Publisher: YLVA Publishing
Dark.
I was not prepared for just how dark this series would get. And I loved every minute of it.
This is the second installment in the ‘Destiny and Darkness’ series. In book one we were introduced to the upstart pyromancer, Aeryn. She found herself away from home and studying to become a war mage in Kings City, fell for a girl who is bonded to another, and on the cusp of revenge toward those who attacked her Ice Crown village.
Things begin exactly where readers were left hanging at the end of book one. So we are quickly rewarded with the resolution/answer we eagerly waited a month for. But then the story takes off and keeps you turning pages beyond the length of your lunch break and bed time.
I would not recommend that readers start off with this one. There is a lot of world building and character introduction in the first one that I think would have readers a little confused or feeling left out. Like many reviewers have already said, the first two books would have benefited from being combined.
I think I like this so much because it is a fantasy book that I can actually follow along with. It isn’t my preferred genre but I can’t help but be enthralled and totally engaged in everything going on. It is exciting, mysterious, suspenseful, fantastical, magical, dark, and just plain good. Easy to follow and get lost in.
I generally read books for the romance. It wouldn’t be a true young adult series without a love triangle, right? We get a bit of one here. I was just recently thinking about how we don’t see the that trope very often in lesbian fiction. Then voila! The universe was listening.
The side characters play a bigger role in part two and they are all really growing on me. I was sad that Sir Idris did not grace the pages often. He was one of my favorites from book one.
The second half really went bonkers. Like ‘what the hell is happening?!’ crazy. Dark and deadly. I was so happy that the book went there. Everything is more exciting when people are dying as a result of forbidden dark magic.
It’s hard to review this without spoiling everything. So I’ll just leave it here and say “read this series!”
I recommend to anyone who likes exciting stories, great characters, fantasy, magic, young love, great climactic endings… and cliffhangers.