April "Book Review": Two of My Favourite Childhood Series

    In lieu of my usual book review, I decided to do something a little different for April. I'm going to be talking about two of my favourite book series from my childhood and how they affected me as a writer and a person.You may have already heard of them, or maybe they're new to you, but I'm hopeful you'll find a new series that interests you, or maybe go back and reread some of your old childhood favourites.

The Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer

    These books were a huge part of my life for years. I literally obsessed. I still have all of them lined up in order on one of my bookshelves, along with the companion book and the graphic novels. I wore a tinfoil helmet (which I decorated with paper and packing tape) around my house for years, because one of my favourite characters, a genius centaur named Foley, wore one.
    I think this series was one of the first times I remember myself honestly falling in love with a character - not the usual, fangirling, 'OMG I could marry this character' sort of falling in love. I don't really know how to explain it, other than that I just felt I really connected with these characters. To be honest, I'm not sure why my parents weren't more concerned about their daughter running around in tinfoil helmets and empathizing with a preteen/teenage criminal mastermind, but there we go. The more I think about it, the more I cringe at how creepily utterly obsessed I was with this series, but that's coupled with a feeling of nostalgia and I may end up binge-reading all of the books at some point in the near future.
    For the sake of this not becoming an incoherent fangirlish ramble, I'll refrain from telling anymore stories about how obsessed I was with this series, and try to explain how I think it's affected me as a writer. I think the biggest effect it had on me was the love it gave me for antiheroes. Don't get me wrong, I love the good-hearted hero, but I've always had an affinity for the darker, less obviously 'good' heroes - usually referred to as antiheroes. I didn't really realize the source until I started working on this post, actually - but when I think about it, it makes perfect sense that Artemis Fowl would have been the beginning of this. Another thing I absolutely loved about this series and wanted to emulate was everything the way Colfer works magic into the realistic world he builds in his novel. Everything about it seemed believable - even if it's impossible, it still makes logical sense that it could be happening.
    Overall, this series is one of my all-time favourites, and I would (and do) recommend it to anyone who loves a good fantasy story with a bit of sci-fi mixed in.

The Septimus Heap Series by Angie Sage

    This series was another one that I followed for years, waiting eagerly for each new book and in most cases getting it the day it came out. I've heard this series called a rip-off of Harry Potter before, and while it definitely did capitalize on the popularity of magic at the time, I don't think it can be called a rip-off. I loved this series, and I really felt like I was growing up alongside the characters (which, in a way, I was). Something I loved about this series (and the Artemis Fowl books) is that as the series goes on and the fanbase grows older along with the characters, the books gradually become darker, for lack of a better word. What I mean by this is that the stories get more intense, the stakes get higher, the characters more complicated. This is something I absolutely love in series, because not only does it hold the readers' attention as they get older and prevents the series from becoming too 'childish', but it also really adds depth to the series by representing (to me at least) the way the characters are also growing up and realizing people are complex and the world is often more than just black and white, good and evil. Maybe I'm over-analyzing it, but it's something I really enjoy,

    This series really sent me into a fantasy craze - I don't write much fantasy anymore, but the character-building and the tension of the plot that is so evident in this series still has stuck with me. If you're looking for a series with quite a few good twists and an amazingly rich world populated with fascinating characters, this series would be a great place to start.

     Of course, this isn't all of my favourite childhood book series (not by a long shot), but for the sake of time and how late this post already is, I'll save some for a future post and end here. I hope you enjoyed; leave a comment telling me about some of your favourite books or series and if I haven't read them yet I will and maybe review them here!

Anything You Say or Do Can and Will Be Used in a Novel

    I don't post on this blog nearly as often as I should, or nearly as often as I sometimes want to. Perhaps it's procrastination, perhaps it's just a lack of time, but one thing I think that stops me is an obsession with perfection. I want every post to be perfect, professional, and seem like something you'd see in Time or some other magazine where professional people with professional editors turn out articles for thousands or millions to read, not something a scatterbrained author cobbled together in an hour or two and stuck on the Internet. So I don't always post things I think of, the things I want to, because some of my thoughts seem so ridiculous I can't figure out a way to polish them up and make them professional.
    And I've decided that's just fine. Almost never do I find an idea wearing a business suit and holding flowers when it arrives, and sometimes I fix it up before I send it on its way, and sometimes it'll head out of my head into the world the same way it came in - in a hoodie and baggy jeans, but hopefully with more spring in its step and a better attitude. There's plenty of time to fancy up ideas when it comes to publishing a book; here on the blog, you can expect more hoodies and slouchy hats than suits and ties.
    All of this is leading up to, of course, a stream-of-consciousness-style blog post that will hopefully become something intelligible.

Anything You Say or Do Can and Will Be Used in a Novel 

Hoodie sold at shirtskills.com

    Today's topic is something that popped into my head as I sat on the back deck of my house the other day, watching the clouds go by and typing methodically away on my current work-in-progress novel. I've been trying for a while to come up with a really good explanation of how I create my characters, because it's the most common question I get when I tell people I write, and this is what appeared in my head: 'a really good character isn't your creation. They're your best friend'.
What I mean by that is that you have to let your characters take on their own lives and become what they want to be - oftentimes they do it on their own, but the most important thing to do is to allow them that freedom. More than once I've had a character who will not do what I need them to do, and I'm sure that's a common problem. But when you shove said character back into their tiny little box and continue on like they aren't screaming to be something else, the story starts feeling rigid and wooden, and that character especially becomes forced and lifeless.
    The best way I can describe it is with an example from my own life, from my tenth grade English class. We were tasked with picking a few pages of Shakespeare's The Tempest and acting them out in pre-assigned groups in front of our peers. A lot of our peers. Word spread, and anyone who could weasel their way out of class that period was planning to come. I mentioned that the groups were pre-assigned, because I think it's an important point. My group consisted of me, a quiet Chinese girl who became our costume designer, and two guys from the Varsity hockey team. I was the director and one of the actors, and the two hockey players (I'll call them Dan and Steve here) were our other two actors. We decided on doing the scene when Trinculo and Stephano (the drunken jester and butler) meet the monster Caliban. Between our honestly mediocre drunk impressions and the sheer fact that we had to memorize our lines, it was an interesting experience. Poor Steve did not want to be Caliban, but I wasn't about to do it and Dan was determined to be Stephano, so he was stuck. Our costume designer forced him into fluffy blue monster-feet slippers and matching monster-hand mittens, and I forced him to hold still while I painted his face Smurf-blue with cotton balls and a sub-par compact of costume makeup I had from a Brainy Smurf costume I wore in the eight grade. Between the embarrassment of that and the fact that Steve's first language wasn't English and he struggled to memorize his lines, our Caliban wasn't the best. He was awkward at best and wooden at worst. Our performance was a bit of a debacle, but luckily we pulled through with a decent grade.
The metaphor there is, of course, that Steve wasn't meant to be Caliban. He wasn't comfortable with the character, so it didn't work out. The same thing happens if you don't allow your own characters the room to grow and develop and become more than you might have originally planned.
Circling back to my original point of your characters needing to be your best friends rather than your creations, you need to know them inside-out. Think about your closest friends, and the little quirks and mannerisms they have that someone who doesn't know them as well wouldn't see. I'll use my friend Will as an example. Over the time I've known him, we developed our own little language of gestures and facial expressions that more often than not results in the two of us falling down laughing while the rest of the people around us try to figure out what exactly is wrong with us. But it's that sort of observation that I think is really beneficial for a writer. I notice the little facial expressions Will makes and I can understand more than just the basics of what he says based on that - for example, one of his hobbies is making eye contact with me when I'm trying to talk to someone, especially if its an important conversation, and just quirking one of his eyebrows and smirking, because he knows it will make me laugh every time for absolutely no reason. But the point is, now that I've noticed it, it's become one of his distinguishing features in my mind.
    What I'm saying is, sometimes you have to be a little creepy. Watch people, observe your friends, and learn their little quirks and mannerisms. I actually have a file on my phone where I list the little habits I notice people have - hair twirling, nail-biting, playing with a necklace when they're nervous or thinking - and store them away to give to a character. It's easy to think of some of them, such as nail-biting and other common habits, but others - the really unique ones that are worth mentioning often in a story - can only really be come up with by observation.
    The most important thing to know about your character is their core identity - I call these the 'Remember Statements' (idea shamelessly stolen from Maggie Stiefvater's post about how she creates characters), which basically sums up what their primary motivation is. I find these incredibly helpful in my writing process, because when you lose sight of a character's motivation and they begin to feel listless, these instantly snap you back into their head. But that's only a small part of who they're going to grow to be over the course of your story. And this is where the best friend concept comes back into play - for your major characters at least, write down everything you can think of that's relevant to them, even if it will never be mentioned in the story. It might be relevant to their backstory, or it might just be a random little detail that is entirely insignificant. But the reasoning behind this is that it makes the character feel more real to you, and if they feel real to you, they'll feel real to your readers. Little details like a favourite stuffed animal they still keep on their bed, or the way they prefer to dress, and other things like that make your characters feel more fleshed-out - not to mention they'll come in handy for set and costume design if your book ever becomes a movie!
   Of course, it's imperative that you don't get hung up on these little details. The point is that you know them - not every single one has to make it into the final cut of your novel. Some of them will probably worm their way in, and that's by no means a bad thing, but make sure you don't become obsessed with cramming every tiny detail you can think of into your novel - it'll disrupt the action, and your fans won't have anything to come up with on their own.
   So overall, sometimes, to be a writer, you have to be a little creepy. Observe your friends, your family, and even just random people when you're out and about. No detail is too small; write them all down, and even if you never mention them, your characters will seem all the more real to you and your readers.

March Book Review: Cuckoo Song by Francis Hardinge

When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry, her sister seems scared of her, and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out. Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest to find the truth she must travel into the terrifying underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family—before it’s too late . . .

Set in England after World War I, this is a brilliantly creepy but ultimately loving story of the relationship between two sisters who have to band together against a world where nothing is as it seems.

Hardcover: 416 pages

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (May 12 2015)

Language: English

Amazon rating: 4.5/5 stars

Goodreads rating: 4/5 stars

    This novel was on my TBR list for quite a while before I finally picked up a copy. I read almost the entire novel over the span of a few days, and it never fell flat or failed to hold my interest. The plot itself is masterfully woven, the characters complex and fascinating, and the setting richly imagined and beautifully described.
    It's extremely difficult to describe this plot without spoiling anything. I will say, however, that I found chilling, immensely original, and masterfully layered. Nothing is exactly as it seems in this novel, and I found myself as shocked as the characters at each new turn, struggling to accept each new revelation. The story races to a heart-pounding conclusion that is exciting, but seems at the same time satisfactory and even inevitable.
    The characters are also ingeniously written. I found Triss, the main character, immensely relatable despite her peculiarities, and even the antagonists are deeply layered and relatable. Every character in this novel has their own complex motivations, some less obvious than others, and this makes each character relatable and understandable in their own way. I found myself empathizing immensely with many of the antagonists, as many of them are only trying to protect themselves and those they care about from a perceived threat. Hardinge makes it very easy to see Triss from these antagonists' perspectives, and despite relating too and loving Triss, the antagonists' motivations for her destruction were equally understandable, and truly heartbreaking. Pen, Triss's sister, is one of the most fascinating and complex characters in this novel, and her emotional and character development throughout the novel is one of the best I've read in recent memory.
    The setting was one of my favourite things about this novel. Sadly, it is difficult to describe fully without spoiling, as it factors so wonderfully into the plot. The novel is set in post-WW1 England, and has a bit of a steampunk vibe to it. The architecture is beautifully described, and the supernatural underworld much of the story revolves around is original and fascinating.
    Overall, this is a wonderful and thrilling story. It's a bit dark and chilling at times, so I'd recommend it for a slightly older reader, perhaps 13 or older. But if you like original, exciting, and complicated plots with a lot of twists and a healthy dose of creepiness, this would be a good book for you.
    4.5/5 stars!

February 2016 Book Review: Eon by Alison Goodman

Note: This book is also known as Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, Two Pearls of Wisdom, or Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye

Back-Cover Blurb (from Amazon):
Sixteen-year-old Eon has a dream, and a mission. For years, he's been studying sword-work and magic, toward one end. He and his master hope that he will be chosen as a Dragoneye-an apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune.
But Eon has a dangerous secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been masquerading as a twelve-year-old boy. Females are forbidden to use Dragon Magic; if anyone discovers she has been hiding in plain sight, her death is assured.
When Eon's secret threatens to come to light, she and her allies are plunged into grave danger and a deadly struggle for the Imperial throne. Eon must find the strength and inner power to battle those who want to take her magic...and her life.

Goodreads rating: 3.99/5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.1/5 stars

World
I absolutely love the world this book is set in. It's extremely detailed and believable, not to mention fascinating and very fresh. It's based on Chinese and Japanese culture, as opposed to the European style commonly seen in fantasy books, which was really interesting and, in my opinion, very well done. I don't pretend to be an expert on either of these cultures, so I can't really speak for the authenticity or accuracy of the portrayal, but I can say that Goodman has created an incredible world in this novel. The range of different cultures and the depth of the history surrounding the world is incredible, and really adds to the story and it's intrigue.

Characters
I really liked the characters in this novel. Many of them are very complex and it takes a long time to fully understand their real personalities and motivations, which is something I really enjoyed. Eon/Eona, the main character, is the primary example of this. Even beyond her double identity, her past is complicated. It's difficult to really discuss Eona without spoiling anything, but I will say that not everything (in fact almost nothing) is exactly as it seems for her, and the twists will shock you as much as they do the other characters.
Lord Ido, the antagonist of the book, is also very similar to Eona. He too is a very complex character, with complicated motivations. He is one of the few villains I've read, and one of the only in recent memory, that actually made me shudder. He is menacing and, for lack of a better word, creepy. I found him a fascinating villain, and extremely well-written.
There are more characters that I loved, of course. Rilla and Chart, Lady Dela, Ryko, and even more vibrant, complex characters populate the world Eona lives in, but I risk spoiling the story with every word I write, and I don't want to take the risk of doing that.

Plot
As I've said before, it's almost impossible to discuss the plot of this book without spoilers, and I don't want to ruin a wonderful story for anyone. I will say, however, that the twists in this plot make it quite the roller coaster ride, and this only intensifies in the second book, Eona.

Overall
I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up randomly in the store and very quickly got sucked into the complexity of the world. It's a fresh, exciting take on dragon stories, and the complexity of the characters and plot mean the pace rarely falls flat.
I'd recommend this book for anyone above the age of thirteen. Some people may be alright with it at a younger or older age, but the book delves into some very complex, sometimes dark themes.

5/5 stars

 

January 2016 Book Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Cover Blurb:

Legend holds that Glendower, a vanished Welsh king, sleeps beneath the hills until he's needed. The first person to find him will be granted a wish—either by seeing him open his eyes, or by cutting out his heart.

Gansey has it all—family money, a car, time for extracurriculars and friends—but he's always loved the tales of sleeping kings. He thinks he's found one, too, or at least the area where one might be: in the town of Henrietta, Virginia. And the best way to be there is to attend the prestigious Aglionby Academy for Boys.

Blue is the daughter of the town psychic in Henrietta, Virginia, but is too practical to believe in things like spirits or true love. Her policy is to stay away from Aglionby boys...but it may be that one in particular can change her mind about magic, and maybe even love.

I don't know why I haven't reviewed this book. It's one of the most interesting paranormal, mythology-based series I've ever read, and it definitely has some of the most interesting and complex characters I've read in a long time. It's definitely worth the read, and the rest of the series doesn't disappoint.

Characters:

I say it almost every review I write, but I absolutely adore realistic, unique characters, and the characters Stiefvater creates here are some of the most realistic, original, and unique characters I've ever read. It reminds me of when I was young and related so strongly to characters in books that it felt like I really knew them. 

Blue, the main character, is one of the most unique protagonists I've read. She is definitely "not like other girls", but without falling very much into the trap of being a "special snowflake", She's the only non-psychic in a house full of them, and because of this she feels a pressure to prove herself and make herself 'special' - so she makes herself eccentric, making her own clothes by shredding and layering them. Her policy is to stay away from boys, especially 'Raven Boys' - the boys who attend Aglionby Academy. Naturally, she doesn't keep this policy.

Gansey, the apparent leader of the Raven Boys, is rich, and struggles with this fact. He constantly battles with the thought that he is nothing but his money. He is obsessed with finding Glendower, because he thinks it will allow him to make a mark on the world - to finally become more than just a spoiled rich boy. He struggles to balance his "President Cell Phone" persona, the person he's expected to be at his prestigious school and with his influential family, with the real him, the scholar obsessed with a mission everyone thinks is insane. He pulls Ronan, Noah, Adam, and eventually Blue into his mission with him and infects them with his enthusiasm and obsession.

Adam is a student at Aglionby Academy along with Gansey and Ronan. Unlike them, though, Adam doesn't coast through life on his family's money. He lives in a doublewide trailer with abusive father and a mother who can't fight back. He doesn't want to accept Gansey's offer to move into Monmouth Manufacturing because it will mean he's indebted to Gansey. Adam has trouble believing Gansey's stories about Glendower, but he still goes along with him. He is cautiously attracted to Blue, even though their initial meeting was awkward.

Ronan is the 'tough guy' of the group. He drag races in his BMW, drinks too much, and has very vivid dreams. He got a $900 dollar tattoo just to spite his older brother, Declan, and his grades are the literal least of his concerns. He covers his door in speeding tickets and shrugs off the warnings that he'll be kicked out of school if his grades don't improve. Despite all of this, he attends a Catholic church every Sunday, making an uneasy truce with Declan for the sake of religion and their youngest brother, Matthew. As Calla, one of the psychics who lives with Blue, says, a secret killed Ronan's father, and Ronan knows what it is.

The final Raven Boy is Noah, a strange boy who jokes about having been dead for seven years. He's by far the strangest and most mysterious of the Raven Boys. He's not always with them, and sometimes he can't be found at all. There's a lot more to Noah that's revealed in this book, but that's too big of a spoiler to reveal here.

There's more characters, of course; Blue's mother Maura, Maura's best friends Persephone and Calla, and the other psychics who live with them, as well as characters that eventually evolve into antagonists, but for the sake of time and avoiding spoilers, I won't mention them here.

I have to admit; many of these characters are dislikable, at least at first. And that's exactly why I like them so much. It's difficult to really elaborate on, reviewing only the first book, and it's difficult to see in only the first book, but all of these character change and evolve - some for better and some for worse. But if you look past the first impression, which may paint the characters in an unflattering light, you can see the complexity and depth of them, which is really what made this book for me.

Plot:

The plot of this novel is fairly complex, and easily spoiled, so I won't go too in-depth. The novel starts out with Blue and her half-aunt, Neeve, sitting the 'church watch' on Saint Mark's Eve, writing down the names of all the Henrietta residents who will die that year. That's where Blue sees Gansey's spirit - the only spirit she has ever seen. This provides a major tension to the story, as it is now known Gansey will die, but Blue doesn't know why or how. She's even told by Neeve that if she saw his spirit walking the ley line without being a psychic means he's either her true love, or she killed him.

The plot goes on from here to Blue meeting Gansey and the Raven Boys and getting off on a very wrong foot. Eventually, mostly due to Adam, she agrees to go with the Raven Boys on one of their searches for the ley line, along which Glendower is said to be buried, and is sucked into their quest.

Of course, that's where things start to get intense and go wrong. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say this: this book will shock you, surprise you, and impress you all at once. It's definitely worth the read.

 

Overall, I love this book. I'd recommend it to anyone who's a fan of paranormal and fantasy literature, and especially someone looking for a mythology-based book on a little-known mythology. Two of the three sequels are out, The Dream Thieves and Blue Lily, Lily Blue. The fourth, The Raven King, is coming out this year - and personally, I can't wait.

5/5 stars!

Christmas, Magic, and Writing

    Just the other day, I was chatting over lunch about Santa Claus. The person I was talking to is quite a bit older than I am, and she has a few kids who are grown up now. She was talking specifically about the time her son left a note for Santa and received a handwritten letter in return, and how excited he'd been to show it to everyone they knew, telling them that Santa was real.
    Throughout this conversation, it was assumed that, at my age, I no longer believe in Santa Claus. But as I admitted to a friend of mine recently, I actually do. People laugh at me for it, but I don't really care. When I was a kid, there was no question that Santa Claus was real, and as I got older nothing really changed. Santa still brought me and most of my friends gifts on Christmas. When I have kids, I'm going to keep them believing in Santa as long as I can.
    It isn't because I think I can get more presents, or because I'm 'childish' - I believe in Santa Claus because I want to. Some people might think I'm delusional, or clinging to the past, or probably just plain weird, and they can think that if they want. It really doesn't bother me. I believe in Santa Claus because I believe in magic. Where's the fun in a world without magic? A world where everything is taken at face value - there's no miracles, no wonder. The old house up on the hill isn't home to a ghost or a witch, the woods don't house talking animals and elves. Everything is exactly what it looks like and no more. Where's the fun in that?
    Take it from a writing standpoint, and think about popular books. Take a look at your bookshelf, and I nearly guarantee you'll find at least one book that deals with something magical or fantastical. I'm not denying that realistic books are interesting, because I've read and loved many of them. But imagine, for a moment, all of your favourite books. How many of them wouldn't exist if there was no magic? If humans took everything literally, if there was no capacity for the fantastical or the unbelievable, what would there be? Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and even more wouldn't exist.
    When you think about it, aren't books themselves a kind of magic? The fact that words on a page can conjure up such vivid images and stories within a reader's head has a magic of its own. The fact that someone can sit down in front of a blank page and create an entire world, with its own laws and features and cities and everything, is magical. If you ask me, books are evidence that magic exists. Not just books, but music and art and even more too, but books are my personal favourite.
    So do I believe in magic? Of course I do. I'm a writer, a reader, and overall a book lover. So do I believe in Santa? Sure, why not? Certainly makes the world a bit more fun and a lot more interesting if magic and Santa Claus exist. I think it's an important lesson to learn, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. Even if you don't believe in magic in the sense of something supernatural or mysterious, if you've ever loved a book, you've experienced magic. If you've ever written or told a story, you've created magic.
    If you ask me, magic is real. And everyone's experienced it at some point in their life. And there's still a whole lot more magic out there waiting for us all.

December Book Review: Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Book Statistics (from Amazon):

Paperback: 448 pages

Publisher: Razorbill; Reprint edition (March 11 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1595145850

ISBN-13: 978-1595145857

Amazon rating: 4.2/5 stars

Goodreads rating: 3.85/5 stars

Summary (from Amazon):
War brought them together. Love will tear them apart.
Princess Cleo of Mytica confronts violence for the first time in her life when a shocking murder sets her kingdom on a path to collapse. Once a privileged royal, Cleo must now summon the strength to survive in this new world and fight for her rightful place as Queen.

The King of Limeros’s son, Magnus, must plan each footstep with shrewd, sharp guile if he is to earn his powerful father’s trust, while his sister, Lucia, discovers a terrifying secret about her heritage that will change everything.

Rebellious Jonas lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.

Witches, if found, are put to death, and Watchers, immortal beings who take the shape of hawks to visit the human world, have been almost entirely forgotten. A vicious power struggle quickly escalates to war, and these four young people collide against each other and the rise of elementia, the magic that can topple kingdoms and crown a ruler in the same day.


    I found this book really interesting. It's a Young Adult novel focusing on four teenagers who live in a land formerly known as Mytica. It's now split into three separate kingdoms - Auranos in the south, Limeros in the north, and Paelsia sandwiched in between. Cleo - short for Cleiona, named for one of the goddesses of legend - is the princess of Auranos (the summary says Mytica, but her actual kingdom is known as Auranos), but she isn't the heir, because she has an older sister, Emilia. Magnus and Lucia are siblings, the children of Limeros' rulers. Magnus is the heir to the throne, and struggles with being expected to live up to his father's - the 'King of Blood' - reputation. Jonas is the son of a wineseller in Paelsia, the poorest kingdom, and is hardened from years of supporting himself and his family.
    It took me a while to get into this book and be absorbed into its world, but once I did, I found myself riveted. While I liked the characters and enjoyed reading about them - although Magnus gives me a bit of the creeps - what really drew my interest to this book was the magic system, known as elementia. The beginning of the novel especially reminded me of other books I've read before, and the idea of magic based on the elements is by no means new, I think Rhodes really put a fresh spin on it. The idea of witches vs. a Sorceress was also very interesting, and I think was a good plot device, preventing anyone from having completely limitless power. I was especially intrigued by the idea of the Watchers, who watch over humans but have very little ability to influence them, other than visiting them in their dreams. I found Alexius, a Watcher who has been observing Lucia for years, one of the most interesting characters in this novel, simply because he is mysterious. It is hard to decipher exactly what his intentions are, and while he seems innocent, Rhodes also plants a seed of doubt that perhaps these Watchers are not as benevolent as they seem to be. In the interest of avoiding any big spoilers, I won't elaborate more on this, but I think the Watchers were a fascinating addition to this series and I am interested to see where Rhodes goes with them.
    This book was recommended to me by my friend Max, who told me that it was a really good read, and then said 'prepare your feelings'. He was right. This book is quite an emotional rollercoaster. I found myself seething with anger, gripped by panic, and heart-breakingly devastated throughout the course of this novel. I have to say, Rhodes can be heartless. Most of the characters in this novel are completely broken at least once, if not more, by death, rejection, or disaster. I tend to be very emotional and get attached to characters in books easily, so I can't guarantee everyone this exact experience, but if you manage to get through this novel without panicking, getting angry, or being on the brink of tears, then you're probably a fan of George RR Martin. But honestly, if you know how to not let a book take over your emotions, let me know.
    This book is definitely not for everyone. There's quite a bit of violence, and some other somewhat unsettling themes. I've heard this series described as "the YA 'Game of Thrones'", and while it isn't overly explicit in violence or particularly explicit in anything else, there are some themes and subjects covered that some people may find upsetting. I'd recommend doing your research and deciding what you can handle.
    Overall, I found this was a very interesting read. There are three other books in the series currently out, but I'm not sure if that is the end of the series or if more books are planned. I have to thank Max for the recommendation, though, and I will be reading the rest of the series.
    4.5/5 stars!