The Book of Carraig (The Cross of Ciaran Book 2) by Andrea Matthews – Review by Hansini Wasalamudalige

The Book of Carraig by Andrea Matthews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

‘The Book of Carraig’ is the second book in Andrea Matthews’ ‘The Cross of Ciarán’ and picks up right where its predecessor left off as we continue to follow the journey of fifth-century Celt, Ciarán Donnelly, as he returns to his homeland of Ireland and faces the ghosts of his past. Matthews expertly retains all the magic and intrigue in her second instalment and then some- it was a delight to plunge back into Ciarán’s ancient world and learn more about the Celtic and Pagan threads that bind it together. New reveals and twists and turns incorporated into the plot made the world feel richer and more alive- something I didn’t think possible with how well crafted it already was in the first book.

A major theme that ‘The Book of Carraig’ explores is the notion of letting go of the past and moving on. Ciarán is constantly torn between the fifth and twentieth centuries- haunted by the tragedies that befell his brother and wife hundreds of years ago to such an extent, he places his life in danger and incites the concern of those around him more than once. His fixation understandably also forms a rift in his relationship with his new love, archaeologist Caitlin O’Connell, and this was such a fresh breath of air- it was a realistic consequence of half of Ciarán’s heart being left centuries in the past and allowed a proper amount of focus to be placed on Ciarán’s grief of being a man out of time. What I admire most of all is that, despite the chasm between them, Caitlin and Ciarán still have an evident deep love and respect for one another. They allow each other to process their feelings and to go at their own pace- to deal with each of their inner demons before coming back together stronger than ever.

Another strength of ‘The Book of Carraig’ is its use of its characters. All of the arcs of the returning characters are continued in a way that isn’t disjunct from the first book and many evolved beyond their portrayal in the first instalment. A mark of a great sequel is how well it follows from its predecessor- how well it expands upon what was explored prior or continues to develop the characters. The Book of Carraig’ excels in this department- seeing Ciarán, Caitlin and the whole archaeology family was a delight and its clear that each of them had been written with clear purposes from the outset.

In conclusion, if you loved ‘The Cross of Ciaran’ then ‘The Book of Carraig’ is a must-read as it delivers on all fronts that made the first book great and more.

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