by Daniel Quigley

YA Fantasy, 2023 by Lost Boys Press, 392 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

There’s some drinking and cursing. Consider this a content warning if you don’t like that in YA (I personally don’t care but some readers do).
I wanted a little more from the ending to lead into a second book. This almost felt like shying away from the idea of a second book, just in case. Either that or I read too many books that end on cliffhangers haha
The age of this one felt odd. The voice reads young and immature but the character is older. Plus, lately, when you pick up a YA book you get teenagers and this didn’t read like that. But it’s not adult either. It’s tough to categorize the age, is what I’m saying.

EXCELLENT voice. Within the first few pages you’ve completely connected with the kind of sarcastic main character you’re dealing with. It reminds me of the voice in Magnus Chase in the best way.
The setup was fascinating. Every plot point makes you want to know more. You completely understand every decision our MC makes because your curiosity would drive you the same way.
Fight scenes are well done. I like the focus on learning the limits of the elemental gifts through the MC using them or planning for them from enemies instead of teaching them to us in some sort of lecture format. It’s more natural and more interesting.