REVIEW: Shattered Glass (Glass #3.5) by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

A short little detour between Night Study and Dawn Study to visit with Opal. I do like the person she's become—so much more determined and confident, happy and at peace despite not having her magic back.

In this short story, she's called to aid by former Master Magician Zitora, and while the plot doesn't add much to the Chronicles of Ixia series as a whole—and isn't required reading—it not only catches you up with what Opal and Zitora have been up to, but also ends on a bit of cliffhanger. Ending with Zitora returning to the Citadel and Opal returning home to Fulgor to find something very wrong, I can only assume we'll be seeing more of both of them in Dawn Study. Coming up next in my reading queue.

View at Amazon
View at Goodreads

REVIEW: Night Study (Study #5) by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

While Yelena is still mourning the loss of her magic, a serious threat has begun to engulf Sitia and Ixia, threatening war between the two countries. As enemies are closing in, Yelena and her friends must do everything in their power to evade disaster and avoid falling prey to enemy hands.

An exciting and action-packed addition to the Study/Chronicles of Ixia series with some major plot twists and developments. And w00t w00t! Valek's now got some pretty powerful magic himself. The underlying intensity throughout this book left a thrill down my spine... and I had a hard time putting it aside to sleep or get anything done. LOL Despite being a "middle child", I thought this was even better than Shadow Study.

View at Amazon
View at Goodreads

REVIEW: The Shadow Wand (The Black Witch Chronicles #3) by Laurie Forest

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

Wow! Pretty much nonstop danger for Elloren throughout this book—running for her life nearly the entire time! With very few allies, and a whole slew of enemies in both the Western and Eastern military intent or seeing her dead or enslaved, Elloren's life is in extreme peril.

I loved visiting and learning more about the Noi culture who, like the Amaz, are very maternal with a lot of women holding powerful positions. Very unlike the Gardnerians where the women are treated simply as second class citizens and breeding material.

Like the previous books, the writing is very well done and pulls you right into the story with it's descriptive prose... as if you're right there experiencing everything right alongside these characters. Because of this, I often found myself talking back to the characters quite a bit. Things like, "grow a backbone, Elloren!" and similar cracks were some of my most frequent. :)

And when they decided to send Elloren to Lukas in Gardneria for protection, I was like WTF??!! Definitely the Amazakaraan lands would've been a much safer choice. Or if that didn't work out for some reason, there were any number of alternate places they could've stashed her instead of right under Vogel's nose! Here, I almost felt as if she was placed there simply to advance the story line with Lukas. However, I didn't end up minding in the long run because I love me some Lukas... and that we got to learn so much more about his rebellious side. Yup, I'm Team Lukas, baby! :p

I was devastated with how it ended, but then had a massive "you go girl" moment when Elloren finally took the reins, grew a backbone, and fought back! I hope this self-confidence (and self-reliance) sticks because I'm getting fed up with the whiny, I-can't-do-anything version of Elloren we see so much of in this book. LOL

View at Amazon
View at Goodreads

REVIEW: The Iron Flower (The Black Witch Chronicles #2)

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

This was a fun read and a great follow-up to The Black Witch that picks up right where the previous book left off.

The Reaping Times have seeped out of Gardneria and into Verpacia and the University, with Marcus Vogel and the Gardnerian Mage Council imprisoning, killing or slaughtering the "Evil Ones"—anyone who's not allied with them. Which is basically everyone except the Alfsigr Elves and loosely, the Noi and Vu Trin military. To fight back against the injustice running rampant, Elloren and her band of rebel friends have joined the underground Resistance—a larger team currently helping to smuggle the oppressed groups out of the Gardnerian held territories.

And then we've got the love triangle—Elloren fighting against her ever growing feelings for the rebellious (non-Gardnerian) Yvan Guriel, while still entranced by the seductive power of Lucas Grey, who's now commander of the Fourth Division Gardnerian military base. Can she get Lucas to change his stripes, or convince Yvan to get past what the Gardnerians have done to his family?

While the ending seemed like it came on suddenly, it was definitely a Wow WTF moment. I immediately had to start on the next book. Boy, am I glad I didn't read these as soon as they came out for that very reason. Having to wait 2 years between this book and the next would've been murder!!

View at Amazon
View at Goodreads

REVIEW: Light Mage (The Black Witch Chronicles #1.5) by Laurie Forest

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Taking a quick detour between books 1 and 2 of the Black Witch Chronicles, we have Light Mage, which tells the back story of Sage Gaffney and The Wand of Myth, and how the wand eventually comes to be in Elloren Gardner's possession.

Fleeing the cruel ministrations of her betrothed fastmate, Sage sorrowfully leaves behind her home and family to hide out amongst her supposed enemies, quickly discovering that she must abandon her indoctrinated prejudices as she forges a new path for herself.

View Light Mage at Amazon
Or Rebel Mages, the 2-in-1 containing both Wandfasted and Light Mage
View at Goodreads

REVIEW: The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

I found The Black Witch to be a fantastic read. I read it before I was even aware of all the backlash it had initially received back in 2017 when originally published, having only heard about all that once I read the Goodreads reviews. And while I clearly recognized the fascist xenophobia apparent in the Gardnerian race right from the start, it was obvious that this extreme view was meant to negatively portray the kind of bigoted, closed-minded culture that Elloren grew up in. As a reader, you're meant to feel disgusted by it, and I quickly learned to abhor the strict Gardnerian views and prejudice. But then we get to see Elloren grow as an individual and question these same beliefs, while she learns that much of what she's been taught are fabrications or outright lies meant to indoctrinate and form impressionable young minds. What emerges is a girl who's finding her own mind and forming her own beliefs and impressions of the world based on the truths she's learned.

With all that out of the way, I have to say this is one of the best books I've read this year and I enjoyed it immensely. The fantasy world pulled together by the author is vast and vivid. Characters from many diverse races grace these pages—several of them unique to this series. The Gardnerians for example, are like a combination of Witch and devout Christian, if that's even possible, but Laurie Forest makes it believable and it works together wonderfully. The lush characters and world building drew me in to the story, making me feel as if I was right there and kept me glued to the pages. Definitely looking forward to the rest of this series!

View at Amazon
View at Goodreads

REVIEW: Wandfasted (The Black Witch Chronicles #0.5) by Laurie Forest

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

After reading an excerpt of The Black Witch at the end of Shadow Study, I was immediately intrigued. And since the next book in the Study series wasn't yet available to borrow from my library, I thought I'd dive into this new series instead, starting with the prequel novella. (Although at 200+ pages, this novella was no slouch!)

This novella details the story of Tessla Harrow, mother to Elloren Gardner, the main character in The Black Witch. Here we learn the back story of the Mages prior to The Realm War. The author paints a unique and richly drawn world, lush with magic, fantasy, and various races of beings. As Tessla is drawn to a handsome and powerful Gardnerian Mage, she begins to feel the depth of her power and the strong prejudices and injustices that have haunted her people for ages.

This novella just barely scratched the surface of what's to come in The Black Witch, and while I'll miss these characters, I'm already deeply enthralled in this world and anxiously looking forward to reading more. The Black Witch is up next!

View Wandfasted at Amazon
Or Rebel Mages, the 2-in-1 containing both Wandfasted and Light Mage
View at Goodreads

REVIEW: Shadow Study (Study #4) by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Yay! Yelena, Valek and Janco are back for more adventure! And this time it's Yelena who's gonna lose her magic. But as the group struggles to determine what caused it, Yelena has now become extremely vulnerable to the danger around her—for magic can be inflicted upon her, but she can't react with her own. What's a girl to do? Investigate of course!

All the usual troupe is here and we're introduced to a mysterious new character, Onora, whom I've very much dying to read more about. She's an assassin like Valek and claims to be after his job. Maybe that's exactly what Valek needs so he and Yelena can spend more time together instead of always being apart on their own adventures.

And I won't give it away here, but Yelena ends the book with a surprise! I'm looking forward to reading Night Study next.

View at Amazon
View at Goodreads