Book #4: The Fetch (Laura Whitcomb)

Reading time: 8 Days
Pages: 379
Genre: Historial Fiction/Fantasy/Romance/Drama

"Fetch" covers ground in a lot of genres, so it should be fit for lots of different tastes. To sum it up, it focuses on Calder, a spirit who guides souls to heaven after the moment of death. Once human, he's been doing his given task for over 300 years when he sees a woman with golden-red hair he nicknames "Glory." His infatuation leads him back to the human world and a bargain with Rasputin. I didn't see the historical twist coming until finally realizing Calder has indeed fallen in love with Alexandra, the last Czarina of Russia, right before the Russian Revolution too (Ruhrow Raggy...). After this painful blow, Calder finds himself with the youngest two Romanovs, a lost key, and unruly Lost Souls gaining power. It's an extensive journey around the world to right his mistakes, bring Alexie and Ana to heaven, all the while hoping Rasputin gets his butt back to Calder, his Fetch, before too much rebellion in the Land of Lost Souls. So who ya gonna call??


Of the four books this year, I'd say this was one of the best. Again, this is for young adults but Whitcomb doesn't necessarily right in a dumbed down or censored way for a younger audience. I even recommended it to a woman at my dentist when she started to poke around my book on the table. Calder was 19 at the time of his death, but while he's guiding Alexis and Ana he borrows Rasputin's body like a possession almost. I will admit, I almost put it down when he discovers his love-at-first-sight-governess is actually the Czarina, just because I really wanted this to be a love story. Buuuut, I decided to hold on and was glad I did. Whitcomb has a great interpretation of her fantastical spirit world and the laws that govern it. Nothing really felt 'corny' or cheesy regarding spirits, 'borrowed bodies' or even Alexie and Ana, who I am not sure how to describe... Another part I loved was that Whitcomb found some seriously cool events to interpret another way. During the Revolution, Alexie and Ana's bodies were not recovered for decades, so some speculated they escaped the family massacre. Here, it's because Calder gave his "key" to Alexie, who gave it to his sister, protecting them from death, but also changing them to part human/part immortal spirits. Rasputin's supposed death was also extremely creepy once I looked it up, and I give kudos to Whitcomb for using that too, it could not have been more perfect to write with! Just wiki it and you'll see what I mean. MAYBE HE REALLY WAS A FETCH?? DUN DUN DUN....

RATED: A-

+Excellent writing, setting, historical ties. Really believed she knew her stuff.
+Creative in not only plot, but with the afterlife too.
+I was never bored of her writing style, or skipping parts, and found I couldn't predict many events, which means you will always be pulled into reading it. Woohooooo!
-It was promoted as a love story, so let's be honest and re-designate it properly as drama, not "a tender love story." And that means you, critics on the back of my book.