(10/30/09) Note:

Nona Umbra has one complete "Book" to its name and a few chapters into Book 2.  Book 1 was excellent and Book 2 continues the trend.  Upping the rating to 5 stars.  One of my favorite web serials.

(02/12/09) Original review:

Seven chapters (and four supplemental pieces) into Nona Umbra and so far there is nothing I don’t like about this story.

I was tempted to give it a full five star rating and only one thing held me back—I don’t know the middle or the end of the story yet, so I can’t judge the entire piece yet.  (I’ve read 5 star beginnings that didn’t deliver all the way, or were abandoned before completion).

I’m giving it a 4.5 for a solid beginning and the potential to be an excellent tale.  So far, I love where it’s going.  The premise set up in the synopsis intrigued me, and then the story pulled me in and kept me clicking ahead till I exhausted available updates.

The writing is good, the characters are interesting, and the mystery behind the events of the past makes for an intriguing plot.  But what I really enjoy about the story is the way the author unfolds the backstory effortlessly, and also expresses the different moods and feelings that the characters are experiencing.  The loneliness, confusion, fear, and longing that Gaby and Will feel is illustrated perfectly.  I liked that the author started the story three years after the initial chain of events that disrupted the two families’ lives—it allows the reader to slip right into the thick of the story and provides a lot of material for strong characterization.

I’ll be anticipating new chapters.

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