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.

The Flame Never Dies by Rachel Vincent

Series: Well of Souls (bk. 2) Duology likely, final book

Genera(s): Dystopian/Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy

Subjects: supernatural, demons, demonology, exorcists, abilities, magic, souls, possession

Setting: Badlands of Oklahoma?, Kansas, Colorado

POV/Tense: 1st person, past tense: Nina Kane

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 342 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Summary/ product description: “Nina Kane was born to be an exorcist. And since uncovering the horrifying truth—that the war against demons is far from over—seventeen-year-old Nina and her pregnant younger sister, Mellie, have been on the run, incinerating the remains of the demon horde as they go.

In the badlands, Nina, Mellie, and Finn, the fugitive and rogue exorcist who saved her life, find allies in a group of freedom fighters. They also face a new threat: Pandemonia, a city full of demons. But this fresh new hell is the least of Nina’s worries. The well of souls ran dry more than a century ago, drained by the demons secretly living among humans, and without a donor soul, Mellie’s child will die within hours of its birth.

Nina isn’t about to let that happen…even if it means she has to make the ultimate sacrifice.”

My Review:  The Flame Never Dies is the sequel to The Stars Never Rise. The author had said this is a duology, so I guess this was the final book. I feel like this series could have been longer. The author’s Soul Screamers series lasted seven books, but a trilogy would have been nice at least.

If you have not read this series I recommend it to those who enjoyed The Demon Trapper’s Daughter series, Incarnate by Jodi Meadows, Unbreakable by Kami Garcia and urban fantasy books.

It’s written in first person point of view and the main character Nina Kane is a natural born exorcist. She can send demons back to Hell with the holy fire she can conjure from her hands. Demon eat the souls of those they posses and when exorcised the host body dies because there is nothing to occupy the body and there’s a bid burning hole in the chest. If a demon is in a body too long it starts to degenerate and become twisted. If you have not read the first book, then spoilers are ahead.

Nina, Melanie, Maddox, Finn, Devi, Reese, Grayson, and Anabelle are in the badlands (not the South Dakota one, but Oklahoma or Kansas) trying to survive, hiding from the Church. In the previous book Nina discovered the Church was ran by demons and that her mother was a demon possessing a human body. Nina is public enemy number one and a demon named Kastor wants her as a host.

Finn, a soul who doesn’t have a corporeal form, is possessing a guard temporarily. Nina is in love with Finn, no matter what body he’s in. Melanie is still pregnant and due in about a month, and since souls are hard to come by, it’s possible the baby won’t last an hour after it’s born. Nina plans on sacrificing her own soul for the baby if it comes to it.

The something unexpected happens that changes everything and sets Nina on a course for revenge and for an even more meaningful sacrifice. Can she and her friends save humanity from the demons who are destroying it?

So, this was a great sequel. I wish it was longer or that there was a third book. I really love it when there’s an interesting cast of characters, but I feel like some of them were under-used. I wanted more dialogue from them. And I wanted more romance. Despite that, it was a good sequel. Action and paranormal stuff and cool discoveries and scary twists. I enjoy the way Rachel Vincent writes. She has complex narrators that face terrible dilemmas, interesting love interests (both Todd and Finn were incorporeal most of the time), interesting world building and humor. I will miss the characters.

There was a moment I considered this being set in the same world as Soul Screamers, but in the future and that the demons were hellions, since both could posses people, but the demons in this book don’t have a natural shape in Hell, and the hellions did in the Netherworld. So that theory didn’t last long.

Cover Art Review: Beautiful cover. Too bad it’s not metallic. I love the feather, but there are no angels in this book. The title treatment is cool.

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

Series: The Young Elites (bk. 3) final book

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

Subjects: magic, supernatural, abilities, superpowers, kingdoms, royalty,

Setting: A fantasy world, the island of Kenettra

POV/Tense: 1st peson POV, present tense: Adelina Amouteru, and 3rd person intermissions of other characters.

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 317 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Penguin: Putnam

Summary/ product description: “There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.

Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained.

When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.”

My Review:  The Midnight Star is the epic finale to the Young Elites trilogy. If you have not read the Young Elites, then I recommend it if you are a fan of any of these books: The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Crewel by Gennifer Albin, The Jewel by Amy Ewing, Defiance by C.J. Redwine, Snow Like Ashes by Sarah Raasch and the Red Queen by Victoria Avyard. This series is an epic fantasy that is very unique. The Young Elites have abilities caused by the blood fever. It’s said that they are connected to the God and their ability comes from the immortal realm. Other people believe they are demons and call them malfettos. Adelina has the power to create illusions, including both visual and sensual. Her hair is silvery white and she has a scar where one of her eyes should be. These are the markings of the blood fever.  

In this final chapter, Adelina, know throughout the lands as the White Wolf, have become a conquering queen. She already took the throne of Kenettra and extended her rule to Dumor. She now has her sites set on Tamoura. She hears word that her sister Violetta is in Tamoura and she’s sick. Violetta, who has never bared a mark before, is not covered in dark veins and seems very weak. Her ability is to take away Elite abilities.

 Raffaele and others from the Daggers are there too and once Adelina, Magiano, and Sergio get there, Raffaele tries to convince Adelina of a plan that involves them going to the immortal realm to fix the damage that it’s causing to the mortal realm. It’s an hard journey and they must find other Elites that can help them. Can Adelina abandon her cruelty and find the compassion to help save their world and forgive her sister?

This very unique fantasy series has some very unique characters that are not clichés or Mary Sues. It’s very diverse and different. It feels like a manga, with the strange colored hair, eyes and markings. This series would be perfect as a manga or graphic novel. The world building is creative. The world is different, with it’s three moon instead of our one. The mythology of their gods is woven with detail and share similarities to Roman and Greek mythology. Marie Lu put a lot of work into this series. I hope that we get to see it in some visual format be it a graphic novel, movie of TV series. I will miss this beautiful and dark fantasy series greatly.

Cover Art Review: Nice cover. Fits with the series.