Light Mage by Laurie Forest

The Black Witch Chronicles

The Black Witch * The Light Mage * The Iron Flower *

The Shadow Wand 

Publish Date: August 1st, 2018
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format Reviewed: eBook
Series: The Black Witch Chronicles
Author: Laurie Forest
Author’s Goodreads
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Author's Website
My Review on Goodreads

Trigger Warning for Sexual Assault

Introduction

Before the White Wand was given to Elloreen Gardner, Sage Gaffney was its protector. Sage comes from an extremely tight-laced family who are deeply entrenched in their religion. After a terrible event and the fallout, she flees. Outside in the world for the first time, alone, she comes across those willing to help her -- some of the very people she was raised to look down upon.

Sage is a light mage, capable of rare magic, but she didn't think she could do anything with her power. She was destined to marry, raise children, run a house, and nothing else. Now with the world open to her, she decides to make a difference.

Quick Thoughts

The romance was fairly instant, which I can almost forgive because this is a novella. But...she did move on from traumatic and life-altering events fairly quickly. This might irk some readers.

More amazing characters are introduced and more world-building unfolds.

Sage goes through her own personal growth and it is very satisfying. However, she is much like Elloreen in her thoughts at the beginning, and she becomes more "woke" as the story progresses.

To be honest, I could have not read this book. It didn't really tell me anything I was dying to know. Though I suspect characters/issues from this will resurface in book 3 (which I am on the waitlist for at the library).

Final Verdict 

Read it if you are a super-fan. It may not be for you if you have a hard time reading about sexual assault. We already know about this event from the other books in this series. The author gives you a warning in the beginning, and honestly, you can skim it or skip the whole scene if you would like. The fall out with her family was difficult to read as well, though victim-blaming happens far too often in real-life.  

The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest

The Black Witch Chronicles

The Black Witch * The Light Mage * The Iron Flower *

The Shadow Wand 

Publish Date: September 18th, 2018
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format Reviewed: eBook
Series: The Black Witch Chronicles
Author: Laurie Forest
Author’s Goodreads
Author's Twitter
Author's Website
My Review on Goodreads

Introduction

The rebellion is secretly trying to right various wrongs while Gardneria is busy forcing the Western Realm to their will. As much as she tries to save all of her friends against her own people, Elloren is running out of time. Society is volatile and politics are rapidly changing, creating a dangerous world. To top it off, Aunt Vyvian is closing in on Elloren to wandfast to Lukas Grey. While there is undeniable chemistry between them, Elloren does not know if she can trust him, or if she should dare to use him for her own gain. 

Love Triangle

I usually detest love triangles, but here, it's a bit different. Yvan is mostly distant and clearly on the side of morally good. Lukas clearly wants her, and he is on a murky almost darkside, temping her. In this book we get to know more about the two, and Yvan's mysteries are all laid out for the reader. Lukas, however, still remains a bit of an unknown. He isn't necessarily evil or an enemy, but he is not actively fighting against his country's atrocities. 

Final Verdict

This book is much like its predecessor, so if you enjoyed The Black Witch, you'll enjoy this one as well. Here there is more doing, as the rebellion is in full swing and Elloren is firmly enmeshed. However, I did notice that there is a lot of repeating themes that we have already hashed out, so I didn't have much patience for those passages. We also get to see more of the other cultures in this book, which fleshes-out the world some more. This installment also has some tearjerking moments as well, so don't expect everything to be all sunshine and rainbows.

Also, this was another instance of me finishing a book and getting up immediately to get the next one. IT ISN'T EVEN OUT YET.

The Salbine Sisters by Sarah Ettritch

*ebook from NetGalley-much thanks!

Published October 2010

Publisher: Norn Publishing

Website: Author’s Website 

Introduction

Maddie entered into the monastery of Salbine Sisters, a religious order of offensive mages that draw on the elements to defend their country. She begins her lessons with a mistress that she has taken as her lover, and discovers that she cannot draw on the first element, fire. With the news that there is something different about her, she travels to another monastery to find her answers.  

Story

It takes too long to establish how this world works, and I still have questions. Most of all, I want to know more about their religion. At one point we get a run down about Lina from a tapestry, but what about Salbine? It’s the name of their God/Goddess, a central aspect to this story, and I know nothing about Her.

The story was supposed to be about Maddie travelling and researching her condition. The story takes another turn and in the end I was left asking BUT WHAT ABOUT HER CONDITION? Nope, we have just forgotten about that. The book ends. Thanks, Book, for disregarding what you set out to do.

With this said, it was not a terrible story. It meandered all over the place, and it presented itself as fantasy. It’s really a romance. Straight up romances usually aren’t my cup of tea, but this story had me wondering about Lillian and Maddie’s relationship. How can it survive the awful conclusion that she cannot draw on the elements? So much happens consecutively after that, it made me anxious to read what would happen next in their relationship. There are many instances of dialogue that had me smiling or sad-the book was exceptionally moving to me, at times. Aside from a romance, the story accomplishes very little.

Characters

There are a ton of characters. For the most part, they are terribly flat. Because the story is concerned with an order of women, the characters that the reader is concerned with are women. It’s too bad that none of them have a convincing personality-the author populates the covenant with people whose only traits are that they are women. Gwendolyn is evil for about 10 minutes, and she has to most personality out of all the women.

Message

            The author’s website says that this is “A story about faith and love.” The faith, the religious kind, was alright until I felt like I was being hit in the face with everyone has a purpose set forth by a higher being. That became old quickly. Because I don’t want to spoil it here, Maddie’s purpose is the kind of thing I rail against with a feminist fervor.  

Verdict

Yes, it has two women as lovers, labeled lesbians (though the term is not used in the text), so some people will gasp, cover their mouths, and be offended. In this instance, it would be best to know a person’s sensibilities before you recommend this book. I recommend this book as a love story, not a fantasy. Because there is no fighting against a society that wants them to conform, I don’t even recommend it for people looking for LGBT literature that is about breaking free from society’s rigid structure. It's an nice love story of two women, one older, one younger, struggling against a series of unfortunate events, and I found it to have some wonderful moments.