The adventure Maz undertakes had potential to be captivating, but was just ok. I ended up disengaged from the book so much that I was able to walk in the middle of the chapters without caring about the interruptions.

The characters were dynamic, but the world lacked depth. Wilson's story and characters are present, but need a stronger foundation in their world.

With a compelling story line and interesting characters this was a quick, entertaining read. The story itself you could use a little tweaking to flesh it out a bit as it is rushed. If I had to nit-pick the problems are solved too conveniently and our main heroine comes to use her newfound abilities with little to no difficulty making this feel like its geared towards middle grade as opposed to YA. Still a solid little read otherwise.


**Copy kindly provided by BHC Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Three and a half
This YA fantasy book certainly had an interesting and original storyline. Young Maz is all set to be presented at court to celebrate her sixteenth birthday and takes Newt her younger brother with her. Yet she’s almost immediately singled out by the young Lord of Obanac but things get far worse when Newt is accused of stealing and arrested ! Fortunately Maz has friends outside and decides to take matters with their help into her own hands and rescue Newt. What they find when they sneak in though is that sacrifices are being made to bring darkness into the world and strangely enough Maz is at the heart of dastardly plans .
There’s a lot going on here and the author poured so many ideas into the end that sadly it made it feel like overkill. I think my problem is that I just didn’t really connect with these characters and as I’ve read a lot of excellent YA fantasy I cannot help but compare. Perhaps if it been slightly longer the pacing could have felt more even. I will say nevertheless that it is an enjoyable story and I’m sure will be very popular with many younger readers.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4)

Let me start off by saying that this is probably not the kind of book I would normally choose to read. I think it was probably intended for a slightly younger audience than myself. However, despite the fact that this book is not a book I would normally read, I still enjoyed it. The author truly did a great job in delivering her story. A young girl, Maz, from the lower towns heads off into the city for the first time in order to celebrate turning sixteen. She is accompanied by her younger brother who she has cared for ever since her parents were taken from her. What she doesn't expect is that she'll leave the city alone. A bumpy road full of obstacles has opened up before her. At first she just intends to save herself and her brother, but it soon becomes apparent that everyone's lives might be in Maz's hands. Many allies join her in her quest to retrieve her brother and save her people. Many secrets come to light during this journey that will change everything Maz knows to be true.

My only problem with this book is that it seems to be more intended for middle-school to high-school age audiences which I unfortunately am not in. I was still able to enjoy it, but a younger reader would probably enjoy it much more than I could. However, this does not change the fact that the author did a great job with the plot, characters, and writing itself. All in all, this book is a short, fun adventure about the power of friendship and family in a world where darkness is trying to destroy everything.

A young girl is targeted by evil to bring back the phantom curse. She must save her brother and avoid being captured to be used as the gateway for evil being unleashed.

I enjoyed this story. It had some twists to the plot that held my attention. The main character is like able, and who doesn’t like a little romance in their fantasies.

I do feel the story could have had more to it. It almost felt rushed through. I wanted to know more background.

Overall an enjoyable read