Prophecy of Days

Author: Christy Raedeke
Publication Date: May 1, 2010
Genre: YA Fantasy
Copy provided by: Publisher
Summary (via Goodreads):

PROPHECY OF DAYS, BOOK ONE: THE DAYKEEPER’S GRIMOIRE is the story of Caity Mac Fireland, a girl from San Francisco whose parents drag her to an isle off the coast of Scotland to manage some family property. Caity finds that a Mayan relic is concealed there, intentionally left centuries ago by Mayan Daykeepers in an attempt to keep their profound knowledge about the year 2012 alive into the current era.

As she delves into this world of secret knowledge, Caity is helped along by a visiting family friend and Feng Shui master, Uncle Li; a Mayan elder named Bolon; and Mr. Papers, her pet monkey that communicates through origami. A handsome Scottish lad gets pulled into the intrigue, as do several other people with questionable motives and loyalties. Caity must weave together a tapestry of information in order to make her radical discovery, a mystery protected by an elite coterie of power-brokers who influence world events. Caity’s twenty-first century mind is put to the test as she tries to uncover the answer to an ancient riddle while trying to outwit this powerful group that will stop at nothing to control the secret, and her.

Why I read this: I really wanted to read this one because the premise sounded intriguing and it's also another debut novel.

Plot: The author starts the novel the best way I've read in a while. The narrator, Caity, is on her way to Scotland and she gives a somewhat snarky version of how she came to be on her way to Scotland. Since she doesn't want to draw it out and bore us, she keeps it short - a page or two. The main premise that Caity arrives in Scotland and discovers there is a hidden room in her new bedroom. The room is full of symbols she has never seen before.

Luckily, her parents are code and safe crackers (the legal kind) and she brings it to them, lying that she created it to see if they could crack it. The code gets cracked slowly and parts of a prophecy are discovered, and guess what? She a part of it.

The only problem I had with the plot is that everything felt too easy for Caity. There's parts in the plot where she has to do certain things for the prophecy, she makes a huge deal of it and then things work out with no problem what-so-ever. Also, the random bad guys that pop up aren't all that menacing, which was a bit disappointing for me.

Characters: I enjoyed getting to know Caity throughout the book, especially when interacting with her parents. Also, she was a normal teenage girl when it came down to it, but still stepped up to do what she needed to when she needed to.

Caity had some great sidekicks, the first of which is a monkey named Mr. Papers who really does communicate through origami. Strange, but fun. Her Uncle Li is also a character, believing her right from the start and aiding her when she needs the help.

The love interest: mm mm mm. Yep, gorgeous and with a personality. He runs a bit hot and cold with Caity, she says something wrong.. he stops talking to her, and so on and so forth. But you guys know something always brings them back together and so we get to see a few small sparks fly. Hoping for more in the later books myself.

Relatability: I felt like I really connected to Caity via her relationship with her parents and uncle. I could definitely see them as a real family and with some similar qualities to my own family. Also, I loved how Caity interacted with Mr. Papers.. he was definitely somewhat of a comic relief character at times.

Cover Commentary: I like it. It's simple and eye-catching.

Rating: 4/5 Roses

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