Review: Interesting take on magic
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 24, 2012
I have recently read the book, The Other Covenant, by Caroline Crosby. It is a deeply layered story about people who use black magic to further themselves and the country, and about the people that use white magic to try to counter the evil that some black magic users represent.Our heroine of the story, Elizabeth, is a very interesting character.  She has so much control over her magic, her life, and her emotions.  When she first meets someone that she has heard of all her life as being an adept with the covenant, someone that isn't on the good side, she is concerned whether she should help him. But because of her honor and the goodness inside of her she has to help him.This story was exciting in some places, but in other ways it was a bit boring.  I was very taken with the way Miss Crosby used such scientific ways to describe magic using; the psychic bands that they operate on.  I liked how there was an art form to understanding it, instead of just making it very "magical" without any explanation.  I, however, don't think I could follow some of the explanations because it tended to get long winded and more and more complicated.I am a huge history lover, and I fell in love with how some chapters had more of a historical background,especially with how the United States of America was formed with the help of some paranormal influence.I think Elizabeth is a special person.  She is so patient with explaining everything to the bodygaurd, and even has to explain things a couple of times.  I think the author really wanted the audience to realize that Elizabeth has a lot of power but is the epiphany of good, even with all the power she has running inside of her.When the characters are reading the manuscript, the chapters will jump from present day, back into the past of the manuscript.  I, personally, love when an author does this.  I like getting background information throughout the book, instead of it all being lumped together in a few pages.  I liked that very much because it helped me understand things better in steps then having to look back at what was going on.Not only could this book be considered a paranormal thriller, it could also be grouped in as a mystery too.  It has a very good "who dunnit" theme running through the book that will have you guessing up to the very end.  Miss Crosby did an excellent job of keeping me on the edge of my seat with the action during the fight scenes.  The only problem with that was: there wasn't enough fight scenes!!  I wish there were more to show more of what Elizabeth is truly capable of, physically and psychically.There was some romance sprinkled here and there; as well as foreshadowing of another romance under way.  I didn't really find the romance aspect very convincing.  It seemed to be a little forced, and at times, unbelievable.  Which is saying a lot when the book has supernatural in its essence.There were also spots when the dialogue became a little choppy, jumping from one speaker to the other so quickly, it was a little hard to keep up.  I found myself going back and re-reading some lines just to make sure I knew who was saying what.Other than those things, I think this has the potential to become a very well known and interesting series.  It does end very abruptly, but I like it, because it has you wishing you could just get a hold of the next one asap!  It is in true cliff hanger fashion and I definitely have to applaud the writer for the ending; it was awesome.Overall, I think The Other Covenant, was a good book.  It wasn't one of my favorites by any means; but I enjoyed reading it and I will definitely be looking for the next in the series.  This book could appeal to many different kinds of readers because of the scientific way it goes about explaining the supernatural aspects; but it also has so much drama and mystery in it that it keeps the story interesting.  And really who doesn't get excited when witches and black and white magic is involved?  I love magic!