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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The third installment in the Mages of the Wheel series, this story diverges a bit from the others in the series by taking us to a new part of the world. While I enjoyed this book, of the installments currently published, this was my least favorite. Because you journey with characters to a new part of the world, you leave behind other beloved characters for most of the book. Part of the enjoyment of this series is experiencing the same characters over time from different viewpoints, and because we are separated from most of them, that is less a focus of this book. I also found the relationship between the FMC and MMC to be the more surface level than some others in the series. However, the character development is a bit stronger than Storm and Shield, and perhaps also than Reign and Ruin.
Overall, I liked this book, but it is my least favorite in the series.
This book is for you if: You're loving the MotW series and want more of the same, you like a more mature FMC, you like elemental magic, you appreciate world building as much or more than romance, you like character driven narratives.
This book is not for you if: You're looking for an extremely fast-paced romantasy, you like a ton of spice, you want Fae or other magical creatures.
Overall, I liked this book, but it is my least favorite in the series.
This book is for you if: You're loving the MotW series and want more of the same, you like a more mature FMC, you like elemental magic, you appreciate world building as much or more than romance, you like character driven narratives.
This book is not for you if: You're looking for an extremely fast-paced romantasy, you like a ton of spice, you want Fae or other magical creatures.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The complexity of the world-building in these books is stunning. Evans builds out diverse groups of people with their own ways of speaking and viewing the world, and the detail is immaculate.
As with the other books, we have unique characters with rich complexities - and, in keeping with the first book, we have an MMC who is happy to be "less than" the FMC. Evans ignores the alpha male tropes in favor of writing strong men who do the right thing and are happy to let their women be the stronger ones. Indeed, Amara even speaks multiple times to the fact that women are the strength in every culture, in every nation.
While it was interesting to have a change of setting here, I think removing the action from Tamar for almost all of the book somewhat lessened the heft of the overarching plot. Were I in a less critical mood, this would be a five-star book.
As with the other books, we have unique characters with rich complexities - and, in keeping with the first book, we have an MMC who is happy to be "less than" the FMC. Evans ignores the alpha male tropes in favor of writing strong men who do the right thing and are happy to let their women be the stronger ones. Indeed, Amara even speaks multiple times to the fact that women are the strength in every culture, in every nation.
While it was interesting to have a change of setting here, I think removing the action from Tamar for almost all of the book somewhat lessened the heft of the overarching plot. Were I in a less critical mood, this would be a five-star book.
This book was absolutely not what I expected it to be.
There is a content warning up front that tells you, "This book deals with themes of dealing with themes of recovering from psychological and emotional trauma." And I thought the way this book handled it was so well done.
Not only are there heavy themes of trauma, this book also deals a lot with themes of slavery and class. We're taken to a new area of the continent where using magic is outlawed and anyone who has it is hunted down and sold to the highest bidder. The author does a good job of showing us the darkness of the situation in a way that grounds the setting and raises the stakes. Some of these villains had me SCARED.
The romance between the MCs was probably the most slow burn out of the previous books of this series. But it brings about a lot of healing and discovery for the characters, so the steady pace of it feels much more believable. I may have gotten emotional? Who's to say?
I love this series so much, because not only have I loved each romance in a unique way, I'm also dying to see what happens in the overarching plot.
There is a content warning up front that tells you, "This book deals with themes of dealing with themes of recovering from psychological and emotional trauma." And I thought the way this book handled it was so well done.
Not only are there heavy themes of trauma, this book also deals a lot with themes of slavery and class. We're taken to a new area of the continent where using magic is outlawed and anyone who has it is hunted down and sold to the highest bidder. The author does a good job of showing us the darkness of the situation in a way that grounds the setting and raises the stakes. Some of these villains had me SCARED.
The romance between the MCs was probably the most slow burn out of the previous books of this series. But it brings about a lot of healing and discovery for the characters, so the steady pace of it feels much more believable. I may have gotten emotional? Who's to say?
I love this series so much, because not only have I loved each romance in a unique way, I'm also dying to see what happens in the overarching plot.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Actually so disappointing just because of how much I enjoyed the first two books 😅 entirely too long. Could have been a good 20% shorter. I find this is the issue with independently published books - sometimes it’s good for someone to tell the author “no.”
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4⭐This book felt a little different than the other ones since we explored a totally different place where magic is persecuted. We see both the FMC and MMC struggle with their own crusades and realize they are stronger together. Another solid book in this series and love how beautifully it's written as always.
I understand why people like this book the least in the series, but I still really enjoyed it. Some parts about it made it so it wasn't my favorite, but I have a real soft spot for Cassian and Amara. I think they're so sweet together :'-)
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes