Review: An entertaining story!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
(Note: this is a review for all three parts of the book, which is how I read the story since I was given a review copy of the entire book and didn't have the foresight to write three separate reviews. I went back to my copy and saw where they're split into serials and wanted to point out that there's a cliffhanger/shocker from part 1 to part 2 (but don't let a potential cliffhanger stop you from reading it since it's quickly resolved in part 2 and worse comes to worse you can read that through the sample if you *really* don't want to continue) and there's a nice little lead-in/non-cliffhanger from part 2 to 3. Compared to the few serials I have read, this is more like a book broken into 3 pieces rather than 3 separate episodes being pieced together--very few recaps within so make sure to read all three in order. Ok, now onto the review!)“I can’t be part of some prophecy—my father will kill me.”—AddieIn the wizarding world, only men have the capability to wield magic. The women take care of the men and home while raising the new generation of wizards and the females trained to obey them. For sixteen-year old Addie, daughter of the High Chancellor, she doesn’t mind her role and is quite happy in her destiny. Well, that is until she learns about her *actual* destiny. She’s a female who can wield magic, which means she’s a desecration to her kind. It also means she’s the prophesized wizard queen, the Queen of Chaos, and she will either save or destroy her people. That is, if she doesn’t get killed first…“Only a few days ago, I was the perfect daughter and the perfect student and look at me now?”—AddieThis is a great young adult novel that I wouldn’t mind my young teen reading (if I had one). The romance is so sweet (super PG) as we have two teens that grew up as friends and, well, you know how it goes. Since all wizard-kin are betrothed young in life, their romance is forbidden. Coupled with the fact that Rory, the male protagonist, is a servant *and* a human, you can’t get more forbidden than that. Of course, what fun would that be if that was that? It’s a good thing that there’s more to Rory than meets the wizarding eye.And it’s also a good thing that good girl and obedient daughter Addie is taking on a rebellious streak. After all, it’s hard to follow the rules when you’re the antithesis of the rules. Oh, and when the fate of the world rests on your shoulders, sometimes a little rule-breaking is needed. No pressure.Actually, it’s a lot of pressure for our sweet and gentle Addie. She’s not a staunch feminist or fighter or even a think-out-of-the-box-er. She’s trained to be obedient and not question the rules made by the wizard males. It’s this little fact that makes the book so interesting, because she is someone who has to try so much harder since fighting and going against the grain doesn’t come naturally to her. She would gladly give up her destiny if she could but she can’t, and she’ll do the best that she can with the cards fate has dealt her.Which unfortunately for her, are pretty nasty cards, and she is not well-equipt to handle said cards. There were many times she acted first without thinking of the consequences and then had to be saved by her friends at the start. Luckily, she’s got some *great* friends, and I loved how they were willing to do what they could for her.Onto the fantasy side, we’re in today’s world, but the wizards have carved out their little communities that are unknown to most humans. Within their culture, they are quite male-centric with rebellious women forced to go through a retraining that would make the Stepford Wives feel bad for them. So, not only does Addie have to worry about being killed, she has to worry about something that is practically the same thing but lasts much longer.While l liked most of the story, I wish the mythology, magic, and world-building was fleshed out more. We have shamans, mages, humans, wizards, and sorcerers, but I’m still not 100% clear about the relationships between them. We have some hints as to the background, but it would be nice to get more insight on how they relate and are different. The same goes for magic. While we have a basic idea on magic and it did get fleshed out more as the book progressed, I would have liked more info on the magical system, which also goes back to the mythology of the different groups. As for the gender differences and impact on wizard politics, the author did a fantastic job in letting us feel the pressure and fear that poor Addie and her friend Izzy felt!Overall, it was an entertaining story suitable for younger teens and up. The story was predictable in some spots and surprising in others. Although there are many unanswered questions at the end and there are many obstacles that our heroine must face, the book ends in a very positive note with a great climactic scene so I wouldn’t say it ended on a cliffhanger. This is definitely a great start to a series and is a 4 out of 5 for me.(Originally posted on my blog; I received a review copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review)