Mis-Spelled: Book One of the Stellaluna Chronicles by T.H. Leatherman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the first book I have read by TH Leatherman, the synopsis as original and from page one I was hooked and pulled into their world. Evan is a teenage boy from Earth, while distracting his brother Jerrod and his goons, Will and Gary, away from beating up another smaller kid he escapes into the woods. In the past Jerrod and his friends would stop and stay out of the woods but today was different. Running into the woods brought rain and fog as well as pine needles everywhere, the boys continued to chase him even after Evan hurt his ankle, he continued to run with all that he had. Coming to a six-foot-wide stream Evan jumped across it only to be surrounded by a bright light and a tingling sensation hit every nerve.
Evan was somewhere else, later learning that there is a great divide keeping Earth from Stellaluna. Currently he was in the elven country of Shara in the capital city of Lonathas. Evan learns all this information from an older human man that goes by Geezer, who has been in Lonathas since 1883. Quickly it becomes clear that if Evan wants to make it back home, he needs to do everything Geezer tells him to and to learn fast. While elves cannot lie, they can stretch the truth, and nothing is given without a price. The Elven Queen Lycia is big with years of servitude while smaller favors can be bartered for. To learn the spell to return to Earth Evan negotiates with the Queen to complete three quests. When given the first of three it becomes apparent that the Queen is trying to set Evan up to fail to get his servitude for years, but Evan is determined to give each task his all to return home to his grandma and dad. The female elf Sina that Evan meets upon his arrival in Shara makes him feel like her smile makes the sun brighter and everything inside him becomes warmer. As a human in Stellaluna Evan has some advantages, one he can lie, two he can break some of the rules and is able to learn any spell he wishes with one drawback, it will make him tired the more powerful the spell the more tired he will be after. But he is quickly learning how to barter with the elves to learn spells.
Will Evan complete his quests in one piece? How much time is passing on Earth? The author pulls you in with fantastic world building, relatable characters, and humor just when you needed it. TH Leatherman also includes references to other works including Frodo’s quest to Mordor in response to hearing his first quest by the Queen. I look forward to reading more of the authors work and I can’t wait to see what happens next in the Stellaluna Chronicles.

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