Title: Veins of Gold
Authors: Charlie N. Holmberg
Publisher: Mirror Press
Genre: YA fantasy, set in Gold Rush-era Utah
Year Published: 2018
Reviewed by Karlene Browning
I’ve read all of Charlie N. Holmberg’s books. She is a captivating writer with a wonderful imagination. While Veins of Gold is not my favorite of her books, it’s still a very good read.
The bad news first: The one thing that bothered me about this story is that there wasn’t quite enough of it. I would have loved to see more depth in all of the areas—more magic and more explanation of what and why; more romance and depth to the relationship between Gentry and Winn; the family issues and character interactions were good, but I wanted more of them.
That said, however, I did enjoy this story. It’s difficult for me to geek out about all the things I loved, without giving away spoilers. A good portion of the delight I found in this book came in watching things slowly unfold—and I don’t want to ruin that for anyone.
The writing is stellar. Holmberg weaves setting, dialog, and action seamlessly. I really felt I was part of this story. I loved the play on words in the title. (That shows up once we get into the story a bit.)
The characters of Gentry and her siblings were well-done. I also loved the “adopted” Mormon family and how they helped Gentry and her siblings. (There is no preaching in this book.) Winn was a little confusing, and I’d like to have seen more of him to understand him better.
I thought the magic system was very imaginative—the power of the earth, gold, and the magic in animals. It was believable to me that this world of magic could have once existed, and I felt sad that it doesn’t anymore.
I think the thing I loved most was Gentry’s journey to understand the earth magic. I loved Winn’s seagulls and his method of travel. And I love the way Gentry was able to bring resolution to Winn’s childhood trauma.
There are a couple of mild swear words. There is the violence of natural disaster, the effects of poverty, and a few punches, but it’s not bad. The romance is very clean.
I recommend Veins of Gold to readers age 14+. Also to readers who like mixed-genres, or are already Charlie N. Holmberg fans. I give it 4.5 STARS.