From Goodreads:  Friends or family?
Desire or responsibility?
She thought she’d made her choice.

Now, finding herself trapped in a world splintered from her own, Narissa is determined to return home. Learning that the means of crossing between realities has been lost, she vows to find the elusive gateway.

Narissa doesn’t plan to make friends. She certainly doesn’t intend to fall in love.

Faced with the decision, will she choose the life she wants, or return to the world where she belongs?

______________________________________________

I thought this was a very interesting read.  McKinnon has created an alternate world of sorts in which a group of people physically removed themselves from the world in order to start over.  It’s a really cool concept, and the explanations McKinnon gives are imaginative and very well thought out.  The Refuge, as it is called, resides way out in the mountains and is protected by a dense wall of fog, keeping unwanted visitors out, that is, except Narissa, who somehow ends up inside the Refuge, discombobulated and hurt.  The explanations continue, and it’s a really cool idea/concept, somewhat reminding me of the movie The Village in which everyone resides inside a barrier in a park, unknowingly hiding from the real world.  I loved The Village, and I really enjoyed this novel as well. 

McKinnon has created some great characters and Narissa’s determination to fit in and take charge of her life really endeared her to my heart.  I highly enjoyed the ending of the novel as it intensifies and made my heart beat faster in anticipation.  I am eagerly awaiting the sequel as McKinnon does leave the reader hanging at the very end.  Four stars.

I recieved a cpy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.