Review: To Darkness Fled (Blood of Kings, #2) by Jill Williamson @JillWilliamson

Tags

blood of kings, christian fantasy, epic fantasy, fantasy, jill williamson, young adult

Achan, Vrell, and the Kingsguard Knights have fled into Darkness to escape the wrath of the former prince. They head for Ice Island to rescue two of Sir Gavin’s colleagues who were falsely imprisoned years ago. Darkness is growing and only one man can push it back. Achan wanted freedom, not a crown. His true identity has bound him more than ever. He must learn decorum, wear fancy clothes, and marry a stranger. Achan knows one thing for certain. He will not be a puppet prince. Either he will accept his role and take charge or he will flee. But which will he choose?

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars

I was hoping this would be as good as the last one and yep, it was. There was a little more exploration of the religious themes, but nowhere near the overwhelming levels I have encountered elsewhere. (By “overwhelming,” I mean uninterrupted monologues that elaborate theological teachings for a page or more straight. Here the Christian elements are brought in as part of the story AS THEY SHOULD BE.)

The plot:

I think this baby is 700+ pages in print. It is not for the faint of heart, but the story moves quickly and the words slip by before you know it. There was a great deal of character development in this book, especially with Achan. We meet a host of new characters and find out more about the backstory as well as the world building.

I got stressed reading this several times just because of the suspense levels, but I loved every second and I’m gobbling up the third and last book right now.

The characters:

As I mentioned, Achan has a lot of character development in this book. There’s a great deal more on his flaws and his difficulties in reconciling himself with the god he was basically taught nothing about. It was something I wanted to see the author explore and she does not disappoint. Achan goes through the whole angry at God and “why me?” set of thinking (realistic, I thought) and I thought the author handled it very well.

Despite a brief stint of self-pity and some trouble with basic morality in this book, Achan is still lovable and it’s hard to hate someone the author is knocking around every other chapter. I mentioned in my review of the first book that Achan is kind of like a punching bag and as promised, things do not get better. He still gets beaten up on a regular schedule and I feel terrible for him.

Vrell is still going under the guise of a boy and Achan has no clue (for most of the book anyway, but spoilers). I made the mistake of thinking her perfect (maybe just a little) in the first book, but no. She screws up and shows arrogance and pride and pig headedness and finds plenty of ways to make the reader scream “no!” All the same, I find her to be a likable and endearing character, which it isn’t very often I am this fond of a female lead. (Don’t ask why, I just tend not to like them.)

On top of our Joffrey-esque villain, Esek, from the first book, I’m fairly certain the devil turns up. It happens a little later in the story, so that’s all I’ll say, but we definitely have our fair share of villains, I just don’t have the space to mention them all.

A great series that I wish was far more popular and I think I’ll be going into withdrawals when I finish this series. If anyone hasn’t read this, go fix that now. If anyone has, let me know so we can gush over it together.

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Review: By Darkness Hid (Blood of Kings, #1) by Jill Williamson @JillWilliamson

Tags

blood of kings, by darkness hid, christian fantasy, fantasy, jill williamson, young adult

Given the chance to train as a squire, kitchen servant Achan Cham hopes to pull himself out of his pitiful life and become a Kingsguard Knight. When Achan’s owner learsn of his training, he forces Achan to spar with the Crown Prince, more of a death sentence than an honor. Meanwhile strange voices in his head cause him to fear he’s going mad. While escoring the prince to a council presentaiton, their convoy is attacked. Achan is wounded and arrested, but escapes form prison-only to discover a scret about himself he never believed possible.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars

This. THIS is how you write Christian Epic Fantasy. I’ll be honest, I usually hate these sorts of books. Christian fantasy (and Christian literature in general) tend to be…what is the word? Preachy. Overbearing. It pains me to say and I wish it weren’t so, yet it’s true. But none of that here.

I think I added this to my “Dear Santa” list over a year ago because it looked like my kind of trouble. Over vacation, I was browsing through my Amazon wish list and saw that it was free for Kindle. Fearing it was too good to be true, I prodded at the page for a bit before hitting “download.” A few days later, I went and bought the second. Now I’m reading the third and thinking there should be a bigger fandom for the series.

The plot:

Okay, so I did feel like the story was congested for the first two or three chapters. In the beginning, I was wondering where it was headed and thinking it was a little slow, but so many people on Goodreads and Amazon had loved it and I figured there had to be a reason. I quickly discovered that there was.

I’m one of those people who takes what happens to the characters personally. I spent plenty of time pacing, worrying, panicking, and putting down my Kindle because I couldn’t take the suspense. As soon as we got through the first few chapters, the story took off like a firework and swept me right up in it. I love it when a book does that and I admit there were a few twists I did not see coming.

The characters:

Achan is basically a punching bag for the local lowlife population. Poor baby. In essentially every other chapter, he’s getting punched, stabbed, shot, strangled, burned, poisoned, whipped, or something else horrible. (Spoiler: it does not get better as the series progresses.) He can be naive and occasionally self righteous, even temperamental, but all things considered, I think he turned out pretty fricking good. Sir Gavin is a knight who sort of takes Achan under his wing and I kept wanting to yell “DO NOT LEAVE HIM UNATTENDED!” every time Gavin walked off the page.

The other POV character is Vrell, a young noblewoman disguised as a foundling boy to avoid marrying the main villain. Their two storylines didn’t directly intersect until more than halfway through the book, I think, but still meshed together quite well. Vrell doesn’t take half the physical poundings Achan does (she’d probably be dead), but she still gets her fair share of trouble. She has her own set of faults and flaws and qualities and I thought she was a realistically structured character, just as Achan was.

At present, I’m trying to think of people I could coerce into reading this. I adored the story, greatly appreciated the author’s presentation of the religious elements, and I think my brothers and friends are going to have this shoved in their faces at the first possible opportunity.

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Review: Nation of Blaze (The Fireblade Array, #2) by H.O. Charles @HOCharles

Tags

adult, epic fantasy, ho charles, indie author, paranormal romance, the fireblade array

The country is leaderless. The queen is gone and hope is failing. Morghiad must find The Fireblade again if he is to secure his home and his heart, but the path will not be an easy one to tread. New enemies will rise to battle him as he battles with himself, and the most fearsome woman in history will continue to produce her army of blood-hungry eisiels. Will The Fireblade be the same as before? Will she aid him? Danger looms from all corners of this Nation of Blaze.

Volume 2 of The Fireblade Array

 Blurb and cover from Goodreads.

4 out of 5 stars

This was not so much an emotional rollercoaster as an emotional sucker punch. The portion of the story that is contained within this book spans close to fifty years and has more twists, turns, and little loop-de-loops than the average tangle of yarn. I read and read and read and found myself becoming more and more invested and this investment led me to skipping off to buy the third book right after I finished this one.

The plot:

This series reads more like a chronicle, talking about a series of adventures, tragedies, and happenings and how they are all linked together. Normally, I despise books like this, but it seems Charles has managed to pull it off. I am definitely a fan of this series (love the new covers, don’t you?) and I’m trying to figure out why I haven’t heard about it before. It takes a certain mindset going into these books, one must do away with the modern dogma of how a story is supposed to be structured and just enjoy the ride.

The characters:

I had a fondness for Artemi in the last book, but it became an all-out “my dear sweet little girl who must be protected from all evil” complex in this one. Artemi with her memories was a bit humbler than Artemi without and I found her much more empathetic and likeable and just plain adorable.

Morghiad is still an honorable, endearing, masochistic bastard. Really, there are parts were it was impossible not to want to beat some sense into him. I mean, yes, man, you screwed up. Now move on! That aside, his and Artemi’s relationship is adorable. I seem to be a sucker for multi-lifetime monogamous romances.

Artemi’s ages-old rival makes her first formal appearance. Someone really needs to lock Mirel in a lead box and chuck her in the ocean or something permanent because her existence is not okay. It really sucks when you have a bad guy who will just be reincarnated over and over. It sucks so bad.

I actually started to like Silar in this one and there was a whole new cast of characters who where introduced. Artemi’s father is undeniably huggable and her half-brother kind of disappears by the third book, but I’m fond of him, too. There’s also a cropping up of more woman warriors in this one, some of which I liked and some of which I did not.

To give fair warning, this book ended with another cliffhanger. I refused to believe that what had happened had happened and I was right, which is a good thing, or else it would be a repeat of The Assassin and the Empire. I’m about halfway through the third book and probably about to go grab the fourth once I finish and I certainly recommend this series to anyone with a taste for hardcore, original adult fantasy.

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Review: Broken (The Captive, #6) by Erica Stevens

Tags

Erica Stevens, paranormal romance, the captive series, Vampire

*****Though this book is a standalone novel, it is highly recommended that it NOT be read without reading the other books in The Captive Series first as it does contain spoilers. This book is set in the past but it is not meant to be a historical novel. Special pre-order price will only be available for a limited time after release.*****

In The Captive Series the vampire king that decimated the human and vampire races was introduced, but now it’s time to meet the man that existed before he became a tyrannical king.

At twenty-five, Atticus is the last surviving member of the most powerful line of vampires, and is known as a prince amongst his kind. The life of luxury and privilege he’s always known is about to change in ways that he never could have seen coming though. Ways that will forever alter the course of his life, the lives of all those around him, and the history of the world.

With his life shattered and an all-consuming thirst for revenge the only thing keeping him going, he is left with only one realization…

Sometimes what rises from the ashes of a broken man, is a monster.

Mature YA/New Adult. This book contains some language, violence, and sexual situations. Recommended for ages sixteen and up.

Edited by Leslie Mitchell at G2 Freelance editing.
Cover art by ebooklaunch

Blurb and cover from Goodreads.

3 out of 5 stars

It hurt me to slap on those 3 stars, it really did. I love this series as well as the author’s other vampire series, but this one just…fell flat on its dear little face. The previous book, Redemption, was without a doubt the best in the series, so I had high hopes for this one, but…I felt as if there was something missing from the story.

The plot:

Technically, this is book 0.1 in the series. It takes us back roughly 900-and-something years to medieval England where Atticus, known only as “the king” through most of the earlier books, is a young vampire aristocrat barely in his twenties. He meets and bonds with a young peasant vampire, Genevieve or Genny, and we learn how deeply the series’ villain once loved. This is an exploration of how Atticus became as warped and twisted and psychotic as he did, breaking your heart into tiny little shards by the end.

The better part of the book is the last quarter or so, in my opinion. It felt to me like there wasn’t enough conflict and suspense in the early part of Atticus and Genny’s relationship. Yes, there were obstacles, but they seemed to overcome them too easily. Also, I thought it was cheating for the author to have them making out within the first few chapters. One should draw it out! Build up to it until there is no choice!

That lack of early conflict was my main objection. I thought there was so much potential with the various characters and their subplots to make things go wrong, but none of those juicy veins were tapped. I liked other elements of the story, but I just couldn’t get past that.

The characters:

So yes, I did feel horrible for Atticus by the end. We spent the first five books in this series hating his rotten guts, but then the author apparently decided it would be fun to make us cry for him. In his youth, he was very much like the hero of the first four books (who is also his son). Something Atticus himself notes in his journals toward the latter part of the story.

This book focused more on the male POV, but there were still chapters in there from Genny’s perspective. The story centered so much around Atticus that no other character really bears mentioning, but they had a sweet relationship and Genny was a good character. She’s like Aria more than a little in her tenacity and self-sacrificial mindset, furthering the parallel between Atticus and his son’s stories and breaking a reader’s heart even more.

If you’re a fan of The Captive series, then I certainly recommend this for the backstory if nothing else. But I’ve seen how well this author can write and I feel like she didn’t follow through. All the same, I’ll still be hanging on for new additions to this series.

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ARC Review: Mercy (The Ferryman + The Flame, #4) by Rhiannon Paille @RhiPaille

Tags

fantasy, indie author, mythology, new adult, paranormal romance, rhiannon paille, the ferryman and the flame

Sometimes it hurts instead . . .
For fans of John Green, Assassin’s Creed and Sailor Moon

Krishani thought Kaliel was lost forever. Slave to the hunger, and the cold, and the enemies who took everything, he longs for death. Taking shelter in a human body, Krishani finds the one thing he gave up on centuries ago — Kaliel.

Maeva doesn’t know who she is — what she is, but she knows she doesn’t belong. Hunted by her past, stalked by a boy intent on killing her, she longs to remember. Confused and alone, Maeva learns why memories are the most painful things of all.

Sorrow, Hunger, Passion and Danger collide in the fourth installment of The Ferryman & The Flame.

Blurb and cover from BN.com

5 out of 5 stars

Best in the series yet, but man oh man do I need extra therapy now.

I came into this book with a mixture of excitement because I loved the earlier books as well as dread because, as implied, I have read the earlier books. When I heard there was a ten thousand year gap between this and the previous installment, Vulture, taking us into modern times, I was a bit hesitant, but I thought it was pulled off very well. The author eases us into the 21^st century without losing the flavor of the other books or letting us forget that in ten thousand years, even immortals change.

The plot:

I had no idea what was going to happen and pretty much every time I made a prediction, I guessed wrong. The story took its own path and I thought it turned out better than my original expectation. As with the earlier books, I loved the blending of mythologies and the references to different cultures and the author’s explanation for how they were all interconnected.

There was less reference to the Land of the Beasts and the Land of Immortals than in the previous novels and I’m not sure how I felt about that. I suppose it was understandable since the story was taking place in the Lands of Men, but I’m hoping for more of the other Lands in Asylum.

The characters:

Kaliel is on her fourth body to date (I’m not counting all Tor’s failed attempts) and as far as she knows, her name is Maeva and she is nothing but a normal teenager in an obscure Canadian town. She seemed more mature to me, there was less naïveté to her personality and greater wisdom, not sure exactly how to put it.

As for Krishani—oh my poor sweet baby. After ten thousand years as a Vulture, he’s managed to cling to his identity and the past nine years in the body of a cancer patient. I felt for him more in this book than I did in Justice when he was slowly turning into a soul-eating demon. I just…loved everything about his character in this book and want, want, want them to have a stupid HEA at the end of this series so fricking bad.

On a brief note, I adore Pux as much as ever (another of my sweet babies), hate Shimma (that blonde succubus can jump headfirst down a well), am reevaluating my initial appraisal of Elwen (he’s on probation), and am waiting for someone to upside Tor in the head with a brick (he has it coming).

I am as much a fan of this series as ever and I certainly recommend it. The descriptions are beautiful, the love story is gorgeous, the world building is epic, and it just keeps getting better.

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Review: The White (The Dragon Pearl, #1) by T.L. Shreffler @catseyeauthor

Tags

dragons, fantasy, indie author, review, the white, tl shreffler, ya

Ever since The White appeared in our valley of Windridge, my people have lived in fear. But today that fear ends. Finally, the King has sent his most elite dragon hunters to kill The White, the last of the imperial dragons.

Since the death of her father, Sienna Foxburn hasn’t felt safe. The White, a fire-breathing imperial dragon, terrorizes the Valley of Windridge with no end in sight. But Sienna isn’t satisfied hiding behind the walls of her keep. She is tired of fearing the dragon, but she can’t fight it alone.

Then a mysterious sorceress and two elite dragon hunters arrive, claiming to be sent by the King. Thus begins the great hunt for The White. Sienna embarks on a dragon-hunting adventure through the exotic Valley of Windridge, all while uncovering secrets and conspiracies that could endanger the entire Kingdom….

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars
In case the five or so glowy reviews before this had escaped your notice, I am a huge fan of Shreffler’s work. Her other series, The Cat’s Eye Chronicles, has a coveted seat upon my Shelf of Awesome and when I heard she was working on a book with DRAGONS I went a little spastic. This story manages a huge amount of world building, character building, and emotion in a very short space, something that impressed me greatly even with having read her other pieces. It is a fantastic story, even if it did end in a cliffhanger, and I am very much looking forward to watching the series unfold.

The plot:
Everything happens pretty quickly here, which was a nice change for me after a steady diet of epics lately. The plot progresses with only enough world building and description that is necessary (huge plus). My only question issue with this story was Sienna’s empathy toward the dragons. It’s explained, but I wanted to see just a little more expansion of the thought and feeling processes she went through before getting to that point. However, that was my one and only—I wouldn’t even call it a complaint. More like a side note.

It is mentioned somewhere that this has romantic elements, but I would say the focus here was definitely more on the dragons. (And if you have a problem with that, go away.) The general feelings of the populace toward dragons were displayed and justified well in the beginning, but I still found myself sympathizing with the dragons more than the people (which was probably Shreffler’s scheme).

The characters:
This doesn’t happen especially often, but the heroine was my favorite character. In the beginning, Sienna is going through that whole awkward “on the threshold of adulthood but has no focus” stage that I think most of us go through. That won her huge doses of empathy and she was relatable and human to me, unlike a lot of fantasy heroines that have been cropping up.

Darius, the dragon hunter, has that whole aura of mystery and awesome about him and I have lots of questions about his character. What did he do that got him made a dragon hunter? Who was he before? Like I said, lots of questions for sequels!

Mistress Ash is probably the other main character and also the villain. Everything about her creeped me out from the moment she turned up and it became clear pretty quickly that I was right about here. She was an excellent villain to this story, written to make you hate her and as far as I was concerned, she could join the chopping block queue with Cerastes and Volcrian (references to The Cat’s Eye Chronicles).

The other characters, mainly those from Sienna’s home castle, reacted in understandable ways, but…no, I’m not going to be rooting for them any time soon. On the other hand, I thought they were remarkably developed for such a short span of page time and even Sienna’s mother was portrayed as having sympathetic qualities.

All in all, this was a well-written YA fantasy I would shove in the faces of anyone who likes dragon literature. I enjoyed it greatly, it has been a delight to read, and I am anxiously anticipating the next installment in the series!

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Review: City of Blaze (The Fireblade Array, #1) by H.O. Charles @HOCharles

Tags

adult, city of blaze, epic fantasy, ho charles, review, the fireblade array

Fantasy Romance Epic.

The city is crumbling beneath a mountain of indulgences. Its soldiers find entertainment in the beds of the castle’s servants rather than fight, believing they are safe from the deadly embrace of wielders. Wars are fought to encourage otherwise absent mortality, and countless citizens suffer the terrible pangs of nalka – the hunger for intimacy. All the while, Cadra’s king concerns himself with choosing which of his disappointing concubines to execute next. The duty falls upon his son, Morghiad, to restore the city’s strength and the army’s purpose. As Morghiad attempts to do just that, he uncovers darker horrors and encounters a young servant who could either be his greatest ally or his greatest hindrance.

City of Blaze is a story of changing allegiances, self-control and love.

Includes glossary of terms

 Blurb and cover from Goodreads

4 out of 5 stars

It’s no secret I’ve fallen behind on my reviews, but I read this baby last autumn and it’s taken me this long to tell you lot about it. (Yes, I’m a horrible blogger. Bad me.)

I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I started the book. I grabbed it under the old cover (without the seminude man) because it was Epic Fantasy and it was free for Kindle and that combination is like a siren song to me. It sat around on my Kindle for Lord knows how long before I read it, but once I did, I got involved, I got emotional, I became invested. Next thing you know, I’m buying the second book, the third book. I’ve never read anything quite like this and it got its hooks in my brain.

The thing to be aware of when reading this is that it truly is an epic. The tale spans several years and takes us through a great deal of character development. The book takes commitment to finish, but I found it exceptionally worth it. Not to mention the world building and the rules of the world are about as original as I have seen. It was so different, so thought out, it’s pretty much impossible not to be impressed.

The plot:

I’ll admit I was kind of stumped about this for a while. My inner editor was trying to identify the exact plot and I couldn’t, so I just stuffed my inner editor into a cupboard and decided to enjoy the story.

It might seem like the plot meanders a bit, but I actually didn’t mind. There was plenty of action and I got hooked on the romance, though I’m going to take that opening and tell everyone that this is not Young Adult. There were some pretty intense lead-ups to sex scenes and I’m going to assume those parts of the scenes were also intense because I still maintain my practice of sex-scene-skipping. (Yes, I’m nearly 20 and still do that, shut up.)

The characters:

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Artemi at first. I was certain that I wasn’t going to like her because in general if a girl is playing two different men at once (which she kind of did, but kind of didn’t), I tend to get upset. However, we ended up getting along quite nicely and I really want to ask the author on where her name came from.

As for Morghiad, I think we can safely say that he has joined the ranks of my babies (a hypothetical collective of fictional characters over which I am viciously protective). He seems to have this masochistic belief that he’s horrible, which doesn’t go away—at least not in the first two books. But he’s a sweet chap overall, so we’ll cut him a break.

This review is running a bit long, but I just want to mention Silar—whom I didn’t like at first, but who grew on me. There are also several different antagonists who provide varied amounts of antagonization at different parts of the story and the book has an open ending—which is code for “cliffhanger,” so be ye warned.

Looking back, I’m not really sure what I loved most about this book. I finished reading and the characters kept bouncing around in my head until I broke down on downloaded the sequel. I truly did enjoy this and am very excited to see what lies in store for the series.

P.S. It’s free on all eBook venues I’ve checked!

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Review: Evanescent by Gabriella Lepore

Tags

crushing hearts and black butterfly, evanescent, fantasy, gabriella lepore, indie, indie published, paranormal romance, ya

“Then it is settled,” Felix declared. “Come hell or high water, when this is all over, at least one of us here will not make it out alive.”

When Bronwen Snow is pulled from her cottage in the middle of the night, she finds herself seeking the help of three mysterious boys who reside in an abandoned castle deep in the hillside. With only a hasty handwritten note and a vague sense of dread to guide her, Bronwen is forced to put her trust in the eccentric and willful Felix Cavara and his eternal curse – immortality.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars

If anyone wants to see a perfect example of snark and sass with sweet romance, I’m shoving this in your face. This book was wonderful, even if the ending did leave me pouting a bit. A loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, it’s one of those I’ve wanted to read for awhile, so when the freebie promotion came around, I couldn’t resist.

The plot:

This book is a pretty quick read, about two and a half hours-ish. I kind of wanted more expansion on the nature of the magical, who had made the magical weapons, who had sent the Severan (can’t remember if this was explained or not), etc. On the other hand, this story really didn’t need to be bogged down with details, it flew just fine on its own.

The characters:

Like I said, great sass. Bronwen and the boys were utterly adorable and the immortality jokes were especially funny. I kind of wish this was a series, just because I enjoyed it so much.

This story is one of immortality about the downsides. The boys have lived for around two hundred years and have wanted to die for about a hundred and eighty. (On a side note, I think it’s interesting that people keep writing these stories about the drawbacks of immortality when it has been the dearest wish of people generations and ages over. Anyway.)

A fun read and I am now very curious about the author’s other works. If I ever get my demented Amazon account sorted, I’ll have to visit her author page.

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Review: Land of Shadows (The Legend of the Gate Keeper #1) by Jeff Gunzel

Tags

adult, epic fantasy, fantasy, jeff gunzel, land of shadows, legend of the gatekeeper, new adult, swordsand sorcery, upper ya

The gorgeous lands of Tarmerria are full of magic and beauty. But the virtually lawless cities contain no shortage of darkness and greed. A land where daily survival in the harsh realm takes priority over all else. But the world is about to change. The ancient prophecies, written during a time long forgotten, just might be true after all.

Join in as unlikely companions from completely different worlds set out on the adventure of a lifetime. A search for answers. A search for the truth.

This book is intended for mature audiences

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

3.5 out of 5 stars
Great idea, great premise, interesting execution, dire need of editing. I liked this book enough to say I’m curious about the rest of the series, but it’s more than a little disappointing because I think if a few things were fixed I could love it.

The third person perspective was close in some places and omniscient in others and that irritates me in any book. There were three or four perspectives that could have been cut altogether and not been missed. In some places the author tells instead of showing and I think there were a lot of opportunities for good scenes that were missed. Mr. Gunzel came up with a fantastic idea, I just feel it wasn’t followed through.

The plot:
The plot was decent. It didn’t drag and for the most part was pretty focused. I saw most of the twists coming, but that’s forgivable. The world building was measured at about just right and I don’t recall any holes in the storyline.

On a side note, it is definitely for mature reader as the blurb states. There wasn’t detailed description of certain things, but this is still not something I’d hand to anyone under fifteen.

The characters:
It has been some time since I have read a warrior-girl type who I not only liked, but who was my favorite chracter. This is one thing Mr. Gunzel must be credited with—writing a human, sympathetic virago. I adore Jade and if I read any more of the books, it will be to find out what happens to her.

I didn’t like Eric so much. He was okay and the early development of his character was pretty good, there was just this thing at the end of the book that has kind of colored my judgment since.

There is a demon hybrid with exceptional villain potential and his puppet master with even more. The more I think about it, the more I consider downloading the next book.

I did yearn for a fat red pen when reading this book. I saw lots of ingredients for a good fantasy, there are just a plethora of flaws that badly need weeding. This is one I hope the author will consider reediting and re-releasing, because it really has potential.

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Review: Witch Song (Witch Song, #1) by Amber Argyle @amberargyle

Tags

amber argyle, epic fantasy, indie author, indie published, mg, middle grade, witch song, ya, young adult

The Witch Hunters have come for Brusenna, for she is the last. All the others have been captured by the Dark Witch. And without their magical songs to control nature, the world is dying.

Though young and untrained, Brusenna must succeed where every other Witch has failed. Find the Dark Witch. Fight her. Defeat her. If Brusenna fails, there will be nothing left to save—for the Witches, for mankind, or for the young Guardian who has committed his life to protecting hers.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a fantasy novel like this—a young hero raised in ignorance of their true power leaving on a quest to defeat a great evil. In some ways it felt like going home, back to where my passion for swords and sorcery began. Lots of danger, suspense, a dash of mystery, and some sweet romance—this is the kind of book that made me fall in love with the genre.

The plot:

At a little over 320 pages printed length, it took me little over a day to finish. Despite the length, I can’t think of any portion or area where the story dragged or there was a plot hole. There’s a one year gap in the timeline somewhere around the 30% mark and while that might normally get a star reduction, it was more or less necessary to the storyline and so I’ll take it.

I think I would have liked to see less of the multiple perspectives. There were certain parts from the POV of the bad guy and a few other characters that I thought should have been cut, maybe not all, but most of them.

The characters:

Amber Argyle pulled of a HUGE amount of character development. Senna goes from being a naïve, brash, slightly bratty fifteen year old to a mature, brave, and astute leader. It really was amazing how well that was pulled off. If only we could all master character development so well. *sigh*

Joshen was the other main character who undergoes a total 360 transformation. They mature so much over the course of the story it was like watching them grow up. They were so sweet together and I did get angry at Senna’s mother, almost as much as she did. Particularly when the woman went and was getting upset over Senna not getting the permission of the Keepers before making this one big decision. Never mind that Senna didn’t know because her mother neglected to teach her or that the Keepers were kind of dead at the time. *tosses arms in the air with frustration*

At the 70% mark, I was panicking a bit. Things were going way too smoothly and I knew something big and bad was about to happen and I was right. Thankfully, while this book does have an open ending, it does not have a cliffhanger.

An excellent MG/lower YA fantasy I would recommend to fans of Intisar Khanani and Shannon Hale.

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