This is just going to be really quick since I wasn’t really planning on writing a review for this book because I wasn’t really looking at any of it’s flaws while reading it. I was just reading in bliss, happy to finally have this book in my hands, but after I was done with it I couldn’t tell if I had book hangover from this book or something else, and I think it’s something else.
I loved this book and it’s series. It’s the only book series by Holly Black that I like, but I have only read one other book by her. In that book I found the same problem, most of it was good, but I found something lacking. For that book I wasn’t really sure what it was, but for this one I am, and that’s Cardan.
Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVED Cardan. I loved him since we saw him in the first book and he was this horrible character. It wasn’t that Cardan, as a character was lacking, but content of him was lacking. Cardan. Most of the time in this book Cardan is not there. You see him, and then poof he’s gone. You read more about Cardan from other characters then you see him. You do see more of Cardan’s good side, but again you rarely see him. In the other books you see Cardan a lot. I just reread The Wicked King and you see Cardan plenty, but in this book I rarely ever saw him.
Other then my sadness over the lack of Cardan, I loved this book. It had it’s moments were I was bored, not gonna lie, but I’m pretty sure all books do that so I can’t fault that. Most of the time I didn’t want to put this book down. Once I got halfway through the book I had to force myself to put it down and read the other half tomorrow. I’m honestly sad it’s over. I want more. It’s a rare type of book that I don’t see a lot of it and I want more of. I NEED more of. I’m very sad this journey is over. I’m still stuck in the book hangover and have no idea how I will get out of it.
P.S. This book scared me for the characters many times. I had no idea how it was going to end to be honest.
‘”Mind your own business, you goddamn raisin with legs!” Taran screamed from inside the house.’ -Cecy Robson
I’ve read PLENTY of Urban Fantasy, or more liked tried. A lot of them lack that special something that keeps you going. They start boring and keep going with the boring and you just got to trudge through it hoping it gets better, when it never does. I was glad to see that for the most part, that wasn’t the case with this. Did it have it’s boring moments, oh hell yeah, but was it entertaining, yes, yes it was. For only one reason though, the sisters.
The story starts off with the four sisters on trial for killing a vampire. Within these few first pages you get to see the different personality the sister’s have, and their personalities are the best part of the book. You have our main character, Celia. Celia is the leader type. She does her best to protect her sisters and to keep them in line. She is head strong, except when it comes to a certain character, which is my least favorite part of her, but we will touch on that later. Oh, and she turns into a tiger and any animal that touches her. Next, is my favorite sister, Taran. She is a foul mouth hell raiser, literally, she shoots fire. Then there is Shayna, whose whole personality is basically her saying dude. She’s the most chill one and turns random objects into weapons. Lastly is Emme. Emme is the sweet innocent one. She doesn’t really like violence and looks at the good in people. She can pick things up with her head and heal people. I don’t really know how those things go together, but they do. Now that we know the sister’s lets move on.
During the trial we learn two things. The sweet innocent vampires, who aren’t dangerous apparently, are starting to have trouble with a disease, and that the vampire who put the sisters on trial, Misha, wants to bang Celia. Dude literally puts her on trial, trying to have her and her sisters killed, but is just walking around like, ‘aye, I know I tried to kill you, but i still want to bang ya.’ Because that would work…. The only other important parts of this book is the shifters, and this is were my problem comes into play. Celia is supposed to be this leader type, take no shit, type of girl, but when Aric, a shifter she doesn’t really know, comes around, she turns into a teenage girl. She literally walks around half the time talking about how she doesn’t know why she is acting like that. Me either. I really don’t. She is fine around other men, fine as in she scares the living shit out of them, but she doesn’t turn into this person who is not her character. It’s annoying. Also the fact that she lets Aric push her around. He is the typical werewolf who wants to just boss her around and treat her like an ancient glass vase. She and her sisters prove over and over again that they are capable of protecting themselves and he still tells her she needs to stay home… I get it, you like her and want her safe, but she’s her own person and should have a choice. It’s annoying that she lets him do it. She literally just smiles and is like, ‘ok whatever you say’. Other than his over protectiveness, I didn’t mind Aric. He is no Curran or Adam from Kate Daniels or The Mercy Thompson series, but he’s ok. I’m hoping he gets more likable and isn’t just a bland werewolf stereotype though.
If you’re like me, you don’t like Insta-love. This book has four insta-love romances. Not one, but four. Each of the sisters meets a wolf in Aric’s pack and instantly they are all couples who would pretty much do anything for each other. It was literally like reading Romeo and Juliet. They instant they all see each other, they like each other, and would die for each other.
My last problem with this book was the action was boring. There was literally a part in the book were the action all stopped for a lot of chapters and the book just became a stereotypical romance novel. All talk of what was going on the vampires was done and I honestly thought for a while the last half of the book was just going to switch into a straight up romance. It didn’t help that when the action was present it wasn’t the most entertaining. It wasn’t the worst, but I kept getting bored during it.
I named a lot about the book I didn’t like, but there was parts I did like. I loved the four sisters. They made the novel. They were all funny and got along well. I loved all their different personalities and reading their life. Also the dialogue of this book is good. I genuinely laughed while reading it. If it weren’t for the fact that the werewolves acted like literally animals at time, this would of been a really good Urban Fantasy novel. (Aric literally brings Celia a box of live rabbits and plans on skinning them for her at her house to eat them… as if that was normal. He plans on murdering these living rabbits in front of her as if that’s sweet…it’s not. I get that he’s a wolf, but that was still weird. It was very obvious that it was for plot convenience because it literally made no sense.)
Over all, did I like this book. Yes, for the most part. It had it’s problems of course, but it was an enjoyable read. Do I play on checking out the rest? Yes, though after I reread The Wicked King and read Queen of Nothing. So it will be awhile, and I might not even read after reading those two books. It just depends. Lastly, would I recommend this book. That also depends. If you like books that are the up to standard of Mercy Thompson or Kate Daniels and you don’t want to read any urban fantasy books lower then that, then no. This is not the next book to join that rank. If you like those books though and don’t mind reading a book that isn’t as good as those, but is still enjoyable as a easy simple read, then yeah, this is a good book to read. I can be very picky with books at times and I finished this book and was going to read the next one till I realized that Queen of Nothing was about to come out and I needed to reread the last book before I got my hands on Queen of Nothing. So if you want an Urban Fantasy book with an ok story, then this is good. I’ll make sure to update you if it gets better.
P.S. I forgot about this until I looked at my notes, and I would like to note that this book came out in 2012 where this happened a lot so I can’t exactly fault it, but there is a scene where they down talk a prostitute. Emme, innocently says this women can’t be a sex worker because she lives in a nice area, and Taran calls refers to the women as a skank. I don’t like shitting on sex workers, or calling them disgusting or names that refer to that, but like I said, this book came out in 2012, where that did happen a lot. It’s something I just thought I would mention. It didn’t stop me from reading the book, but it was something I didn’t really care for. I also don’t know if Taran meant it as an insult. You could take it as the same way some girls’ who address each other as bitch in a more friendly matter. It really depends on how you want to take it.
“When you saw him, you knew no matter what happened, he would handle it. Little did they know that he solved most of his problems by throwing money at them or trying to kill them. Sometimes at the same time.”
-Ilona Andrews
Nevada hasn’t heard from Rogan since their fight with the fire prime, Adam Pierce. She has gone on living her normal life with her small jobs, until a man she met during her hunt for Adam comes to her asking for her help on a job. His wife was murdered along with a few other people and he knows it wasn’t an accident. One of the houses did it and they’re trying to hide it. This new job causes problems for Nevada, but Nevada is also about to have to face her own problems that she isn’t going to be able to hide anymore.
I enjoyed this one just as much as I did the first one. This book had the same action and the same humor to it. The reason I like Patricia Briggs work( the author of the Mercy Thompson series) and Ilona Andrews is that they can write urban fantasies that are also detective like novels without each book being an exact copy. I love Patricia Briggs books but I think that Ilona Andrews is actually better at making her book different within the same series while still having each book leave you with the same feel. Ilona Andrews is an author whose writing isn’t very complex, but she has a clear writing style, that even people who liked complex writing, would like. That’s not to say her writing is simple. I think her writing is actually very clever.
Pros
Like I said, her writing. I mentioned this with the first book, and I don’t know if she intentionally does it, but the way she writes Rogan’s fighting scenes is in a clever way. Rogan is a Prime, the highest rank of magic users, and he is probably the most feared of the primes. He was in the war for years and still thinks of everything with war logic. Death of bad people mean nothing to him. Murder mean nothing to him. When Rogan fights it’s not written in a drawn out incredibly detailed way, it’s straight to the point, like how he is. For example, this scene where someone betrayed him and he was angry, “He hit the door with the palm of his hand. His magic smashed into the wood. Every window in the house exploded outward.” There is no other description of what he did. There isn’t a description of how the magic felt around them, the way the glass would of shattered around them, the caving of the door. The book is told through Nevada’s point of view but when she describes Rogan’s magic it’s always simple like this, as if this incredible thing he did was no big deal, because it’s Rogan and to him it is no big deal. I love that it’s written this way. It makes Rogan seem more badass.
The development. Nevada and Rogan have changed from the first book and it’s not just their relationship. Nevada’s personality is changing. Her need to protect those around her is getting to her and making her into a harder person. She’s starting to use her power against people more when she used to not want to. She’s starting to be able to kill people without thinking about it. She is taking complete charge. Nevada is becoming a more dominant person who won’t let anyone take anything away from her. In the first book Nevada was scared of dying from Adam and actually started to cry when she thought she was about to die. In this one Nevada almost dies a few times and instead of thinking about the fear she does what she needs to do at that moment. Then there’s Rogan. He is losing his alien nature and becoming more human like. He’s doing things for Nevada that no one has ever seen him do. He’s doing what he can to make sure she’s safe and well protected, even if he can’t be there to do it. He even goes as far as threatening to kill someone he somewhat cares about. He starts to become genuinely happy.
What I liked about the Kate Daniels Series was how long it took Kate and Curran to become a couple. In the first book of that series they only kissed once and it was barely even a kiss. It is a slow burn kinda romance in a way, it just is full of tension to not make it feel like it’s so slow. This book series is slow but in a different way. In the start of Kate and Curran, neither of them thought anything really of each other. It was something that would never happen, so no one tried. Kate was someone who refused to listen and Curran was someone who needed control. In the Hidden Legacy series Nevada and Rogan have an instant attraction where they both want each other, but that’s just it, it’s only want. Neither of them care for each other past that, which is why Nevada refuses. You can tell they like each other but it’s nothing more than that. In this second book you can tell that those feelings are different. It has all changed and it’s no longer just want. They actually care for each other now. Their attraction wasn’t slow but their love wasn’t instant either. They had to build to get there.
This book was more action packed. The first book seemed more like an introduction into the series, while this one just went in. Nevada and Rogan were constantly getting wrapped into trouble like being in a car chase with people trying to shoot them, a party full of the town’s most dangerous people, creatures that aren’t easy to kill, and things that involve literally tanks. Also in this book we get to see more of Nevada’s family’s secrets. It’s been hinted by the mom that things in that family aren’t what they seem, and we get to see what she means. We get to see the secret she has been hiding from them all that can get them all killed or captured, and we get to see the families magic, especially Nevada’s younger sister’s magic. We also learn just how strong they all are. We also get more of Nevada’s boss in this book which I really enjoyed because we got to see a lot more of his personality and his interactions with Rogan.
Cons
This might just be a more personal con but I hate when books mention social media by name. I’m ok with the main ones like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, but not smaller ones like vine. When Nevada mentioned Vine I actually cringed, mainly because it dates the books. I don’t know if it’s just me but I hate when modern books date themselves with little trends like that. I get historical books and such, but in a modern book it dates it back to only a few years ago and it always feels weird to me. Like in the Morganville Vampires Series, one of the characters, Shane I believe, talks about how another character, Eve, nails are painted one color but the ring finger is painted a different color. That is a sentence or so that is so minuscule but has stuck with me, and I read this series years ago. I know this probably isn’t bad for a lot of people, but it’s something that personally bothers me. Other then that, once again I was very wrapped up in this book and didn’t have any cons. I loved this book and ate it up to fast to really pay to much attention to anything that could be considered bad. Usually I say something about the men’s attitude, like how it’s barbaric at times or commanding, but Rogan really isn’t it. He is a strong dominant person, but he isn’t controlling at all. He actually wants Nevada to go with him to do dangerous jobs(not like he WANTS her to, more like he doesn’t try to stop her.) so I can’t complain about him even if I wanted to.
Sadly I only have one more book of Nevada and Rogan. This book sets it up in its last chapter and from there you can tell it’s going to be good. Got to love those cliffhangers that get you wanting to read the next book at that very moment. This series is a must for Urban Fantasy lovers. It’s one of the best I’ve read, probably my second favorite. It might be beating Kate Daniels. I’ll figure that out with how the last book ends and once I eventually read the last two Kate Daniels books. Nevada and Rogan are two character I don’t see a lot of in other series. At first glance they might seem like a generic male and female lead but when you read more into the books you can see that they are not what you expected.
*I did read the last book of this series, but sadly I was to busy to write a review for it, and too much time has passed to write a proper review of it, so I will just write my overall opinion here. I love this series and this was a great ending to a great series. I loved the third book as much as the other two. I’m waiting for the spin off, that comes out this year, of Nevada’s sister. I can’t wait for it!
“You can’t just kill people because they annoy you.”
“You keep saying ‘can’t,'”
-Ilona Andrews
Nevada Baylor is a private investigator in a world where magic not only exist, almost everyone has it. Nevada’s family usually only takes on small cases like catching a cheating spouse. They aren’t able to take on bigger, more dangerous cases, but when Nevada is told to catch one of the most dangerous people in their city or lose everything her family has worked for she has no choice but to risk her life to catch this man who doesn’t care about anyone else’s life. She has to not kill him, but bring him back, which is harder then killing him. How do you bring back someone who has no regard for human life. Her search for him sends her right into the eye of another dangerous man, one known for his murderous past. He is a dangerous man, but with his help she might be able to catch the other dangerous man.
Later this year I read, Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series and fell in love. Finding a good urban fantasy book is not an easy task. You have to wade through the mound of garbage to find that diamond hidden within. Most of urban fantasies are cliche garbage. Ilona Andrews writes diamonds. I only have one urban fantasy series that I love more then Kate Daniels. That would be Mercy Thompson, which is my all time favorite urban fantasy that I have read multiple times and I don’t think anything can beat. When I saw that Ilona Andrews had a another book series out that isn’t related to Kate’s world, at least I don’t think it is, I immediately wanted it. I really enjoy the worlds Ilona makes. Kate’s world was our world but without having electronics you could depend on. At any given moment you could have a power surge that would make cars and such useless. People usually traveled by foot or horses. In Nevada’s world, while magic has become apart of everyday life, it doesn’t effect the world like that, but it’s people. Everyone has magic pretty much and use it to do things they couldn’t normally do, sometimes making life worse. Magic is very depended on and sought after. Many people who have powerful magic are put into the army and used. Many of the characters is this world has military background. There’s also places in the book where magic has helped to destroy a town and now that town is basically a wasteland.
The magic concept in this book is not complicated. There isn’t a system that has to be used, or sacarfies that need to be made on a full moon. Magic is just a part of people. Even though the magic is basic in its structure, reading how characters used their magic was interesting to read. In this world there are ranks of how strong your magic is, the top rank being a Prime. Primes are capable of mass destruction. For example, regular magic users can do thinks like communicate with animals, summon poison flies. A prime can destroy a building without touching it, and that’s just them using magic at a basic level. If they were to go full power they could destroy a town. The two men who are introduced in Nevada’s life in this book are two primes. The villain who Nevada is trying to convince to go home and turn himself in is Adam. Adam is a prime who is pyrokinetic, meaning he can make fire. He burned down a bank with people in it and didn’t care. The other man is Conner Rogan, otherwise known as Mad Rogan, the Butcher of Merida, and Huracan(hurricane). Mad Rogan is known for murdering many people. He can slice out a chunk out of a building as if it was nothing, and to him it is. He is telekinetic, he can move things without touching them using his head. Adam and Mad Rogan are two people who are feared for their magic use and Nevada has caught both of their attention.
I know some people think that comparing books or characters are a bad thing, but I like to look at an authors previous work and seeing the differences in her worlds and characters. I liked to see if the characters are the same, or if the author knows how to write more than one kind of character. In Ilona Andrews’ case, she is able to write characters that are similar but so completely different.
Kate Daniels was a badass. She was a trained fighter that people knew. She radiated a badass aura at all times. There is no doubt that you don’t want to fuck with Kate. She doesn’t stand down, even if she knows she will die. She is stubborn and doesn’t care that your an alpha. She’ll look you in the eye and smile as you growl at her. Nevada is a badass, just in a different way. Nevada is not a fighter. Kate’s strength was her literal strength and magic abilities. Nevada is very smart and thinks out all the possibilities before engaging. Kate is the type who if a problem is prevented she would want to deal with it then and get it out of the way, while Nevada would rather take the day and think about which way to go about it. Nevada isn’t just a smart character though, she can be a fighter, just not in a physical way. There is times where Nevada gets angry and you see a glimpse of that Kate Daniels attitude that tells you to run. Nevada’s magic also isn’t useful in a fight, so she uses things like guns, tasers, and something that’s like a taser, and if she wants to shot you there’s a good chance she isn’t missing. My favorite moments of the book with Nevada was when she took charge. It was like Nevada became a new person. That second Nevada was angry and started commanding people you could feel this power from her. There’s also other differences between the two characters. Kate Daniels was a loner. She was raised being told that she was a danger to others and that no one could be with her, so she was always alone. Even by the end of the book, Kate has only a hand full of people she actually cares about. Nevada is a family person. She runs a business with her family that consist of her mother, grandmother, sisters, and cousins. She would do anything for them, including die. When one of them was messed with Nevada went into a rage mood. Nevada is a very family oriented person, while Kate is a loner. There is some things both of them have completely in common though. Both are very brave and selfless. Both have no problem dealing with alphas, murderers, people who radiate fear, and telling them no. They stand up for themselves and it doesn’t matter if you can rip them in half with your bare hands, or without even touching you.
Curran vs Mad Rogan. Curran is the definition of Alpha. His word is final, you don’t disobey him. He tries to control everything. Kate refers to him a lot as a control freak, and he is because he is an alpha who demands to be listened to, expect with Kate who he eventually sees as an equal. Curran is literally a beast at times. When you hear the stories of Mad Rogan, you would think he would be just like Curran, but he is almost nothing like Curran, which really surprised me. Mad Rogan’s personality was something I didn’t expect. Nevada refers to Mad Rogan as an alien in one part and I fully agree. It was like he was an alien trying to understand basic human emotion. He is a murder who was also a soldier for years that was used to pretty much destroy towns. He doesn’t feel the same ways or emotions that normal people do, but he wants to understand it. There is a part where he kills someone with a building, freaking out Nevada. He seriously asks Nevada if she would rather he do it in another way. He doesn’t want to freak her out so if there is a way he can kill people that is better for her then he will do it. There is also times where she tells him to stop killing someone who he thinks deserves it because their an asshole and he asks Nevada why she doesn’t want him to kill that person and why isn’t she angry. There are time where he asks these questions and they are sarcastic, but a lot of the times he is asking because he actually wants to understand. Also, Mad Rogan likes to joke and tease people. He is actually more playful in the book then he is ever angry. He is only truly angry a few times but for a lot of the book he is making jokes about him killing people, and teasing people. Based on the stories you heard from him you would of thought he was another Curran but he isn’t. If it wasn’t for the killing he would pass for normal.
Pro
I love a book where the characters make me laugh. I take notes all through books and a lot of my notes in this one were just moments I found funny. Like Nevada buying a man a shirt because he is never wearing one, her being completely blunt to people like telling her boss he is a bad person, and things like her and her family hanging up multiple times on a man known for murdering people. There’s also a lot of moments Rogan made me laugh when he would kill someone as if it was nothing, and then make a joke about it a few paragraphs later. The book wasn’t cheesy funny, but genuine funny. It didn’t come off as trying to be funny, it just was. A lot of the characters had these little funny moments. Nevada’s family is a family you want to be a part of because every moments you are with them is enjoyable.
The fighting. I’m someone who doesn’t necessarily care about combat in books since for combat I prefer visuals. I don’t usually care about reading it in depths. If there’s anything I like to read about combat it’s more like taction. There was no taction in this book, yet I loved the combat. I loved reading about Rogan picking up car parts and slicing people in half with it. I liked how simple it was written when Rogan just threw a guy in a lake and dropped building on him. It was literally written in a few sentences as if it wasn’t important because to Rogan, it wasn’t. I liked the null space where if a Prime used so much of their magic they literally became untouchable because it basically put them in a dimension where you could see them but that was it. The combat in this book was so good that I actually enjoyed reading it and didn’t feel like I just wanted to skim through it.
Even though Adam was the villian, he was charming. A lot of times villains are portrayed as awful from the start with no good qualities as if there only personality trait was them being evil, which isn’t always bad thing because sometimes evil is just evil depending on the context of the character. For Adam, since he was well known, popular, rich, if he was just an evil asshole he wouldn’t be a good character. The fact that he is rich and popular would mean that he is charming. He was probably taught to be charming because it’s good for business and its how you get people to do things for you. Adam is also a manipulator, so it makes perfect sense for him to being charming. He didn’t care for people, but he could act like he did. He could make you feel like you were worth something to him because he wanted you to do something. He is a good villain because he a charming villain which makes him tricky. I also don’t really see books where the main character and the villian sit down and have chats while the main character knows that person is the villain. They did and each time it was a game of them trying to convince each other to do something.
Like I said before Nevada is smart. She doesn’t rush into things and make stupid decisions like a lot of main characters. She needs to go into a bar to question people but she knows that it’s dark, and it will have a bunch of drunk men in there who will probably already be a little angry and won’t like a random girl in there poking around, so she goes home instead and decides to go in the morning because it’s safer. She thinks out everything before she does it. A lot of times characters rush into everything because it makes good content for the book. Nevada shows you don’t need to have a character do that. There are ways to make your character not make stupid decisions and still have the story progress and still be likeable. Even when Nevada has to put herself in a dangerous situation she makes sure to take precautions before going. She makes sure to think about what will happen if she does something and if it’s not a result she will like she will find another way to do it. She is a witty character who is actually clever.
Cons
I was honestly to interested in reading that I didn’t find anything wrong. Even as i true to think about it, there was nothing I didn’t like about the book. I think i might actually prefer it to Kate Daniels, which I didn’t think I would. Even the writing was good,It was written in a smart way. Maybe i’ll see something wrong in the second one but i’m not going to try to find fault in something when I didn’t find fault in it while reading it. It’s not fair to the author so this book doesn’t have any cons to me.
If it’s not clear enough, I love this book. If you like Urban Fantasy and haven’t read this book yet then do it. I like that this isn’t a world of supernatural creatures but just people who can use different forms of magic because of experimentation. It was fun to read about people shooting fire, talking to animals, being able to tell if something was a lie, the magic circles. Ilona’s characters are realistic and entertaining to read. Nevada was a constant enjoyment and Rogan trying to understand human emotions was a different approach for a powerful man. It doesn’t seem like it is, but the way Ilona writes it is different then the ways it’s been done before. I honestly thought Rogan was going to be a character who was emotionless except for anger, but he wasn’t. This book blew away everything I had expected it to be and I love it.
“And let’s be honest, you weren’t exactly harmed. I even took you home.”
“You dumped me on my doorstep. According to my mother, I looked half dead.”
“Your mother exaggerates. A third dead at most.” ― Ilona Andrews
“Happiness is a strange, frightening, fragile feeling when you’re not used to it.”
― Amanda Bouchet
While hiding in a traveling Circus, Catalia(Cat) is discovered by a warlord with a lack of magic named Griffin. Griffin isn’t just any warlord, he is the Beta Sinta, the brother to the new ruler of Sintan. Cat isn’t just any magic user either, she is the Kingmaker, just the person Griffin needs to help build his family’s new kingdom. Cat has just spent eight years hiding and wasn’t ready to be found. She plans on fighting Griffin the whole way, but finds it harder the longer she hangs out with him and his friends. Cat is the Kingmaker for a reason, and she might have just found her reason.
This is the second time I’ve read this book this year, this book, not the series. I can’t ever bring myself to get past the first few chapters of the second book, and I couldn’t figure out why, until I tried reading it again. I do have a major issue with a part of the book, and the first part of the second book, but I LOVE the first book. The first time I read it I stayed up all night, got up and did a few things I needed to do that morning, and then laid down, planning on going to sleep, but couldn’t because I couldn’t stop thinking about the book. I was up till nine in the morning reading it because I had to finish it. This book is my favorite type of book, and I always find them hard to find. It’s a book where a girl befriends a group of guys, usually not friendly at first, and they’re traveling or going on an adventure. Another book that follows this is The Healer series by Maria V Snyder. I adore books with good bonds and friendship and watching them build. I really loved the first book, but I didn’t like it towards the end, and I can’t ever get past the first few chapters, and here’s why.
Cons
Now I like Griffin, and I love his friends. Carver is a little pervy, but I like him. For the most part, Griffin is a likable character. He had me laughing and chuckling, and at moments he had me physically saying “AWWW” out loud. I had one problem with Griffin, and it’s a problem that grows with the book. Griffin has a tendency to behave like a caveman.(I mean there are times he literally throws Cat on his horse, but that’s because he literally has to) Griffin has two caveman issues. One being he is a major control freak. He tries to control Cat a lot. That’s literally the plot of the book, but it works in that context. He is a warlord. He is doing what he has to in order to better his kingdom. For the plot, it works. It’s like Kratos from the God of War games. He is also a brute with a goal. He is going to do what he has to in order to get that done. It works for a plot. For romance, it’s terrible, what was worse was the way Cat fought it, but always ended up giving into it when he said he was doing it for her. For those who don’t know, that is a major way people manipulate people in relationships.They will turn the situation around to make it feel like it’s the other person’s fault so they can continue doing what they are doing, or they will say they did it because they love them, or something along those lines. Now I don’t Griffin is manipulating Cat, he is just like that. He actually thinks he’s helping her. Griffin isn’t overbearingly controlling for most of the book, it’s the end and the entire beginning of the second book that it gets to be too much. The second reason I call him a caveman is that, in the second book(and this is why I haven’t continued it), in the first chapter Griffin gets mad at Cat, and pushes her hard against the wall, pinning her there, hurting her, yelling at her until she is crying and telling him to let her go. Now when she tells him that he’s hurting her, he does loosen his grip, and eventually let go, and then leaves the room so he doesn’t hurt her, but I still don’t think that was ok and maybe I could of continued reading it, except that Cat forgives him and acts like it never happened right away, and acts like it was her fault. She acts like him pinning her against the wall was her fault. To me, that’s not ok. I will never read a book where the a man or women puts their hands on their loved one, and their loved one accepts it as their fault(Unless it’s a psychological book where that’s the point of the book). I don’t think that was the author’s intentions, or at least I hope it wasn’t, but it is saw reading it, and it clouded over all of the book, ruining what I liked about the book, which was mostly everything else.
This is an adult book, and in a lot of adult books, there’s sex. Sex is not the con in this book, that would be an unfair con. It’s an adult book, adults have sex. I don’t have an issue with sex being in a book, it’s apart of life, it happens in real life, why wouldn’t it happen in books. There comes a point though, when it becomes to much sex. That would be this book. Now in the beginning, there was a lot of sex jokes, and little “haha” moments towards it, but in the end it like they were rabbits in heat and were going at it non-stop, and into the second book it was like every other event was sex.(keep in mind, I’ve only read a few chapters of the second book.) If this book was an Erotica( I wouldn’t have read it), then this wouldn’t be an issue, but this isn’t labeled as an Erotica, or at least it wasn’t a label I saw. There is so much sex talk and actual sex in this book that you start to forget the actual plot. There’s a part where Cat is literally stabbed and she still wants to have sex with Griffin. She was just stabbed! Yes, she was healed a bit, but she couldn’t even laugh because it hurt, she couldn’t even sit up. It wasn’t needed. Also, I don’t care about the Bechdel test when it comes to what i’m reading, but this seems like the type of book that test was made for. Cat’s conversations always lead back to Griffin, and a lot of it was about if they had sex or not already. The only time she wasn’t talking about Griffin, was when she was talking to Griffin. I love romance in books, so that’s not as big as an issue, but if I noticed it was a lot, I know a lot of people who don’t care for that, will get tired of it.
Pro
Despite Griffin being a caveman, he had a lot of really sweet moments. I went back to look at my notes and a lot of them where just, “Awwww”. When he wasn’t being a caveman, he was perfect. He was gentle most of the time, wanted her out of harm’s way, would call her beautiful or pretty, kept her safe when she accidentally stole someone’s magic and got messed up off of it, and he always tried to let her know that she was part of his group, and he was there to help her. Watching Cat go from hating Griffin to loving him was my favorite part of the book. The are always bickering but it’s cute bickering. For most of the book, they’re a cute couple to read and you can tell they really care for each other, especially Griffin. His love and protectiveness of Cat is very clear and endearing.
The plot was really good. Cat being called the Kingmaker was a little on the point, but it matches so who really cares. Cat’s secret past is also really good. If you like Aelin’s life from Throne of Glass you’d like reading Cat’s past.They both have that darkness and tortured soul vibes.Then there’s also Cat’s magic. The way she can throw weapons back at you and turn invisible, breathing fire, absorbing magic, knowing if a person is lying or telling the truth. It becomes apparent very fast why Cat is the Kingmaker. Then there is the second half with Cat trying to teach Griffin’s family how to be proper royals, but they’re so sweet it’s hard. Its story is done well. It caught my attention and held it. I could of done with less sex and more plot towards the end, but them fighting small armies, a dragon, escaping near death and so on, was done very well. I’m not a very big action reader, but I enjoyed reading the dragon fighting part. It was very engaging, plus it’s a dragon. Everyone loves dragons.
The Greek Gods. I love Greek mythology. I have loved it since I was a kid, and reading Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan has only made me love it so much more. Any story with Greek Gods has me drawn to it. They also picked two of my favorite gods to be the main talked about gods, Hades and Poseidon. (I love the scene with Cat in the water after the dragon fight.) I do wish they would of talked more about Greek gods somewhat, they might later in the series, I don’t know.Maybe some lore or at least something for the people who don’t know much about Greek mythology. In a lot of different Mythologies the gods don’t have the same relationships they do with people as the Greek gods do. The book does a good job of showing what Greek God’s relationships with human usually are, which are they either have a romantic one(or just a lustful one), or they use as them as their own champions. For Greek Mythology this was a common theme and I liked that she put it in the book. As I said, I do wish Greek Mythology was more present since this is like the author just did a light coat of it, but the fact that she used them the way she did was good enough.
Besides Griffin acting like a caveman at times, and the overbearing sex scenes, I loved the first book. It’s a good action romance. As i’m writing the review though, it had become apparent that this book seems like it’s for a certain type of person. I remember hanging with my grandma while she was watching a western. The guy was a brute, like Griffin. He picked up the girl, put her on his horse, and basically claimed her. My grandmother thought that was hot, and clearly so would a lot of other women since most westerns and older TV shows have that in it. This book, if not intentionally, is for those people. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, I’m just not into it, and I know a lot of people who also aren’t into it. I love me a good powerful male character. A lot of my favorite characters are the powerful male character. Earlier I mentioned God of War, I love Kratos and he is the definition of a ruthless brute, but he isn’t in a romance setting, and we don’t really see him in one. He is a brute at war, where he should be. Griffin is a brute at all times, and that’s not something that I was enjoying reading, but I do know a lot of people who would. It’s like the bad boy type in books, In a book I love them, In reality I wouldn’t. I know a lot of women who would will love this. If you liked Christian Gray from Fifty Shades, then you would probably like this. I wasn’t a fan of Christian Gray either(I only watched the movies, i’m not into full on Erotica’s.). Clearly this type is something a lot of women do like in a fiction setting. We use books to explore things we wouldn’t ever do or get the chance to do, and if this something you like then I would say read this book. I really do like Griffin(Better than I did Christian Gray), I just personally hate people trying to control me, so reading it wasn’t the most pleasant for me. It’s not a relationship I would want, so it’s not one I would enjoy reading. I do think Amanda Bouchet knows how to write character’s bonding, and magic and that was enough for me to want to try it again. I know she has a new series coming out, and I do plan on reading it. I didn’t like control side of Griffin but I thought Amanda Bouchet writing was good enough that i’m willing to try another series from her.
“There’s always another storm. It’s the way the world works. Snowstorms, rainstorms, windstorms, sandstorms, and firestorms. Some are fierce and others are small. You have to deal with each one separately, but you need to keep an eye on whats brewing for tomorrow.”
― Maria V. Snyder
A war between the magicians and Ixia is about to take place. Yelena is finishing her apprenticeship, but still is having trouble proving to the Magicians Council that she is not against them or trying to betray them. Matters are only made worse when a plot is made against Yelena that makes everyone out to get her. Yelena must get all of her friends together to try to stop the war that is brewing and save Sitia from its own destruction. There’s only one more problem. One of their friends is betraying them, and Yelena doesn’t know who.
Fire Study is the best of both the first and second book of the Study series. You get all the characters from the first book and all the characters from the second book working together, either helping or trying to get rid of Yelena and Ixia. An even better part is that it’s a book that is pretty much full of Yelena and Valek. It’s also full of more of Yelena’s sneaky plan’s and Valek’s plan B’s which is just him cutting throats.
Pros
Even though there is more of Valek in this book, it’s still not romance heavy. Maria V Snyder always has a way of putting her romance in the background and letting the characters figuring themselves out and growing take the lead. She also always make the male interest majorly supporting the main character. They are there to help them with what they need, and to help them grow. But she does it in a way that doesn’t make the male interests just a support character with nothing else to them. In the Healer series, Kerrick is also there to help Avry but he also has his own goals that he sets out to do. Avry helps him and he helps Avry. It’s the same with Valek and Yelena. I really enjoy reading Maria V Snyder’s relationships, not only with the couples, but the friends. The friend’s bonds aren’t as strongly written as Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys series, but it’s still very present.
Yelena’s growth. Her growth throughout the three books seems subtle but as she has figured out her new powers she has grown with them. She went from being someone who avoided the conflict and was just trying to survive in the first book, to saving both the place she grew up in and the place she was meant to be. She’s gotten more confident in herself and mentions Reyad less showing that she is learning to move on from the pains in her past.
There’s more action scenes this time. Even if there’s not actual fighting all the tie there’s scenes that get intense and make you want to keep turning the page.
Cons
Cahil is still an annoying brat through most of it. He got more ok towards the end though. I was hoping Valek would just kill him through it.
The book can be seen as boring possibly because it is almost the same as the second book. More sneaking around, council doesn’t like Yelena, people trying to make Yelena pick a side, a lot of people want to kill her. It’s the same as the second book with just different events. I still enjoyed it but I can see how someone could think it was repetitive.
“It’s the problem with mistakes, they tend to linger.”
― Maria V. Snyder
This is the second series written by Maria V Snyder that I have loved and i’m glad that it’s not over. I only finished the first half of the Study series and will soon start the second part of Yelena’s story with the Soul Finders series. I can’t wait to see what new issues Yelena will have in the Soul Finders series and have more of her and Valek. This book was a good conclusion to the first half of the series and marks a good place to take a break on from. Everything is solved with no foreshadowing so you can read this book and be content to stop. You wouldn’t even have to read the second half if you just wanted to leave Yelena’s story there. This is a good series to read if you like magic, adventure, political disagreements, assassins, diversity, kingdoms, and if you liked Maria V Snyder’s Healer series.
“I’ll have you know that the most delicate flowers often produce the strongest scent when crushed.”
― Maria V. Snyder
**This review contains talk of things that could trigger some people. If you do not wish to read things that contain talk of rape or rape victims then please either do not read this review or just be aware of it.**
Magic Study is the sequel to Maria V Snyder’s Poison Study. Yelena no longer is having to test foods for poison but that doesn’t stop her life from being in danger. Yelena has left Ixia, the place where magic is banned, and now is in her home land where she will meet her family she was taken from and learn more about herself as she learns magic. Learning about her new magic is the easiest part of Yelena’s new life as she tries to solve who is kidnapping and killing girls, and stopping multiple people from trying to kill her, not to mention being named a spy by a man who claims he is the rightful heir to the throne in Ixia. More and more problems pile on to Yelena as she starts to uncover more about her would be life.
Going into this book I was scared that I wouldn’t love it as much as the first book, or just hate it general. I was glad those thoughts did not become true. I loved this book almost as much as I loved the first one. I thought I was going to miss Yelena’s constant interactions with Valek throughout the whole book but Yelena’s story kept busy. There was never an off period where nothing was happening. Yelena was always having something going on. Drama with her family(mainly her brother, Lief), constant ridicule from the same two people, being chased by a man whose pride was taken by Yelena, and trying to stop a man from harming more girls. It was a packed story but it wasn’t too packed where it seemed like to much. It was just the right amount where you never got bored reading it.
Pro
I don’t know how she hasn’t, but Maria V Snyder needs to be praised for how she writes how Yelena handles being raped and how she comforts other girls who go through it. I loved in the first book when she spoke briefly about it but I especially loved how she spoke about it in this one. Her conversation with Tula about how none of it was her fault, and then told her that it was going to be a battle to get through it but everyone would be there to help her.
Valek’s love and loyalty to Yelena. Valek make it apparent that whatever Yelena wants from him all she has to do is ask him for it. Valek will give her anything or do anything for her. He is constantly popping into her head when she is in need of it and asking her what he can do for her, and no matter how weird or impossible her request is, all he says is he will do it with him calling her love tied onto the end of it Valek was only in this book for a little less than half(if even that) and he still had me swooning over him.
Cons
The only real con I can think of is that this book does have a lot of drama going on, though that wasn’t a con for me, it might be for others. There was a lot more action and fighting scenes then the first book.
Cahal is annoying, but that’s his character. He is very obnoxious and is always angry for no reason. He is very bratty and reading about a very bratty man isn’t the most enjoyable. The more he shows up the more the dislike for him grows. He gets worse as the book goes on, though i’m sure that was the point of his character.
“And what did you give him in return?”…
“My heart.”
― Maria V. Snyder
Magic Study was just as good as Poison Study. The characters have grown and changed from the first one and the story is progressing in a good way. The action is coming along more and so is Yelena as a character. There is a lot of times when some off the middle books in a series get boring but this one kept my attention well. It was a very good addition to the series.
“Living is a risk…Every decision, every interaction, every step, every time you get out of bed in the morning, you take a risk. To survive is to know you’re taking that risk and to not get out of bed clutching illusions of safety.”
“To Yelena, our newest food taster. May you last longer than your predecessor.”
― Maria V. Snyder
Yelena is given the choice of death or a small chance at life after she is arrested for murder. The Commander is in need of a new food taste tester, and Yelena would like to live. To prevent Yelena from running away she is given the poison, Butterfly Dust, which she needs to take a daily antidote of to stay alive. The only one who can give her the antidote is the Chief of Security, Valek, who also makes her learn how to taste and smell poisons, and sometimes even ingest them to learn the immediate symptoms. Yelena thought her only problem would be risking her life by taking the chance of being poisoned, but as the father of the man she murdered tries to have her assassinated and spies betray the castle, Yelena will find out the job that already seemed impossible to survive just got even more impossible.
If you enjoy fantasy books that take place inside of a castle type setting with spies, assassination attempts, forbidden magic, and a handsome killer with a growing soft spot you would probably enjoy this book. After reading Maria V Snyder’s Healer series I decided that I would try out her other series, Poison Study. Maria V Snyder’s book reminds me of all the adult type books I read without all the adult content(Although some is there just not descriptive). She doesn’t focus on the romance, but on the main character dealing with her problem. The romance is present, but her main characters always tend to focus on their objectives more than their love interest which is refreshing since a lot of young adult books do tend to focus on the love interest.(Which I don’t mind, I love, but it is nice to step away from it for awhile) She also has a way of making the main character coming off as strong without overly doing it or making them invincible. In this book Yelena is not really a fighter, she’s just does what she needs to survive. Yeah, she killed a man(with reason) but Yelena only fights back when she has to do it to live. What makes Yelena strong is that she bounces back and she’s smart. She is strong without being physically strong. Yelena is vulnerable and she isn’t some crazed killer, she is just a normal person who got stuck in a bad situation and is trying her best to survive.
“Trusting is hard. Knowing who to trust, even harder.”
― Maria V. Snyder
Pros
A lot of books start with the romance as soon as they can. While Maria starts off with chemistry between the characters and you can see where she is going to go with it, the characters themselves aren’t pining after each other throughout the whole book. It’s a slow builds with each of their interactions, like a normal relationship would between to people who weren’t looking for one.
Valek. He is just a really good character. He comes off as a little cold at first but it is shown very quickly that he isn’t. He is actually really nice and sweet. He just comes off cold because if he doesn’t know you or feels that he can’t trust you he feels that you are a danger to the Commander. The only times he actually gets angry at Yelena is when something happens to or with the Commander, otherwise he helps her out.
How Yelena handles her past. Why Yelena killed that man, the true reason, is what made me see Yelena stronger then I already did. Through the book you can tell something happened to Yelena, and based on how she talked about them, you could assume it had to do with a torture like situation. I had figured that they had hurt her but not in the way that they did. I think that Yelena handles herself very well and in a way most people wouldn’t after that. I loved everything about how Yelena handled it from the moment it happened to her. Also while it is a part of her character it doesn’t define her, she doesn’t let it.
A surprise LGBT character that isn’t in there just to have one.
Con
It’s really hard for me to find a flaw in this. I’m searching for it deep in my head, but one of the only ones I can really think of was when the romance did happen it happened fast. They talked about it for a few seconds and then a lot happened really fast. It did seem like a little awkward pacing.
If you are an action fan this does not have a lot of it. It is only the first book so in the others there might be more. But the action in this never lasted long, it was very quick and done.
“Everyone makes choices in life. Some bad, some good. It’s called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead. But don’t do it halfway. Don’t linger in whiner’s limbo.”
― Maria V. Snyder
This is my favorite type of book so for me personally it is hard to see fault with it. I like adventure type stories with assassins, castles, spies, and cold characters going soft. So for me this was a book I was very happy to find because this is the type of story I’m always looking for. It actually makes me scared to start the second book because I don’t want it to be so different from the first. If you liked Morgan Rhodes’ Falling Kingdoms series, or Maria V Snyder’s other series that she made, then I would try this one.
“What have I earned from you, Valek? Loyalty? Respect? Trust?”
“You have my attention. But give me what I want, and you can have everything.”
Simplistic Reader 