Boozy witches and ritual sacrifice make for an engaging but uneven fantasy adventure.
In this novel, a college-aged witch faces off against the demon-worshipping cult that has ensnared her mother.
Cristiane Bradford is a novice witch on the precipice of a fantastical future. Since discovering her powers, she has dispelled a cursed emerald, discovered she could communicate with the dead, and balanced a magical apprenticeship with a bevy of college courses. But now she is about to be initiated into the Sacred Pillars Coven—a modern, holistic group of witches that her mentor, Isadora, once led—an opportunity for her to expand her powers and learn about gods, werewolves, vampires, and other mystical beings. But the coven’s current high priestess, Sarah Killian, denies her entry with the shocking revelation that Cristiane’s mother, Beatrice, is entangled with dark forces and dangerous magic. Cristiane’s relationship with her mother is already strained, and Isadora advises caution. But the young woman nevertheless ropes her enthusiastic friend group into investigating while catching the eye of the handsome police detective Jarvis Morris. When it begins to appear that Beatrice is part of a sinister cult that worships a demon goddess and practices human sacrifice, Cristiane finds herself on a collision course with the evils her mother has hidden. Yet secrets kept by her oldest friends and allies in the coven set the young witch on an increasingly isolated path to face these villains alone. This first installment of Medeiros’ low fantasy series presents a world full of supernatural dangers and family mysteries, each one sorted out between sipping cocktails with friends and finding love. This combination can be fun, but the book struggles to find the right equilibrium for its horror elements and the more casual, romantic, and even humorous moments between its characters. The story’s action sequences, though largely reserved for its climax, will satisfy fans of the genre, with devil traps drawn and fireballs soaring. But the greatest sparks fly during smaller, interpersonal moments between Cristiane and Beatrice; the mother-daughter friction from their irritation with each other is often as harrowing as any magical threat either one faces.
Boozy witches and ritual sacrifice make for an engaging but uneven fantasy adventure.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2022
ISBN: 9798985202526
Page Count: 282
Publisher: Tundra Swan Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
Devoted series fans will appreciate the added pieces to this expansive narrative puzzle.
After 500 years, the Grief of Ages is a distant memory—until dragons hellbent on destruction begin to wake again.
In this relatively brief prequel to the epic The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019), the kingdoms of Virtudom have experienced centuries of relative peace. Marosa Vetalda, the Princess of Yscalin, spends her days behind castle walls under the gaze of her overprotective father, awaiting the date when she’ll be wed to Aubrecht of Mentendon, her ticket to freedom. While the book’s main focus is initially on the political threads weaving the Western kingdoms together, the frailty of best-laid plans is exposed when evidence of the reemergence of draconic beings reaches castle ears. These tales often come from the cullers who make their living slaying these creatures, and who are often blamed for intentionally waking them for profit. No one alive remembers the Grief of Ages, so no one’s prepared when Fýredel, the great High Western dragon, surfaces from the volcanic mountain that towers ominously over Yscalin’s capital city of Cárscaro. What follows is the backstory of how the devoted Yscali kingdom comes to shift allegiance to Fýredel and his master, the Nameless One, a main catalyst to events in The Priory. Overall, this book reads more like history lesson than fantasy adventure, but the sheer terror that befalls the Yscali people as they face Fýredel’s pure evil is both powerful and relevant. Marosa’s plight further solidifies her as a hero worth remembering; her strength and defiance shine through as hope for the future she’s dreamed of slowly flickers out.
Devoted series fans will appreciate the added pieces to this expansive narrative puzzle.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781639736010
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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