Portals: Arizona Crystals

Sandra Lee
iUniverse (2010)
ISBN 9781450205443
Reviewed by Marissa Libbit for Reader Views (02/10)

 

“Portals: Arizona Crystals” by Sandra Lee is the fantasy story of Alexandria Wolf, as she discovers she has hidden potential.  When her father dies, he informs her through a dream that she is a Guardian of the Portal.  Her responsibilities include helping souls that have died to find the light.  She discovers her new reality soon after the birth of her second child, a son.  Leaving her soon to be ex-husband Steve, she takes her two children with her from Georgia to the Arizona home her father left her in his will.  Desiring a fresh start, Alex bonds with her uncle and family in Arizona and falls for Jake, who also has special abilities.  Teaching her about the garden behind her home, Jake educates Alex about the crystals and how she can travel out-of-body to communicate on the Other Side.  Seeking to take over Alex’s Guardian powers is her own mother, a part of the Dark Side.  With the help of Jake’s children from his marriage to Lena, and Alex’s five-year-old daughter, Alex and Jake battle against Steve and Alex’s Mother to keep the Dark Side from taking over.

The plot is fairly easy to follow, and the read is fast.  I could envision the settings described by Ms. Lee.  However, I had some issues with the book, as well.  The element of time confused me.  For example, Alex was having a baby one moment while still married, and then living in Arizona, divorced and making love with Jake - a lot of events within a very short amount of time, it seemed.  Most women aren’t even allowed to resume relations for six weeks, let alone want to, yet no information regarding her physical state was given.  If the author’s intent was that more time had passed, it was not clear to me.  Also, I couldn’t help but wonder how a woman with a baby could carry out her responsibilities to protect the lost souls when she had to be tired all the time. 

The language in the book didn’t always seem natural to me, either.  For example, after a terrible battle of Good vs. Evil, Alex and Jake clean the kitchen so they can eat pbj sandwiches with lemonade.  They have a discussion about what just occurred, but laugh about a coffee topic and decide they should get a good night’s sleep.  I was very surprised.  Who could be so calm after the shocking things that had just occurred?   And some of the language in the love-making scenes was odd to me, “…prodding her with his tongue to open to him, he could taste the pound cake she had eaten earlier.”   And can four people really fit in an airplane bathroom?

Ms. Lee has an interesting idea for a story.  With an additional edit for grammatical and language issues, “Portals: Arizona Crystals” could be tighter.  I envision from the ending that there may be further stories to pursue. 

Make comment on weblog

FTC Disclosure