I absolutely love the Broken Binding edition of this book with my favorite “ship” on the cover. Out of the three in the trilogy though, I enjoyed this one the least although I still really enjoyed it. The conclusion lacks the intricate political machinations that the first book excelled in and the second book took in a new direction. This writing duo excels in complicated, intricate nuances as seen in this book through one of the most complicated
multi-faceted magic systems I have ever read. I also really appreciate how the author duo developed the characters, most of whom feel utterly unrecognizable from their first appearances having undergone incredible journeys in these three books.
If two characters start off as arch-rivals in a YA novel of almost any genre, you can almost guarantee that the relationship will turn romantic. I knew going into this read that this typical trope would appear so I braced myself for cheesiness. What I got avoided those expectations in a positive way. The main character can see and interact with ghosts, an inherited ability that her mother wanted nothing to do with so much so that
she, herself, cannot anymore. She also forbids her daughter from that same way of life. The main character, however, does not feel the same way although she follows most – but not all – of her mother’s rules. This gets put to the test when the main character, frustrated that her rival who their teacher has forcibly paired for a project, thinks that he has bailed on her, only to discover his body in the woods near her house. Yup. Definitely a problem. When she quickly discovers that he’s not quite dead and could return to normal life, she embarks on a quest to solve the problem, along the way discovering the depths of her feelings for him, her longing to connect with her heritage as well as meeting a new friend and discovering that there’s so much more to the world than she imagined. I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected.
This book had the same length and pace as the first book but lacked the depth that impressed me so much. On the positive, Elogast, Inara, and even Skedi show a tremendous amount of growth – Kissen, not so much. On the negative side, the found family of book one spends the vast majority of this book in separate locations although Elo, Inara, and Skedi’s actions, overlap with some frequency. Some of the plot choices felt
a bit muddled to me although I will not go into detail since this is book two. I still enjoy these characters and this story enough to continue with Faithbreaker (which I just started at the time of writing) but we shall see if the conclusion does enough for me to purchase the third book.
The details of some books I can remember with relative ease. Mid-books, though, fail to make an impression one way or the other. I thought that this book had a chance of working for me, a slim one though. Mid-books do not stay on my shelves. After a brief look at the synopsis, I do remember enough to finish my review. The main character has the ability to bring people back from the dead, at a cost. Because of this ability, people
both want to use her “services” but also disdain her because the controlling religion abhors the practice. When the queen brings her assassinated granddaughter and heir to the main character’s door, the main character becomes deeply entangled in the court, forced to raise the princess any time she dies. Everyone in the main character’s life, including the ungrateful princess, take the main character for granted and treat her horribly. Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the main character falls in love with the princess. The author made some choices that put me off this story even though in the beginning, I found myself intrigued enough to give this one a chance.
Wow. What a debut. Hodgson creates a beautifully intricate fantasy world with high stakes and a lovable main character. I could attempt to describe the plot but my words would not do it justice. This world has a system ruled by a king chosen every 24 years in specially prescribed challenges. This process has been sustained for hundreds of years. The people of this kingdom belong to groups led by several different orders (I
forget the exact number) modeled after the principles of mythological animals who had something to do with the foundation of the world. When the first raven contender mysteriously dies, the main character not only has the task of investigating the suspected murder but also taking her place in the trials, something this extremely bookish woman had no intention of even coming close to doing. Hodgsen’s writing hooked me, drew me in, and kept me engaged. I eagerly anticipate the sequel.
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