First Impression

I wasn’t a huge fan of the old cover for Two Worlds. The background was a little confusing for me. I also wished there had been more of a fantasy-feel to the cover image.

The Bad

Though it is extremely impressive that Laura T. Lee was able to publish Two Worlds at age 10, it is pretty clear that the book was written by someone who was young. While there are some unique and interesting plot elements in this story, overall, the book could have used more refinement. The plot is all over the place, and seemingly random in a few places. The writing itself is readable (and improves as the story goes on) but doesn’t flow too well and consists almost entirely of action.

Usually, I complain about too much exposition or story setup, but Two Worlds would have been much better if the characters and setting had been developed a bit more. I felt kind of lost and thrust into a world that I didn’t know very much about at all. There were some interesting story locations briefly mentioned. I just wish that those locations had been explained more. It would have contributed greatly to the uniqueness factor of the book, instead of making it feel like a vague, somewhat general story about elves.

Considering the author’s age, the book isn’t bad. But comparing Two Worlds to other books, it is very apparent from the writing style, world building, and story line, that Lee was young when this was written.

The Good

Laura T. Lee published Two Worlds when she was 10. Let’s just take a moment to acknowledge how impressive that is. (I could hardly finish a short story at 10, much less an entire novel!) Considering the author’s age, at the time, the book is pretty spectacular.

There is clear evidence of a plot here, some interesting characters, funny moments, and in general, the start of something great.

Two Worlds is absolutely action packed. The story took off at a dead sprint on page 2 and pretty much kept up that pace for the rest of the novel. I certainly didn’t feel like any part was too slow (but I did feel that a few parts were too fast.) If you’re looking for non-stop action and constant motion, this could be the book for you.

I would definitely be interested in reading some of Lee’s work in the future, once she has a bit more experience underneath her. There is the start of something here, I just don’t feel like it’s currently as good as it possibly could be.

The Last Word

For her age, at the time of writing this book, Laura T. Lee’s writing was impressive. However, there is definitely room for growth in this novel.

I can’t wait to see what Lee creates in the future.