Warning mild spoilers below.
This book was given to me by Netgalley in return for a review.
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I didn't hate this book but I didn't love it either. A lot of the choices made in the book were taking far too long to reveal and were obviously ill advised. It was like watching the movie anger management but it fantasy format. There didn't seem to be great character development other than some with Ryx and Severin. If you're looking for a fantasy book that feels like the island of misfit toys this book is for you. Almost all of the characters in this book seem like they're on their own roads to self discovery.

To be honest the first half of the book left me really frustrated. The ruler of an entire kingdom goes missing and everyone just brushes it off as a learning lesson. Leaving the just ill equiped individual to rule the kingdom. Lots of things are just left to draw out for half the book before the obvious reveals. The stars is usually the lowest I'll give it before DNFing a book, and I came close.

I didn't hate this book but I didn't love it either.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Obsidian Tower is the first in a new series by Melissa Caruso, although it is set in the same world as her previous series. While I wasn’t lost with this being my first entry into her world, and I think you can use this one as your entry point into Caruso’s work, I do wonder whether some aspects of the world building would have felt clearer quicker had I started with those previous books. And the magic, with the Witch Lords and whatnot, is fun, but I definitely wanted more explanation and am wondering if I missed something, or if it has yet to be fleshed out.

However, this book has a lot to offer in its own right, being politically focused with a mystery at the center. The strongest aspect is the intrigue and the question of the whodunnit.

Ryx is an interesting protagonist, as her powers can be fatal to those who come near her, leading to her isolation by her grandmother. Due to her situation, she’s rather socially awkward, but she’s great at navigating the political landscape.

This is a fairly solid series starter, and one that has me curious as to the direction it will go in the next book (due out next year). I recommend it to fantasy fans looking for new authors to follow, especially those looking for more political intrigue.

Caruso's Sword's and Fire trilogy is one of my favorite fantasy series ever, so I've been eagerly anticipating this since it was announced and it did not disappoint. I want to shove it at everyone I know and tell them to read it. We are back in the same world as the last trilogy, but a lot of our time is spent in Vaskander, which I love because I find that land fascinating and I'm glad we got to see more of it than we did in the last trilogy. The main character is smart and I love how Caruso writes female characters that have different kinds of strength. Not all strong heroines need a sword! (And some do kick butt in that way too and that's also excellent). Caruso also does politics really well. I'm not a huge fan of political fantasy but she executes it so well that I find myself unable to put the books down. I cannot wait for the next book!

DNF at 37%

It was a rough start, got a bit more interesting, then we hit a wall again. I don’t really want to keep feeling like I have to push my way through to find the bits I like. I found that other reviewer found that it got better at 40% in but I just don’t know if I will and at this point if I don’t enjoy it now I won’t at 40%+.

I might in the future pick it up again, because there were some aspects that I did enjoy - the characters were just starting to interest me - but at the moment this is just not for me.

This book was amazing. I was hooked from the very first page to the last. The magic system was wonderful and the pacing was fabulous! I don't read many adult fantasy but this one hit the mark!! The characters were great and man I can not get this book out of my head.

This is a solid fantasy read. It follows Ryx, the Warden of Gloamingard, granddaughter to a Witch Lord, and user of “broken” magic from a childhood illness. Her family is filled with vivomancers, who can manipulate organic materials (think make plants grow, talk with animals, etc). But Ryx does the opposite. Her magic takes the life force of anything that is alive. While she doesn’t fit into the family, she carves out a role as a diplomat and is hosting a summit between 2 other nations. But there is a dangerous secret hiding in plain sight in Gloamingard and when it is opened, a war will be the least of Ryx’s worries. With this book, you get to see several different viewpoints on magic – either it rules everything or it needs to be controlled by others (not the mage). The magic system is really fascinating. The characters are decent – some of the secondary characters are kind of flat and seem to be there to fill a need. But most of the main characters are well rounded and interesting. I would recommend if you enjoy magic filled stories with politics thrown in along with an underdog type main character. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series.

Great book, but man was I confused. Immortal witch lords? Evil empire cabal? Can someone please explain why the cat is talking - oh look there’s been a murder.

I suspect the sheer amount of new information and terminology would be less overwhelming if I’d read the Swords and Fire trilogy, which takes place in the same world as The Obsidian Tower. I appreciate when the author doesn’t spell everything out, but there was A LOT going on here. My attention was split between getting to know Ryx and learning a political landscape it felt like I was already supposed to know.

Ryx is the granddaughter of a Witch Lord, and Warden of Gloamingard castle. Unlike all other mage-marked vivomancers, her magic doesn’t bring life, and her touch on anyone outside the family means near instant death. Still, she’s determined to protect her grandmother’s domain through intelligent diplomacy. Dead ambassadors, headstrong relatives, and a mystery killer - Ryx must somehow appease opposing diplomatic delegations to keep war from descending on Vaskandar, all while containing whatever dark magic is stirring within the sealed tower at Gloamingard.

Once I’d oriented myself to the world, I really enjoyed Ryx’s story. She’s smart, resourceful, and well-used to compensating for mistakes. Her magic inspires fear in nearly everyone around her, yet she shows great vulnerability in overcoming that distance and the fear of harming other people.

Yes, this is adult fantasy, if only because of the sheer volume of information the reader is expected to handle. Not every teen reader (or adult) is up for that. In terms of content, though, it’s a clean read and wouldn’t be entirely out of place among YA fantasy.

Recommend for lovers of fantasy politics with a side of who-dunnit mystery. But, yeah, maybe read the Swords and Fire trilogy first.

**Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC**

In Obsidian Tower, Ryx is a young Warden of a millennia-old castle and its people, who has never fit in with her family. Instead of having the live-giving magic they're known for, her magic strikes out at those she touches - or who touch her - and often kills them. For her entire life, she's kept apart from others, separating herself from most human contact and friendships. She has always grown up with the knowledge that one of her family duties is to ensure that the mysterious Door remains sealed, though no one has told her why. When an ambassador from an aggressive neighboring state arrives to enter negotiations with the empire to the south (mediated by Ryx), everything goes to hell in a hand-basket - and Ryx finally discovers what's in the obsidian tower.

This story began slowly. I found it took a couple of chapters for me to really engage with the world and the plot and become interested in who Ryx was and in her story. I'm glad I stuck with it. Throughout the book, Ryx begins to find her voice and her place at the center of what could become an international incident if she says or does the wrong thing. She learns what it means to develop friendships and to become involved in the world instead of constantly skimming life. Tensions are running high, motives are not always clear, there's a murderer on the loose, and no one knows what happened to her grandmother. And everyone wants what's in the tower. It's set in a world with interesting magical abilities and political intrigue.

After the slow start, it picked up pace and I found myself eagerly returning to it until I finished it. Recommended for fans of new adult fantasy, who like mysterious ancient artifacts and political intrigue with their magic.

Reviewed for Shelf Awareness, so this isn't my official review :)

Really enjoyed the world-building, the queerness, the twists and betrayals. Feels like something between YA and the "Fantasy for Grown-Ups" that I thought I had to choke down for years. The world-building doesn't consist of fifty pages of info-dumping before any actual plot. Instead, you're dropped in media res, with Ryx accidentally killing a horrible person she's supposed to be negotiating with. And then everything else goes to shit.

I'm only mad that I have to wait for the next two books.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review via NetGalley.

4.25 stars (which is very unusual for me, but I really want to stress that this is higher caliber than my usual 4 but I wouldn't go so far as to say it could be rounded up to a 5).

Normally, I say I want a hungry protagonist. Ryx isn't hungry, she's starved: for attention, affection, touch, praise, positive feeling. She's a curse upon her own land, with a twisted, broken strain of life-magic that unravels and kills anything she touches. Including but not limited to people. With an ominous family motto that basically amounts to "don't open the goddamn door" - it was inevitable that we were, of course, going to see what's behind it. And it didn't disappoint.

Ryx is smart and capable if a bit socially inept (which she makes up for by being supremely politically savvy). When all of her careful diplomatic plans unravel and worse, she (and some new friends - which is a hot commodity for the royal mage who literally can't even stand close to people) take on every additional challenge. With a capable and diverse cast (bi/pan MC, a f/f relationship, a nonbinary character and more!), The Obsidian Tower brings the reader on a unique magical adventure.

Upon finishing the book, I discovered that it's a spin-off series from Caruso's other trilogy - but while reading it, I never had the sense that I was missing background information and, indeed, I'm now excited to go read that series while I wait for Ryx's next adventure

The Obsidian Tower is the first book in Melissa Caruso's new fantasy trilogy, "Rooks and Ruin." It is not however the first book set in this universe - this book is set in the same fantasy world as Caruso's Swords and Fire trilogy (which began with The Tethered Mage in 2017), just 150 years later.* I really liked that trilogy, which began with a novel that was solid and had potential it didn't quite reach only to then be followed up by sequels which did reach that potential, featuring an interesting contrast of magical countries and fascinating characters. So I was definitely excited to revisit this world at a later point in time for another story.

*Note: No foreknowledge of the prior trilogy is needed to enjoy or understand this novel: no characters from that trilogy appear herein, and other than a few sparse references to events/people from that trilogy within a few pages at one point, there really isn't anything that you'd miss out if you read this trilogy first - Caruso is quite clearly making it possible for anyone to read this series first if they so choose. The only clear benefit I got out of reading the prior trilogy first was to more clearly understand the setting from the start, but new readers should probably be fine.

And The Obsidian Tower is a very promising first novel in this new trilogy, with a fascinating fantasy world, a sort of locked room-esque mystery (kind-of), dueling political powers, and a heroine desperate to try to get it all - and her own dangerous powers - under control. The story doesn't quite have any particularly great characters other than the heroine herself, but she's enjoyable enough to carry the story quite nicely, with the other prominent characters showcasing potential to grow in future novels. And the story flows really nicely, being quite hard to put down once you get into it. I'll definitely be back for the sequel to see where it goes from here.

---------------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------------

Guard the tower, ward the stone
Find your answers writ in bone
Keep your trust through wits or war
Nothing must unseal the door

As the granddaughter of the Lady of Owls, the Witch Lord of Morgrain, Ryx should have been a powerful vivomancer, able to manipulate life in some tremendous fashion through her magic. But Ryx's magic is corrupted, killing everyone she touches and so her parents gave her to her grandmother's keeping.

Now, Ryx acts as the Warden of Gloamingard Castle, the seat where her powerful grandmother sits, and uses her political skills to try to wield power instead of her magic. But Gloamingard possesses a secret family legacy - a sealed door within that all in the family are taught must NEVER be opened. Yet when a peace conference Ryx plans brings both ambassadors of the powerful neighboring Serene Empire and the Witch Lord of Alevar, the castle soon finds itself full of dangerous ambitious persons out for blood....and all it takes is one such person for the worst to finally happen.

For what is behind the door is something far worse than Ryx could ever have imagined, and instead of having time to deal with it in peace, she has to deal with a host of scheming parties in her home, all of whom have their own agendas and plans. And with her own magic only capable of causing death, how exactly is Ryx going to somehow stave off not just the outbreak of war inside her own castle, but a danger that threatens to destroy the world as she knows it if unleashed?

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The Obsidian Tower features the same world as Caruso's prior trilogy (the awfully named but very good "Swords and Fire" trilogy), a fantasy world in which the world is mainly split between two powers: The Serene Empire and The Witch Lords of Vaskandar. The Serene Empire is a colonial empire reminiscent of many historical countries in our world, ruled by an oligarchy/parliament and requires those born with strong enough magic to be marked to be "Jessed", so that their magic can be turned off by a trusted third party. Vaskandar is more of a conglomerate of independent states, ruled by mages, vivomancers who have power over life, and its Witch Lord leaders have utter control over life in their domains (territories)....but often find themselves in conflict with one another.

Our heroine in this novel, who tells the story in first person, is Ryx, who has a mother from the Empire and a father from Vaskandar and is thus supposed to be a vivomancer....except her magic is corrupted, so instead of allowing useful control of life, it merely kills everything it touches. This is hardly an unusual archetype in genre (most famously perhaps held by the X-Men's Rogue), but Ryx is done particularly well in a way to make her stand out: she has opted not just to wallow in misery but to make herself useful as a diplomat - using her connections to both sides of her heritage - since she can't rely upon her powers in any useful way. Oh she still suffers as a result of her powers - and as a result, a conflict for her is the potential desire to have those powers turned off by a Jess (something which Vaskandarian pride would suggest is sort of like enslaving herself to another) so that she can actually touch other people without fear. And she can't help but look at those with human contact and potential relationships without envy. But it doesn't define her - instead what defines her is her need to try and find a solution that can satisfy all parties, even as things get more and more disastrous and more and more conflicting agendas come out of the woodwork. And Ryx isn't trying to do so from a naive point of view (to contrast her with the prior trilogy's heroine in her first book) - while she might be perhaps a little too trusting of a few people, she's still well aware of the consequences of various actions and agendas, and that everyone is hiding something. It makes her tremendously interesting to read throughout.

Which is good because Ryx is the only really strongly developed character in the novel, which features a ton of named characters all of whom are playing their own games and don't have quite nearly enough time to come into their own just here. Which is not to say they're not interesting archetypes, and Caruso plays a bit here by having a bunch of characters with similar archetypes acting in different fashions: so you have two individuals who were raised up from nothing by dangerous patrons with possibly dangerous agendas, who react very differently to the discovery of same, and the two potential love interests are both cowardly in their approach to potential love/friendship vs their own professional circumstances. Each of these characters is built well enough that I'd like to see more of them in the future - especially the Rooks, a group of neutral individuals who investigate magic in both countries, but they can't quite capture individually the same intrigue as Ryx or some of the side characters in the prior trilogy.

Moreover these characters and Ryx work well enough to set up a plot that intrigues from is very beginning and continues to get more and more complicated as things move on in this story. Caruso's prior trilogy dealt very much with the issues dealing with power and control over other people and their lives, and while those themes do exist here as well, they're less overt than in that novel - we're more dealing with a more typical fantasy novel here. But it's a really good fantasy plot, filled with twists and powers and agendas that enable the plot to take various shapes: from a locked room mystery to political intrigue to a dangerous fantasy struggle, and it all works from beginning to end into a satisfying tantalizing ending. The only part that didn't really work for me is the romance element - the attraction between Ryx and the eventual chosen love interest just seems to come mainly from nowhere until it's mentioned by a character and is from then on a thing (I reread those portions, and the setup is there just a tiny bit, but it's incredibly scant) and it didn't quite work for me. Mind you, I felt the romance in Caruso's first novel was its weakest element before additional elements came into play later to make it stronger in the rest of that trilogy, so hopefully that'll improve going on forward.

In short, The Obsidian Tower is a very good first novel in a trilogy, with a really strong heroine, a strong plot, and enough tantalizing possibilities that I could see this becoming really great. Can't wait to see if it takes that next step.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Melissa Caruso has been on my radar for some time now, so naturally I was eager to start this first book in her new Rooks and Ruin series. I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. The Obsidian Tower is truly a great deal of fun. This book takes a number of story elements I love and cleverly combines them all into one grand extravaganza.

Our pragmatic and long-suffering protagonist, Ryxander, experiences no shortage of troubles. Ryx is the Warden to her family’s massive, eclectic castle and is tasked with guarding its imposing, forbidden tower. It’s her solemn duty to ensure the gate to the tower is never unsealed and it’s one she takes very seriously. To her, this role is a purpose that can make up for her warped magic that drains the life from any living thing that touches her – and it grants her a useful place despite being the outcast in a family of vivomancers. But this important task becomes all the more daunting as she soon discovers that the tower contains an ancient mystery and dangerous secrets that could prove fatal.

In addition to this already large responsibility, she also takes on the burden of hosting a gathering of representatives from rival nations and other mutually suspicious factions for peace talks. Her family’s domain, Morgrain, lies between two hostile powers and it’s in her interest to keep them from going to war. Her guests predictably have varying competing interests to be appeased, which would be difficult enough without her also needing to curb their pointed curiosity towards the aforementioned dangerous tower. There are even a few meddlesome relatives with their own plans for the tower that keep unceremoniously interfering with Ryx’s negotiations, leading to an abundance of family drama. Add in some more deadly magic, a number of diplomatic complications and one sly chimera into the mix, then you just might get an idea of the kind headaches Ryx has to deal with.

Although the plot itself did not move especially quickly, the story nonetheless progressed at a steady pace that kept you entranced and excited to discover what happens next. There may have been more scenes focused on discussions and strategizing than there were battle or action scenes, but even readers who prefer the latter may still be won over by the interesting cast of characters. Ryx’s family members, colleagues and enemies are all an intriguing bunch in their own ways. As much as I loved Ryx herself, I think I loved some of the supporting characters even more. (I’m thinking of a certain swordswoman and another easygoing troublemaker, here!)

I’ll also note that I was initially unaware that this new series is related to the author’s completed trilogy, the Swords and Fire series. Since I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the previous trilogy, I can certainly confirm as a newcomer to the world of Eruvia that this book can be read without having done so. The compelling worldbuilding introduces new readers to the various magic systems and the rival nations of Vaskandar and Raverra seamlessly. Never once did I feel like I was missing something for having not read the other books, and it’s clear The Obsidian Tower was intended to function as an independent storyline regardless of the shared setting. But it definitely does make me want to start reading The Tethered Mage to get even more content.

I will be looking forward to the sequel.

Melissa Caruso’s Swords & Fire trilogy is one of my all-time favorite series. So when I heard we were getting another series set in the same world, I was equally excited and nervous. I’d loved the first series so much and didn’t know if this one could compare.

And it doesn’t! But that’s okay because The Obsidian Tower is just as fantastic in an entirely different way. At first, I found myself constantly trying to compare the series, looking for the Easter egg references that I knew had to be hidden there. But as I kept reading, Ryx and the other new characters stole my heart. Caruso’s writing is so immersive, I wanted to just stay in this darkly magical world forever.

The Obsidian Tower focuses pretty heavily on politics and political machinations, but considering it centers around negotiations for a peace settlement, this was to be expected. Caruso does a fantastic job of explaining everything, I never found myself confused or wondering where any one faction stood. I loved how all of the different subplots were woven together and how the tension was constantly ratcheted up. Just when I thought a situation couldn’t get worse or more complicated for poor Ryx, it did (really, Ryx deserves a nice long vacation after everything she went through in this book).

And the characters! There were complex family dynamics that felt incredibly realistic, friends turned enemies, enemies turned friends, and some excellent potential romances. There’s fantastic LGBTQ+ representation here as well. But saying any more than that would require some serious spoilers.

The Obsidian Tower is an amazing book that I would highly recommend to fantasy fans who love their potentially apocalyptic mistakes with a side of political intrigue. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series and I’ve already preordered a finished copy of this one.

*Disclaimer: I received an advance digital review copy book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I'm always down for some interesting worldbuilding and found family dynamics! The Obisidian Tower is definitely a fantasy for fans of political intrigue and mystery - no epic battles here, but plenty of backstabbing. Gloamingard, our protagonist's home, is a sprawling, hodgepodge castle built by generations of witch lords protecting the titular obsidian tower. Ryx, warden of Gloamingard with broken magic that kills anything she touches, is trying to negotiate peace between two neighboring powers when everything goes horribly wrong.

I know there's an issue with people assuming female fantasy authors' works are YA, but I'm honestly not sure why this isn't being marketed as YA. Maybe it's partially that I associate first person narration more with YA fantasy, but there's also nothing content-wise that would prevent it from being for younger audiences and I would argue Ryx's characterization and struggles might resonate more with a young adult audience.

I appreciated the queer rep in the novel, including a nonbinary side character who uses they/them pronouns.

I would just like to take a moment to mention that I was initially drawn to this book by the cover. It’s just stunning. But on to the book itself.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Obsidian Tower. Ryx is seen as a failure and an outcast of her family simply because her magic is “broken”. I specifically liked that our focus is on someone whose magic doesn’t function the way it’s expected and what the means for the characters around her. Caruso presents a variety of characters originating from several different created cultures from within the books. With this comes heavy politics, but the author keeps it interesting by keeping the reader invested in the characters by focusing on both the characters’ political and non-political interactions. There is LGBTQ rep and more specifically there is a prominently featured non-binary character.

I also happen to be a fan of enemies to lovers and this one burns nice and slow. Severin is so easy to like. The mysterious, handsome, tortured fellow from enemy territory. Sold. However, the romance was not the primary focus, Ryx’s found family and the importance of having friends was instead, which I very much enjoyed. The Rookery characters are all wonderful and I hope we will continue to spend more time with each of them in book 2.

I loved that’ll was mentioned that the stories of the Dark Days had significant similarities across the different cultures. I’m hoping we get a little bit more of the demon lore in the next book. It would be great to get the juxtaposition of the stories with the reality of the demons.

Also, of note, I am all about beautiful environments in books and Gloamingard more than delivered. I was just entranced by the description of the many areas of the castle, each with their own incredibly unique design. I really loved this.

I’ll be picking up book 2 when it’s out.

A slow start but it really picked up about a quarter into the book. I look forward to reading the next story in this series.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review

This in the first book I have read by the author and I can say it was amazing! The story and the characters were well developed and hooked me from the beginning. I absolutely fell in love with this book

This was the first book of Melissa Caruso's that I'e read, although I do have another of her books (The Tethered Mage) on my shelves that I just haven't gotten around to yet. After reading this book, The Tethered Mage has definitely moved up on my TBR! Also, looking at other reviews I think that both series happen in the same world, but I didn't feel like I was missing pieces of the world building by reading this book first.

I absolutely loved all the politics and backstabbing that happens in this book! There was so much betrayal that happened, but at the same time some really great friendships. Having a main character who has magic so deadly that she can't physically get close to anyone or she will kill them added a really interesting twist to all of the relationships she was building. At times I found myself getting kind of annoyed with her for being pretty naive when it came to any potential love interests, but then I reminded myself that she doesn't really have experience with anything like that before. That said, I do think there is a lot of potential with her and the love interest at the end of the book (I don't want to give anything away because at one point she's attracted to three different people). 

I loved how unique each of these characters ended up being. You really got a sense of their personalities, especially the Rookery. I'm very excited to see how their relationships with each other develops and what we learn about them in the next book because I'm sure they're hiding more secrets than we know. There is also a lot of LGBT+ rep in this book, with a bisexual main character, a non-binary side character, and lesbian side characters! 

 Ryx (the main character) and her family have protected the black tower and whatever is in it for centuries but no one knows that is actually in the tower.....until it's accidentally opened at the beginning of the book. From then on things just kept getting worse for Ryx and her friends, to the point where I just kept saying to myself there's no possible way it can get any worse! Which of course, it did get worse. Much worse. There was so much tension and everything was very fast paced and intriguing!

I also really enjoyed the world and the magic system, especially the idea of immortal witch lords who rule different areas of Vaskandar. The one thing though that I was very confused about is at one point a character mentions that their father (a witch lord) was murdered by his son who wanted the throne. If they're immortal, how was one killed? I'm hoping that will be something that comes into play in the next books and wasn't just something that was overlooked. I'm also really curious about how Ryx's magic will develop because there is clearly something else happening with her powers that I think will come into play in the next book, and I have some theories about it.

I really liked how this book dealt with the consequences of things like opening a door that's supposed to stay closed, or locking away your power and pitting it in the hands of a rival nation. That was really refreshing from just dealing with the lead up to keep things from happening, we instead got to see how the characters all worked to fix it and deal with the problems.

So overall this was incredibly enjoyable and i'm excited for book two, as well as Caruso's other series which I'm going to bump up my TBR to get to it sooner rather than later!

Review will be posted to my blog (www.meltingpages.wordpress.com) on 5/18/2020

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

"Guard the tower, ward the stone/Find your answers writ in bone/Keep your trust through wits or war:
Nothing must unseal the door."

Oh man this was so good! I devoured this book. The characters felt really well developed, the world building was a perfect amount for a first book in a series and the story had really good pacing the whole way through.

Ryx is the Warden of Gloamingard, where she lives with her grandmother the Lady of Owls, Magic is everywhere in this land, and Witch Lords like the Lady of Owls, are connected to their land through the magic. Ryx however has broken magic, and causes destruction with her touch. She wants to be useful to her people, so she is the political ambassador of sorts to the other lands. A magical dispute erupts between nations on either side of her land, so she decides to act as mediator. However, Exalted Lamiel decides to try and get to the mysterious Black Door, things don't go well and all chaos ensues.

Gloamingard is in itself another character in this book. It is a hodgepodge castle of varying architecture, design and states of disrepair. Through its halls prowls Whisper, a cat/fox chimera. Whisper is snarky, and the least helpful guardian possibly ever. Ryx is a complete walking disaster, like chaos is just drawn to her. Every time she tries to fix things anything and everything seems to go wrong. There are quite a few characters in here. Her aunt Karrigan is power hungry, and just not a nice person (seriously it must be in the name). The Rookery, a tight knit group of people that solve magical problems. They were fairly delightful, although I have suspicions some may be hiding things. Severin, the beautiful, misunderstood, morally gray boy. All these people, and then some, descend on Gloamingard and makes Ryx's life incredibly difficult. Honestly I would have killed more than one of them myself. A lot of the book is political maneuvering, and manipulation, but there is action scattered throughout. Watching Ryx learn how to be around people, and really come in to her own was great. I feel like a lot of what I want to rave about would be spoilers. This book honestly has a perfect blend of everything really. Mystery? Check Political intrigue? Check Assassins? Check Snarky shadow animal? Check. Magic galore, fun rhyming lore, kidnappings, deception, hints of all kinds of romance (this is definitely secondary but cute), If you like all the above mentioned I HIGHLY recommend this one.

The Obsidian Tower is a story about Ryx who always thought of her magic as broken. Throughout her ruling her castle, she learns more of it’s secrets and her own magic. She learns to have friends and live out life to the fullest.

Surprisingly, this book had so much political intrigue as Ryx navigates politics with her neighboring regions. This wasn’t my favorite part, but I did like the magic system. It looks like book 2 is coming out 2021 to find out what happens in the aftermath.

Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.