ve had a hard time organizing them into coherent thoughts. Overall, I liked this book, but there were parts I just really couldn’t connect with.

Basically, this book is a fantasy in which the Garden of Eden is real and weirdly enough in Australia. Cherubim guard the opening so humans cannot stumble upon it and find it. Lainie, the main character seems to be in the US equivalent of her senior year in high school. She’s got all sorts of usual problems – a dude who picks on her, a guy best friend who is exploring the dating scene without her, and trying to figure out what she wants fo do with her life. This is until a drilling company comes sniffing around her property & opens up a rabbit hole of godly proportions.

I found I liked the characters the most, plus the love stories. Who doesn’t love a good enemies to lovers trope? I feel like it’s done well and you really get a sense of why they were enemies. I don’t necessarily love the “You have no choice in who you love” trope, but it isn’t my least favorite. Lainie is just a normal girl trying to cope with her new lot in life with a ragtag group of pals.

I will say, the religious theme doesn’t do it for me. While it isn’t outwardly devout, it is centered around the existence of a huge piece of the Bible existing. In Australia. The setting of this book is another aspect that threw me off because I’m very unfamiliar with Australian language and slang so a lot of it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I took a lot of guesses while reading.

Lastly, I was not a fan of the ending. Not because it wasn’t good or didn’t have a good enough cliffhanger, but because it made me so sad!!! I just wanted to hug all of them & squeeze them until they felt better!

I docked this book down to a 3.5/5 stars for those reasons. I’m not super sure if I will continue in the series. I imagine it would be a very mood read kinda thing. Not entirely for me, but I’d give it a try, especially if you understand Australian lingo!

Thanks for reading, friends!

A beautiful fairytale told about a story that isn't told a lot. The main characters are well described and you really get the feeling to know them. It was a very fast and easy read for me, which is very important to me. I don't want to keep struggling to finsh a book on time.

It absolutely qualifys as a young adult fantasy and I would recommend it to people who love this genre.

Interesting story and omg this book cover I adore anything woodsy and colorful.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I am already looking forward to the next books. The author does a beautiful job of setting up a scene in a way that makes me feel as if I am right there with the characters. The dialogue flowed naturally and moved along the plot in a very smooth way.

Very original! This has got to be the first book I've read on the garden of Eden and the Tree of Life. I loved the beginning with L and Bane... who knew Cherubs had guardians? Is the bad guy just a bad guy or is he a demon trying to get to Eden? Ugh...the ending...why did L leave?! I need more romance!! Is romance allowed in the garden? I think not...even if everyone is naked.