Book Review: Charmed

Charmed (The Witch Hunter #2) by Michelle Krys
Release Date ~ May 26, 2015
Delacorte Press ~ Random House
ISBN13: 9780385743396
Review copy received from Random House Canada for review

Goodreads Synopsis:
Indie has spent the last few weeks frantically searching for Paige. She's tried every spell imaginable, but witchcraft has gotten her nowhere, and she's going crazy with guilt. Despite what her warlock boyfriend, Bishop, tells her, Indie knows it's her fault her best friend was kidnapped by the Priory. And with the Priory destroyed, finding Paige feels more hopeless than ever-especially when Indie discovers that Paige isn't even on Earth. She's trapped in Los Demonios, an alternate dimension of Los Angeles filled with evil paranormals. No one who has gone there has ever come out.

Fueled by terror and loyalty, Indie is desperate to find a way into the underworld prison. She'll worry about getting out later. But facing the dark world's most dangerous witches and warlocks on her own means keeping her plan hush-hush-and forging alliances with some sketchy people, including a seriously sexy sorcerer.

Sometimes a witch must keep secrets from the people she cares about most. And sometimes she isn't the only one with secrets…

I had a lot of fun reading Michelle Krys' debut, Hexed, which came out last year, so needless to say I was looking forward to reading the sequel!

Indie is a great character, and one who stands out to me from most other YA heroines. She's a little bit sassier, and it's also interesting to me to see a character who (at one point) was considered one of the cool, popular girls rather than the more common, bookish type. And it's precisely that attitude and spunk that leads Indie to continue on her journey in Charmed.

1. Indie's loyalty:
   
   One of Indie's remarkable character qualities is the loyalty she exhibits towards those she cares about. And the events in Charmed show just how far Indie is willing to go to help others... and it's pretty darn far! She isn't the type of person to back away from a challenge or anything difficult. Instead, she tackles those problems head on and tries her hardest to find a solution. It's an admirable quality and one that will endear her to readers.
   
2. A closer look at this world of witches and warlocks:
   
   Hexed was our introduction to the world of magic that Michelle had created, and while it was mysterious and interesting, we didn't get to learn that much about it in the first book. Charmed is a much closer look at what's going on here, and we also get to visit Los Demonios with Indie, which is a whole new experience and very eye-opening for her. And with this new world comes new secrets, of course...
   

The beginning of Charmed moved along at a slower pace than I like and particularly so given the immediate problems. The stakes are incredibly high, yet Indie is forced to run through the motions to appease her aunt and act more like a normal teenager. And I get it - I can understand why Penny would insist that Indie obey the rules, but it didn't seem to fit the story and it didn't really seem to fit Penny's character either. And overall, that made this a slower read for me.

As well, as much as I loved learning more about Los Demonios and the people who are trapped there, I also felt like there wasn't too much attention paid to them. There's a lot going on in this world, and not much of it is dealt with nor solved by the end.

But Indie's story is told and it's told well. Michelle has a talent for writing, as evidenced by Indie's clever thinking and feisty attitude. And the action in the story is very well-told.

Book Review: The Witch Hunter

The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter #1) by Virginia Boecker
Release Date ~ June 2, 2015
Little Brown Books for Young Readers ~ Hachette Book Group
ISBN13: 9780316327008
ARC received from HBG Canada

Goodreads Synopsis:
The magic and suspense of Graceling meet the political intrigue and unrest of Game of Thrones in this riveting fantasy debut.

Your greatest enemy isn't what you fight, but what you fear.

Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she's accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to burn at the stake.

Salvation comes from a man she thought was her enemy. Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful and dangerous wizard in the kingdom, offers her a deal: he will save her from execution if she can break the deadly curse that's been laid upon him.

But Nicholas and his followers know nothing of Elizabeth's witch hunting past--if they find out, the stake will be the least of her worries. And as she's thrust into the magical world of witches, ghosts, pirates, and one all-too-handsome healer, Elizabeth is forced to redefine her ideas of right and wrong, of friends and enemies, and of love and hate.

Virginia Boecker weaves a riveting tale of magic, betrayal, and sacrifice in this unforgettable fantasy debut.

I happened to read The Witch Hunter while playing through Dragon Age 2 for the first time. So maybe it shouldn't be as much of a surprise that this book reminded me of that game? Needless to say, I loved both of them.

The Witch Hunter is fantasy YA with an emphasis on politics and political intrigue, which is one of my favourite things to read about. Although this usually ends up with a slower-paced book, it certainly doesn't take away from the excitement or how engaging a book is provided a reader can handle a slower pace.

1. The political intrigue:
   
   I loved how the world in the Witch Hunter was set up with conflict between mages and non-mages. It's understandable, if you think of how much power a mage would have and the advantages of having magic. So I'm grateful to see that there's a book series which took this into consideration and included this type of conflict in the plot.
   
   
2. Elizabeth's focus and determination:
   
   I also liked how Elizabeth focused on the task at hand and wasn't easily distracted. You could see how she would make a good witch-hunter, despite some poor choices at times. Most importantly, Elizabeth experiences significant character development throughout the story as everything she has known and taken for granted is tested.
3. Interesting system of magic:
   
   This was one of my favourite parts of the book but I loved how magic was presented. Not only was it far from perfect, and potentially dangerous, but readers can easily see how it complicates matters as well. It isn't as simple as most of us would imagine, and it creates problems for some of the characters, most notably Elizabeth after she's accused of being a witch. 

Some parts of the story were fairly predictable and I could have used a few more twists. After a while, I found the story progressed in a way that I was expecting and yet I was so engrossed in the book that it hardly mattered. I'm hoping to see a few more surprises as the series continues, though. 

There were so many things I loved about this book - the character dynamics and the world building included! It was a complex story that really appealed to my love of good fantasy stories. 

Review: Hexed

Hexed (The Witch Hunter #1) by Michelle Krys
Release Date ~ June 10, 2014
Delacorte Press ~ Random House (Doubleday in Canada)
ISBN13: 9780385743372
ARC received from Random House Canada for review

Goodreads Synopsis:
If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.

Hexed is such a fun paranormal book that I absolutely devoured! Indigo is a strong character with a fantastic sense of humour, making her a great protagonist to read about. Hexed is a great debut from Michelle Krys, which is a satisfying story in and of itself while still leaving enough details to be handled in the sequel (Hexed is the first in a duology).

1. An authentic heroine:
   
   Indigo (a.k.a. Indie) is not the typical heroine you read about in YA books, which is precisely why I liked her so much. She has a strong personality, and a very sarcastic sense of humour so she's fairly snarky as well. She's snobby and extremely self-centred at first, too, so she isn't the type of character I'm immediately drawn towards. But this is exactly why reading Hexed was so refreshing for me, because Indie is not a perfect character. She has flaws, and the character development and changes she goes through during the book are striking as a result of this. She may be the type of character who takes a little bit longer to grow on you but she gets there, trust me! (I love characters like this, for example I'm reminded of Lady Mary in Downton Abbey. I also like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comparison with Hexed, because there definitely is a Buffy/Cordelia vibe to Indie.)
   
2. Gradual romance:
   
   I appreciate a good love story as much as the next person, but I'm not a fan of insta!-love so the romance in Hexed worked perfectly for me. It's develops over time, although there seems to be an attraction element fairly early on which is nice since it adds just a bit of tension to keep the story completely absorbing. I also liked that it didn't feel super cheesy to me, and it didn't overpower the rest of the plot but instead the romance enhanced it. Bishop is a really great character, who's fun and hilarious along with being straightforward with Indie and complex. He's precisely the type of guy you want to root for!
   
3. A thrilling plot:
   
   There is a lot of action and excitement that happens in Hexed, and it's pretty much non-stop from the start. While Indie is still trying to accept some significant revelations, she's forced to deal with problems (both big and small) and figure out a way to get through them. And for the most part? She's doing most of the work all on her own. She's tough and a fighter, but you can also see some of these changes taking their toll on her (as they would). There are secrets and twists galore, which kept me turning the pages as fast as I could.

There were a couple points in the story when I felt that I could have benefited from a bit more world building, simply because the magic and conflict featured in Hexed were very interesting and I would love to read more about how this world works and how it came to be. But I also never felt like I didn't have enough information to understand what's going on, and I'm fairly certain that most of my questions will be answered in the sequel.