I am Maia Delacroix and I hunt people and relics. My life does not lack excitement or danger. I have it in spades.
Then the Mageri surprised me with an orphan...yes, an orphan. I can’t even keep a house plant alive, let alone a kid. It turns out that I’m her only living relative, and even though we’ve never met, I’m her only hope. Great. Can I feed her after midnight? What does she eat? I have no idea what I’m doing.
They tell me this little witchling will need care for a few years until she comes of age. The bizarre fire leaking out of Elaina’s hands is a pretty good indicator that she is no witch.
Then the coven comes—they want her back. Necromancers show up, turning my vampire friends into enemies. If that isn’t bad enough, I have a demon problem now too.
Join me, and see if we can make it out alive!
Review:
A very promising start to a new Urban Fantasy series
This was great. I think I've read (or at least started reading) every Urban Fantasy series on the planet at this point and am pleased to report I have a very good feeling about where this series could end up once we're a few more books in.
It follows perennially 25-year-old bounty hunter and mage, Maia, who's somehow both well-liked and a bit of a loner. Maia is abruptly summoned before the Mageri and informed that she has a young relative who's been recently orphaned. Maia has not kept track of her mortal family since her transformation to a mage some 30-odd years ago and had no idea 15-year-old witchling Elaina existed.
Talk about a turn up for the books...
I loved the fledgling relationship between Maia and Elaina. Maia definitely gives off cool aunt vibes rather than anything parental. I was getting flashes of familiarity in a good way to a couple of other series I love where there's a teenage character and that sort of mentor-mentee relationship. They can be very rewarding to read and I can't wait to see more of this as the series goes on.
Elaina, quite naturally, has a few issues in this book. She's a teenager, for one. I mean, need I say more? But she's also just lost her mother, been dumped with a stranger who doesn't even have food in her fridge and has some rather unsettling powers that don't seem to gel with her status as a teenage witch.
I thought Maia handled everything Elaina threw at her with way more chill than I would have. I liked the way she talked to Elaina right off the bat as an equal and a friend. Maia's character is pretty laid-back despite being a kick-ass bounty hunter. She strikes me as someone who only chooses violence when she has to. She's a naturally caring and protective person and she's made a name for herself as someone trustworthy and decent among the many different supernatural breeds she comes into contact with and has some friends in high places because of it.
Now, there wasn't any romance in this book at all, but... don't think I don't see what you're up to, Kim.
The plot was shared between a couple of different mysteries as well as establishing some worldbuilding and the characters, of course. Quite a busy little book but I thought it all balanced out beautifully. I'm looking forward to being able to delve deeper into the characters and relationships and for a more in-depth mystery in future books that don't have quite so much groundwork to take care of.
I think if you like series such as Shannon Mayer's Rylee Adamson series or The Beginner's Guide to Necromancy series by Hailey Edwards, then I have a strong suspicion you may like this one also. It's early days yet to know if it will reach such levels of awesomeness, but it's looking good.
ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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