Crane (Legends Saga, #1)

by Stacey Rourke

[cornerfolds]

I've had my eye on Crane ever since I saw that AMAZING cover! I couldn't really figure out what the super weird, painted face had to do with the Headless Horseman, but I knew it was probably good. I'm a sucker for a good retelling and this one was truly unique!

Right off the bat it's obvious that this is not a normal retelling of the classic myth. This is primarily the story of Ireland Crane, a distant relative of Ichabod himself. She's had a rough breakup and moves to Sleepy Hollow to make a new start for herself as a guidance counselor at the local school, but nothing goes quite as she planned.

I really liked Ireland's attitude immediately. She has kind of a "meh" attitude that I can really identify with. Like, "well, this happened and I can't do anything about that so I'll just crack a sarcastic joke and move on." She's a strong character who rolls with the punches and doesn't take crap from anyone. Ireland's love interest, Noah, was not really in the book enough for me to make a real judgement call on him, but I like what I've seen so far. He seems to be very caring and accepting and I can't find much fault with what I know about him at this point. I really hope he'll be a little more fleshed out in future books!

The characters in the flashbacks were also really great! Because they had almost half the book to themselves, I felt like I really got to know them. I didn't care very much for Katrina, but I think that had a lot to do with the time period, to be honest. I loved Ichabod! He was not what we've been led to believe Ichabod Crane is and I really enjoyed his no-nonsense approach. Rip Van Winkle was an interesting addition who I also greatly enjoyed! He was hilarious at places, but still a serious, main player in the story. I do wish there had been more of the book devoted to Ichabod's story though!

The world building was good too, but I wish I had felt a little more dread when the town was being established. It felt a little off somehow, but I never got the feeling of gloom and total creepiness I would expect from Sleepy Hollow.

I can't say too much about the story without spoiling it, but suffice it to say I definitely enjoyed this unique take on a retelling! Nothing was quite as it seemed and there was plenty of mystery in this story that's already so well known to keep it fresh and interesting! I'm definitely planning to read book two and find out what happens next in the saga!


//I compared this book to the movie Sleepy Hollow on my blog as part of a feature called Paper vs. Popcorn//