Tricia Levenseller is a devil. Or a witch. Or both. How else can you explain how addictive her books are? This is my fourth 5 star from her. I only didn’t read it in one sitting because I was on vacation. And I'm so mad I have to wait for the next one.
Where to start?
The characters are all amazing. Ziva is the main character and I love her. Her experience with anxiety is so well done in my opinion. It’s also nice to have a more reluctant MC/hero. She just wants to be left alone, which I connect with. She also knows she does need to push herself. Even though it's written in first person, I feel like I know the three side characters very well. Temra is Ziva’s sister and equally wonderful. She supports and loves Ziva, but is also her own person. She’s more complex than at first glance. Petrick is an adorable scholar who is also deeper than expected. Kelly is written to be that YA fantasy hero you just can’t help but fall in love with. And that definitely worked on me. At first glance, he seems like a standard bad guy, but Levenseller does more with him like all the other characters.
Then, there’s the relationships. There are several packed in this fairly short book. Yes, there’s some romance. It’s fairly slow-paced which builds some angst, but also feels perfect. Ziva has a lot to work through so she can’t just fall in love (in my opinion). I also loved her awkwardness. It made her relatable without being too much. The sister relationship between Temra and Ziva was also great. Their love for eachother jumps off the page. They also fight and have different desires which are realistic. There’s also little moments of friendship between the four travellers. Their interactions change depending on how many and who are together. This is exactly how friend groups and groups work in the real world.
Now, let’s talk about the non-relationship plot lines. This was probably the weakest, but I still really liked it. The structure was a bit repetitive. It’s also a travel/journey story so that’s pretty common. I did like that it wasn’t all action-you need some downtime. The magic system isn’t explained-we may never get one-but it still works. You don’t always need a big detailed backstory. The politics are a little more developed and explained. It still isn’t very thorough. I have a general idea of what's going on, but don’t fully understand all the particulars.
This is a new favorite and Tricia Levenseller remains an autobuy author for me. Now, I have to wait not-so-patiently for the next book.
Thanks for reading!
Holly