The Black Key by Amy Ewing

Series: The Lone City (bk. 3) final book

Genera(s): Dystopian Fantasy/Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: royalty, classes, pregnancy, surrogates, slavery, abilities, love

Setting: The Lone City, and the middle sector of the city, The Jewel

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Violet Lasting

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 295 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “For too long, Violet and the people of the outer circles of the Lone City have lived in service to the royalty of the Jewel. But now the secret society known as the Black Key is preparing to seize power.

And while Violet knows she is at the center of this rebellion, she has a more personal stake in it—her sister, Hazel, has been taken by the Duchess of the Lake. Now, after fighting so hard to escape the Jewel, Violet must do everything in her power to return to save not only Hazel, but the future of the Lone City.”

My Review:  The Black Key is the epic finale to the Lone City trilogy. What started in The Jewel and continued in the White Rose now comes to a close. If you have not read The Jewel, I recommend the series to people who like YA Dystopias and Fantasy. Fans of The Selection by Kiera Cass, Crewel by Gennifer Albin, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Bumped by Megan McCafferty, The Red Queen by Victoria Avyard, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski, A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess, Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige, Pawn by Aimee Carter, Defiance by C.J. Redwine and Incarnate by Jodi Meadows.

When Violet finds out that the Duchess of the Lake kidnapped her sister Hazel to replace her as surrogate, Violet comes up with a plan to disguise herself as a lady-in-waiting to help rescue her sister. The rebel group known as the Black Key has a greater plan in store and the big day in the next Auction Day and Violet keeps on eye on her sister and what’s going on in the palace while she plays the new lady-in-waiting for Coral, Garnet’s new wife. Garnet is part of the plan and “hires” Violet for Coral, even thought his mother has denied any lady-in-waiting that Coral selected.

Meanwhile Ash Lockwood, Violet’s love-interest in the story and former companion (like a male escort) of Carnelian (Garnet’s cousin), is gathering other companions to help with the cause of the Back Key. Lucien, a male lady-in-waiting for the Electress, also plays a huge role in all this since he’s the basically the brains of the whole operation.

I really enjoyed this finale. My only complaint is there isn’t enough romance in it, but the awesome elemental magic abilities make for it. I really enjoy dystopian and fantasy stories that have a character in disguise for some sort of revolution. This happens in Pawn by Aimee Carter, The Red Queen by Victoria Avyard and Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. It’s not exactly royal-espionage, but in this one it felt like it.

I loved elemental powers. It reminds me of the show W.I.T.C.H. with the guardians, and a book I recently read, A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess. Violet went from a poor surrogate to a bad-A Paladin! She used the Auguries to change her hair from black to blond and eye from violet to green, which was painful for her, but she did it for her sister. She was like Katniss fighting the Royals instead of the Capital.

I really adored the world building of this series. The Lone city has five circles, kind of like a Caste system in the Selection series, from highest to lowest: The Jewel, The Bank, The Smoke, The Farm, and the Marsh. There’s certain naming conventions I noticed for people from each place. The Jewel’s Royals are named after gemstones and mineral, The Bank seemed to be luxurious items, The Smoke were named after periodic table elements and industrial materials, The Farm people were named after plants and animal, and the Marsh people were named after color, for attributes like hair, eyes and skin. The Marsh names was something that took a while to figure out.

An overall great finale. I will miss the series and I hope to read what Amy Ewings writes next: The Cerulean (a space fantasy book?).

Cover Art Review: Lovely cover. Looks like shattered glass around the girl in the dress.

Blood Passage by Heather Demetrios

Series: Dark Caravan Cycle (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: jinn, supernatural, magic, alternate worlds, mythology

Setting: Morocco, Africa and the Sahara Desert

POV/Tense: 3rd person past tense: Nalia, Raif, Malek, Zanari

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 481 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer & Bray

Summary/ product description: “A jinni who's lost everything.

A master with nothing to lose.

A revolutionary with everything to gain.

When Nalia arrives in Morocco to fulfil Malek's third and final wish she's not expecting it to be easy. Though Nalia is free from the shackles that once bound her to Malek as his slave, she's in more danger than ever before.

Meanwhile, Malek's past returns with a vengeance as he confronts the darkness within himself, and Raif must decide what's more important: his love for Nalia, or his devotion to the cause of Arjinnan freedom.

Set upon by powerful forces that threaten to break her, Nalia encounters unexpected allies and discovers that her survival depends on the very things she thought made her weak. From the souks of Marrakech to the dunes of the Sahara, The Arabian Nights come to life in this dazzling second installment of the Dark Passage Cycle.”

My Review: Somehow I did not enjoy this sequel nearly as much as the first book. Possibly because I was so busy that I had a hard time finding time to read it and it took me five days to get through half of it and then I rushed the second half in one day. It is a very long book and the 3^rd person POV doesn’t help. Exquisite Captive was exciting and new and mixed contemporary paranormal romance with fantasy.

Blood Passage takes place mostly in Morocco, which is a very different place from LA. It’s where the portal to Arjinna is located. It’s also where Nalia, Raif, Malek, and Zanari starts their search for Soloman’s ring. I’ve never read a book set in Morocco, so I found this part pretty cool. Then they must travel through the Sahara to find it. Nalia is required to take Malek to its location because it was his 3^rd wish and she’s bound by wish magic. On their journey some people die, they meet Dhorma jinni, make allies and sacrifices. There are some heart-wrenching twists and sad parts.

I may have had a hard time getting into this sequel, but I still enjoy the world-building and characters in it. The different castes of Jinn are interesting. Most jinn can only use one element: water, fire, earth or air. Nalia can use all four. Her purple eye and powers make her a Ghan Assouri, and she’s the last her kind and the rightful empress, although she’d rather not rule. Raif is a Djan, as is Zanari. They have earth abilities and green eyes. Zanari can also remote view. Malek is par-djinn, or part-jinn. He’s half Ifrit, the fire users. I like Raif as a love interest, but I found Malek more interesting. He kind of reminded me of the bad-boy characters in other series, like Warner in Shatter Me. He’s not all bad. He’s definitely done bad, but in the end he’ll do the right thing to save Nalia.

I recommend this series to people who enjoy stories that have mythology. If you are interested in non-western myths especially. If you enjoyed City of a Thousand Dolls by Mirium Foster. If you enjoyed other book with Jinn/Genies. If you liked fantasy books like Snow Like Ashes, or Red Queen or The Young Elite. It you like book about elemental abilities like the House of Night series or Vampire Academy.

Cover Art Review: Simple, but not too exciting. The symbol on the cover makes sense though.

Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios

Series: Dark Caravan Cycle (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: jinn, supernatural, magic, alternate worlds, mythology

Setting: Los Angeles, California, various other places around the world, and the world of Arjinna

POV/Tense: 3^rd person past tense: Nalia and Raif, and present tense chapters of various jinn.

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 463 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer & Bray

Summary/ product description: “Forced to obey her master.

Compelled to help her enemy.

Determined to free herself.

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.

Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?

Inspired by Arabian Nights, EXQUISITE CAPTIVE brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light.

My Review:  I got way more that I expected out of this book. When I first heard about it, I thought it was some historical fairy tale retelling of Aladdin. Thank goodness that’s not what this book is. It’s a mix of paranormal romance and fantasy, set in modern Los Angeles. I love this take on Jinn. Jinn from Middle Eastern Islamic mythology (Djinn, Genie) appeared out of a magic lamps and granted wishes. (Mentioned on Ancient Aliens, Jinn could have been projections of holograms of aliens).

These jinn all have elemental based powers and can grant wishes or manifest things by drawing energy from their element. They comes from a world called Arjinna and are separated by their elemental castes. Wikipedia mentions the different types of Jinn: “The social organization of the jinn community resembles that of humans; e.g., they have kings, courts of law, weddings, and mourning rituals. One common belief in Muslim lore lists five distinct orders of demons — the Marid (the strongest type), the Ifrit, the Shaitan, the Jinn, and the Jann (the weakest type).” In the book the Marid have the element of water, the Ifrit have fire, the Shaitan have air and the 4^th type, the Djan have Earth.

Nalia can draw power from air, water, fire and earth, and that make her a rare kind of Jinn. The royal caste of Jinn called the Ghan Aisouri, which are all but extinct. The fire powered Ifrit jinn have been killing then off. The other lower caste hated the Aisouri rulers because they forced them into servitude. Nalia has a fiery strong personality and stubborn. She doesn’t like being forced to do things for her master and want badly to escape and save her brother who was taken from her. She meets Raif, a Djan revolutionary who may be able to help her in exchange for an important relic. Raif has prejudices against the Aisouri, and seems to hate Nalia at first, but their relation changes as they get to know each other. Romance happens!

There are also undertones of human trafficking/slavery in this book. Stuff like this happens in real life. Girls get sold to men in foreign countries. (If you ever seen Taken with Liam Niesen, when the daughter is taken.) This book is magical and a supernatural romance. Nalia has to try to seduce her master Malek, even if he seems like a sick, horrible person.

This book is so complexly plotted, it has me excited for the rest of the series. There needs to be more unique paranormal/fantasies that take mythology to a whole new level. This is that kind of book. If your interested in Eastern/Asian myth and legend and books about fantastical world parallel to our own, than make Exqusite Captive you next read! Don’t bottle up you reading list! Put this book on your wishlist.

Nalia is stuck with a very powerful master who won’t grant his final wish, so she’s his slave.

Cover Art Review: I love the colors and the type on the cover. The bracelet it nice, but I wish it was more detailed. Maybe the second book will be violet and gold instead of blueish and orange