You know that feeling when you choose to buy something, in this case a book, and you’re not sure if you’ll like it? You wonder if you just wasted your money and are almost afraid to start it. This is how I felt about Becky Wallace’s debut book The Storyspinner. But, as usual, I need to learn to trust myself and was not at all disappointed in the novel.

Released on Tuesday, March 3, The Storyspinner is about a 16-year-old girl named Johanna Von Arlo, a Performer and apprentice Storyspinner, a sort of bard (wonder where the name for the book came from). Her whole world turns upside down after her father’s death and she has to go into the service of Lord Rafael, a young duke-to-be.

Also featured in this novel are a group of four Keepers, magic wielders who live on the other side of the wall separating their land from Santarem, where Johanna lives. Their mission? To retrieve a long lost princess of Santarem and bring her back to the wall and help restore it. For the magical barrier between the two worlds is weakening and only the princess, along with a certain jewel, can fix it.

And their mission is made no easier by the fact that girls matching the princess’s supposed age and description are being killed. Girls who are the same age as and look just like Johanna.

To me this was like a fairytale. You have a lost princess, a sort-of prince, the evil plot, and the heroes determined to save the world. And romance, can’t forget that. But it was also so much more complicated than a children’s story. There was political feud, only natural in a monarch-less kingdom. And the characters were so much more in depth than you would find in a regular fairytale.

As usual, I was incredibly frustrated with the romance. There were times I wished I could knock each pairs’ heads together and go, “Get a clue!” But unfortunately, as fictional characters, they remain out of my reach. I just get really annoyed when something seems so clear to me and they don’t seem to see it.

One couple in particular; two of the Keepers. It has that issue of “forbidden love” and after the first move was made, the girl, Pira, got really cruel to the boy, Leao, in an effort to cope with the fact that they couldn’t be together. I understand why she would want to distance herself, but the way she was acting was uncalled for, in my opinion.

Rafael’s brother, Dom, reminded me of a character from a show I like, The Legend of Korra. Both characters have that silly, lovable outlook, but who can also turn serious when need be. Dom even kind of looks like the character, in my imagination, that’s how close their personalities were to each other.

For some reason, I find myself hoping the “bad guy,” Inimigo, ends up the “good guys’” ally. I feel like he could be an awesome hero. I really don’t know why I feel like this, but for some reason I just don’t want to hate this character. I want to believe there is more to the character than that he is simply evil. But despite my hopes, I seriously doubt it will happen.

So, despite my initial misgivings, I really did enjoy The Storyspinner. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out! The novel was a good mix of romance and suspense to keep interested from beginning until the end. So what are you waiting for? Get to the nearest bookstore stat!