Review: The Obsidian Tower

 

The Obsidian Tower

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

The mage-marked granddaughter of a ruler of Vaskandar, Ryx was destined for power and prestige at the top of Vaskandran society. But her magic is broken; all she can do is uncontrollably drain the life from everything she touches, and Vaskandar has no place for a mage with unusable powers.

Then, one night, two terrible accidents befall her: Ryx accidentally kills a visiting dignitary in self-defense, activating a mysterious magical artifact sealed in an ancient tower in the heart of her family’s castle.

Ryx flees, seeking a solution to her deadly magic. She falls in with a group of unlikely magical experts investigating the disturbance in Vaskandar—and Ryx realizes that her family is in danger and her domain is at stake. She and her new colleagues must return to the family stronghold to take control of the artifact that everyone wants to claim—before it destroys the world. 

I'm going to be honest, The Obsidian Tower has been an anticipated read of mine for a little while now! I read and completely loved Caruso's Swords and Fire trilogy and I was really excited to see what she would come up with next. As it turns out, that would be a bisexual mage with magic that doesn't work quite right and prevents her from getting close to people in case she kills them...and then there's a minor incident with a shady door that may or may not lead to ruin for their entire Kingdom. No biggie. 

There's tension from the start with peace talks about to be underway between two neighbouring Kingdoms, and that's before someone goes snooping where they shouldn't and unleashes all manner of chaos into the world. The Obsidian Tower is set in the same world as her debut trilogy, though a different area of it and one that deals with magic quite differently. I was excited to see more of the magic system that Caruso established in her previous trilogy, as well as see an interesting perspective on certain magical technology that's used! That being said, if you haven't read the previous trilogy it's not a problem! You can quite easily read this without having read it, all it adds a little bit of extra understanding when it comes to the relationship between Vaskandar and the Serene Empire! 

I actually really liked Ryxander as a main character, I thought she was interesting. Her power is dangerous and she's constantly having to keep herself under control to ensure she doesn't hurt anyone and she can't touch any living thing without consequences. I felt so much empathy for her and I was right there with her when she got to relax when it came to controlling her power and she got to hug her friends....and actually have friends! I was so happy for her, and then equally as heartbroken as she was when that was all potentially taken away. I feel like we see her very isolated and closed off, and then slowly bloom as the book goes on and she finds her people. 

As for the other characters I loved every single member of the Rookery and I can't wait to get to see more of them! Particularly Ashe....just let her stab something Foxglove, one little thing! Ashe made me laugh so many times throughout this book and I loved the banter between all of them. Whisper was an intriguing addition, he's the castle's resident chimera but there's clearly more to him than meets the eye! Ardith was a fantastic addition and so relatable, they kept saying 'I just wanted to drink your beer and eat your food' or words to that effect and I was reading like...understandable. I was waiting to see whether there was going to be more to their relationship with Ryx, and I'm quite hoping we get to see more of them in the future! They were just such a great comic addition to proceedings and kept the mood up! Then there's Severin. As soon as he was introduced I was like 'hello, you're going to be added to my collection of favourites aren't you?' and then it turned out he was the love interest. I thought he might be, but the way he was introduced and who he was had me thinking otherwise and a little sad about that fact only to be surprised again later. He also wasn't at all what I was expecting, I was expecting him to take charge more but he's very much under the control of his brother and struggles to go against him. I'm hoping he'll come in to his own more in the next book although I'm very much here for their relationship!  

The thing I loved the most about this book was all of the representation! Our main character is bisexual, we've got a non-binary side character and two other side character's are lesbian's so we get a nice f/f romance that had me cheerfully wanting to bang their oblivious heads together at one point! 

The thing I love the most about Caruso's writing is that she weaves these intricate, rich worlds with plots involving magic and politics and explains it all without dumping a lot of information on you or making the book dry in the process. Her writing is riveting and has you eager to know more and keep on reading to see what happens next. I particularly liked the inclusion of a good old murder mystery element this time around and had quite a lot of fun lining up my suspects and trying to figure out who it was! There's also some original twists on some other things too! 

The Obsidian Tower is wonderfully paced and weaves in brilliantly crafted characters some of which you love and some of which you can hate, with political intrigue, impending potential war, a murder mystery, a mysterious and definitely shady door leading to who knows what and uh...I don't think anyone really wants to find out, and a fun magic system! I quite easily binge read this in two sittings and I'm already impatient for the sequel to get back to the characters and see what fresh hell will be unleashed next! 

Review: The Defiant Heir

The Defiant Heir 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Across the border, the Witch Lords of Vaskandar are preparing for war. But before an invasion can begin, they must call a rare gathering of all seventeen lords to decide a course of action.
Lady Amalia Cornaro knows that this Conclave might be her only chance to smother the growing flames of war, and she is ready to make any sacrifice if it means saving Raverra from destruction.

Amalia and Zaira must go behind enemy lines, using every ounce of wit and cunning they have, to sway Vaskandar from war. Or else it will all come down to swords and fire. 

Nothing kicks off a book like a spot of light pyro and a murder. There's political intrigue from the start with a war brewing and Falcons being targeted. Much like the first book there's action and fast paced parts mixed in with the slower parts. I was hooked in by the intrigue and the action, and trying to work out what Ruven was up to and what was happening. I really loved getting to explore more of the world of the book and getting to explore Vaskander and meet the Witch Lords who where certainly an....interesting bunch! I really do love the world of the book it's so interesting and original and populated by such interesting characters. 

Zaira continues to be my favourite, she's just such a freaking badass and I continue to empathise with her and root for her. Amalia I'm kind of on the fence about at points still, and I felt for her towards the end of the book and we do see her changing and becoming the person she needs to be in this book. I'm excited to see how much more she'll change and develop as a character over the course of the next book! 

We get a brand new character in the form of Kathe and he's exactly the kind of character I love. I think I ship he and Amalia more than I ship she and Marcello. He's more interesting and their banter and relationship is livelier and more interesting than the rather dull one she has with Marcello. Sorry dude! 

The plot pulls you in with the various different elements and the intrigue, there's multiple douchey characters aside from Ruven, for example, Caulin is definitely up to something, I don't trust or like him at all. As we end the book, we're left wanting more with an idea of the direction the next book is going to go! Amalia's proceeding with her bill but no doubt there's going to be some pushback and I'm hoping to get a better look at the Council of Nine and the inner workings of the politics of the world! 

Review: The Tethered Mage

The Tethered Mage
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

In the Raverran Empire, magic is scarce and those born with power are strictly controlled -- taken as children and conscripted into the Falcon Army.
Zaira has lived her life on the streets to avoid this fate, hiding her mage-mark and thieving to survive. But hers is a rare and dangerous magic, one that threatens the entire empire.

Lady Amalia Cornaro was never meant to be a Falconer. Heiress and scholar, she was born into a treacherous world of political machinations.

But fate has bound the heir and the mage. And as war looms on the horizon, a single spark could turn their city into a pyre.

The Tethered Mage throws us straight in to the action and is intriguing with an interesting world right from the start. I loved the opening scene, starting to get acquainted with the world and then being hit with a tense situation kicking the story off right out of the gate. I mean...we have a rogue fire mage about to set the entire city on fire accidentally. Oops? 

The world of Tethered Mage is very well created and built up. It was so vivid and so easy to get lost in and was kind of like an alternate Venice! I loved the world building and I loved stepping in to this world, I could picture each setting clearly, and there was a certain vibe to it too. It was fun, and I wanted to know more and more about it and get to see even more of it! I mean, we did get to see a good chunk of the world, two different locations which was fun, but I want to see mooooreee! 

Character wise, they certainly where a memorable bunch. Amalia I wasn't too sure about at first, I couldn't decide if I  liked her or not. She was kind of a bookworm which ordinarily would have had me like "yes. We're BFF's!" but I was firmly on Zaira's side so I spent a good while side eyeing Amalia, not least because she kind of lets her mother run all over her and doesn't really stand up to her much. Buuutt by the end of the book I was liking her more and more. She was determined to do the right thing and ended up being totally awesome! 

Zaira I loved, she was fiery....literally. I loved her right from the first page and I had a lot of empathy for her. She was easy to understand, and you could feel for her and her situation. She didn't ask for it and had done her best to avoid it and you couldn't blame her for feeling and acting like she did. She was relatable and you rooted for her from the start. Marcello...well, you can bet your ass I was shipping he and Amalia right from the start. The thing with him was that at points I felt like his sole purpose was just to be Amalia's love interest. He was a bit useless and didn't really do much for the most part, but he was kind of fun and I'm hoping we'll get to see more of him and he'll have more to do in the next book! 

Domenic.....I'm going to be super sad if we don't get to see more of him in the coming books! But I have a feeling we won't, which is a shame because I really loved him and I wanted to get to know his character more and more! He was equally bookish and fun, and I shipped him and Zaira so bad but it looks like he might be out of the series now! Istrella I also loved, nerdy about her magic which was a nice contrast to Zaira, and it'll be fun to get to see more of her in the coming books, hopefully! Along with the characters I loved, there where plenty that I didn't love but where kind of fun to hate on. At least one of those is likely to pop up again which should prove to be interesting. I'm really hoping someone punches him in the face. 

The Tethered Mage drew me in more and more and I ended up completely hooked before I was even halfway through the book. There's a steady pace and there's plenty of action along with intrigue and betrayals and scheming. There's also lots of plot twists too, some that you do see coming but there's also some that don't so I was kept on my toes! The Tethered Mage is a brilliantly fun and rich read and I'm intrigued to see where the plot is going to go! I can't wait to dive back in to the world and the characters! I wasn't entirely sure what to expect with this one, but it ended up blowing me away! 

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