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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rating: 3.5 stars
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Tropes:
🌙 Enemies to lovers
🌙 Forced proximity
🌙 Slow burn
🌙 “Who did this to you?”
🌙 He falls first
🌙 Witches/Shifters
🌙 Competition/Trials
🌙 Morally grey MCs
🌙 Unique magic system
This book surprised me! I went in completely blind, not knowing a single thing about it and only having picked it from my TBR because one of my book boxes is about to put out an SE of it. And when I first got started, I thought I’d had to DNF. It was so bad. The characters were so annoyingly YA and cringy, just stupid. But then something changed around the 30-40% mark, and I ended up devouring this book. Does it still have problems? Absolutely. But did I really enjoy it? Also definitely.
Raven Moonstone is a young witch in the Moon Coven, one of thirteen covens all centered around appropriately witchy elemental themes. Their magic isn’t learned through books and lessons, it’s given to them one at a time in episodes called “receivings,” and then painted on their skin like tattoos. The more markings a witch has covering her, the more powerful and knowledgeable the witch. Raven is at the bottom of this social totem pole, as despite knowing many spells and possessing an unknown enormous well of power, she remains markless. When her coven leader turns up mysteriously dead, she and twelve other contestants—including her best friend—enter a competition of trials to take up the mantle. The only problem is that the trials are presided over by the Dark King, the ultimate ruler of all the covens and the one responsible for stealing the grimoires of all the covens to keep them in line, killing Raven’s beloved grandmother in the process. But as she moves through the trials and comes more and more into contact with the supposed Dark King, she learns that all is not as it might seem amongst the witches she implicitly trusted.
Let’s start with the good. The romance between the MCs, while a little bit rushed, also comes across as very sweet and organic. The notes the MMC delivers to Raven throughout the trials were just chef’s kiss. His protectiveness and care for her was lovely. The trials themselves were intriguing and highly original, if a little bit unexplored. The “ride or die” aspect of the friendship between Raven and Kirsi is really fun. The side character, Grey, carried this book on his back in the beginning. He’s funny, snarky, and the perfect sympathetic character the FMC needs in times of turmoil.
However, there were bad elements to all of that too. None of the characters have that much depth to them. I feel like I really don’t even know what motivated most of them. The two main antagonists in the trials, Onyx and Willow, for example. Why did they even hate Raven so much? Just because she’s unmarked? Even Kirsi and Nikos I don’t feel much attachment too, because I really didn’t know them that well. Kirsi slightly better, but Nikos’ personality seems to shift several times throughout the novel—and not only in ways that can be explained away by that “plot twist.” Even the romance, which I ended up loving, suffered some problems. Raven’s treatment of the supposed Dark King, who slaughtered her grandmother in front of her as a child and regularly brutalizes witches for the fun of it, is laughable. She scolds him, yells at him, basically does everything but show the fear she claims to have of him. Then in the very next scene she’s flirting with her grandmother’s supposed murderer? Girl. And he in turn falls for her because she’s ~not like other girls~ in treating him that way? The trials were like an afterthought almost. Despite their originality and interesting concepts, they were all over in a matter of minutes. The ending could be predicted a mile away, and even the overarching theme/reveal of the truth isn’t always what it seems didn’t quite land for me because it was so damn obvious to everyone but Raven.
Overall, I’m hoping the problems I had with it were a first book issue and will improve in the sequel. I’ll definitely have to at least check it out after that cliffhanger ending. This one for sure had its issues, but I was shocked how much I was able to enjoy it anyway. The potential is there for so much more.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally finished it after taking breaks here and there and oh my god. I was left fucking SOBBING by the end of it. I’m so sad, angry, astonished. The book was fucking fabulous and the plot twist? Exceptional. Not many books can make my heart twinge but this one certainly did.
Miranda Lyn, you talented lady, you’re an amazing author but I’m afraid I’ll need some emotional compensation for what you’ve done to Raven, Kirsi, Nym and my heart.
Miranda Lyn, you talented lady, you’re an amazing author but I’m afraid I’ll need some emotional compensation for what you’ve done to Raven, Kirsi, Nym and my heart.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This one took me by surprise, I read it on a whim and got completely sucked in! The storytelling, the characters, the world building and the magic involved was amazing. I’ve already started the second one!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Full review at novelwitch.com
This book was a 5/5 for me easily. I devoured this book. I cannot wait for the next books. I would describe it as Hunger Games meets witches. There is violence, and some adult themes. Every character was so well crafted. Bastian is very morally grey, but there is also a soft side to him that we may have mis judged at the start of the book (giving me Rhysand vibes) Raven is torn between her loyalty to the witches, and her growing need to see what is blooming with Bastian.
The magic system is really interesting. We see a few witches get powers, or "spells" and they seem to go into a dream like trance. Maybe having to solve a puzzle in their own brain before being gifted the spell. Then there is the markings, every time a witch gets a spell she gets a marking that indicates the spell. This is an outward show of power, because the more markings you have the more powerful you are.
The book kept moving, quickly, so it kept my attention. It ends on a cliffhanger, and has a massive twist at the end that blew me away. I am still a little mad at Miranda for that one, and told her as much lol.
I am really looking forward to seeing where this series goes! I love the cast of characters so much and am excited to dive deeper into them and meet the promised new characters.
This book was a 5/5 for me easily. I devoured this book. I cannot wait for the next books. I would describe it as Hunger Games meets witches. There is violence, and some adult themes. Every character was so well crafted. Bastian is very morally grey, but there is also a soft side to him that we may have mis judged at the start of the book (giving me Rhysand vibes) Raven is torn between her loyalty to the witches, and her growing need to see what is blooming with Bastian.
The magic system is really interesting. We see a few witches get powers, or "spells" and they seem to go into a dream like trance. Maybe having to solve a puzzle in their own brain before being gifted the spell. Then there is the markings, every time a witch gets a spell she gets a marking that indicates the spell. This is an outward show of power, because the more markings you have the more powerful you are.
The book kept moving, quickly, so it kept my attention. It ends on a cliffhanger, and has a massive twist at the end that blew me away. I am still a little mad at Miranda for that one, and told her as much lol.
I am really looking forward to seeing where this series goes! I love the cast of characters so much and am excited to dive deeper into them and meet the promised new characters.