Member Reviews
This sequel picks up where the first book left off. While I loved the first book, I found this one lacked the depth and interest of the first.
However the author's skill at creative worldbuilding and characters overcomes any deficiencies, making this a worthwhile read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.
Thank you NetGalley and author Luanne G. Smith for the copy in exchange for an honest review.
"Petra Kurková—a witch who wields magic worth its weight in gold—is tasked with combating the undead on World War I’s eastern front. The battlefield has yielded a newfound closeness for her spellbound team, especially for Josef Svoboda, a recruiter for the Order of the Seven Stars. But Josef was bitten at the start of the war, leaving his blood tainted by a strain of the vlkodlak curse, which makes him a target of the Order’s latest mission: slay the werewolves prowling the eastern front under the moonlight.
Petra refuses to give up on one of their own. From the hasty kill order of a clandestine society to the long-lost spells in an old grimoire to the unraveling mysteries of Petra’s own past, the urgency to save Josef grows, particularly as his feral impulses become harder to control. The werewolves are closing in. So, too, are the bounty hunters eager to collect. As Petra’s team finds itself at a magical crossroads, Josef devises an ambush of his own—one that could wipe out the cursed threat forever or endanger everything and everyone he loves."
This is a second book in the "The Order Of The Seven Stars" series. I enjoy reading this book, so does the first one. It picks up to where the last one ended. I read this in one sitting.
"𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐰," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦. "𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝." 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞,
"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞." 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧'𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧. "𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝."
If you want to venture into fantasy, this is a good book to start with. Blade of Hope allows us to discover a young girl who tries to survive as best she can.
Following the death of her foster parents and the disappearance of her sister, Harlow must survive alone.
And she does it quite well.
This book gives us a main character who will become a little stronger every day. Harlow trains, she fights. The great thing is that even though she gets her magical power from heredity, she's not powerful overnight. She train to gain her power.
And again, I'm sure that in the next book she will become much more powerful. Because in Blade of Hope, she's only discovering what she's capable of. This is one of the points that I liked, the story takes its time, lays the foundations.
We learn about the world, about the characters, about their relationships with other characters and it was great.
The only negative point I find in this book is the points of view? Sometimes I had trouble knowing on which point of view a chapter began? Especially since sometimes we went from the point of view of one character to another in the same chapter.
It was a little disturbing but not necessarily disturbing.
On certain points like magic, I would have liked to have more explanations. I would have liked us to be able to discover in depth the type of magic that exists in this universe. But I think that will surely be the case in the future.
Regarding plot twists, there aren't many. Surely because the book is a kind of introduction? A few times, however, I was surprised, not expecting the story to take this turn.
Especially at the end, I didn't expect it.
Overall, it's a good book, the story is good and coherent, the writing style is pleasant to read.
I can't wait to discover the rest of Harlow's adventures.
I loved the first part of this series, "The Witch's Lens" so I had to read part two. Thanks to Netgalley and 47North for the ARC!
The story picks up where we left off in the last book. This time it's about Josef's curse and the story unfolds through changing POVs. We get to know not only Petra and her past, but also learn about Josef's life and what led to his current predicament.
I read on Goodreads that this is a duology, though I haven't found any more information on this. However, the ending works in both ways, so this could indeed be the final part, but there could also be at least one more book to follow. I would love to Petra, Josef, Viktor, Yannis, and Major Bako again, though if this is the end, it's fine as well.
Read if you like urban fantasy, historical fantasy/fiction, found family, (sort of) slow burn romance.
This was an excellent sequel to an already amazing book — The Witch’s Lens!
Smith continues to build and detail a fantastic world where magic simultaneously co-existing within government, yet hidden from average society. This book shines with the fully thought out magic system, ties to science and lore.
Smith nicely was able to write multiple 3rd person POVs that each navigated nicely the story and internal thoughts of each POV character. Additionally, I felt the action in this book was well paced for a 3 act structure.
Additionally, I enjoyed seeing the continued building of tension in the brewing relationship of Petra and Josef without it being the center focus of the book. I truly appreciate the careful consideration Smith used in this work to build a slow burn romance that somehow only takes place within less than a month across these two books???? Also, I appreciate the attention to detail in the growing interest in each other, rather than a sudden “love at first site” romance.
I hope to see more books in this series in the future!
When I first picked up this series, I was captivated by its stunning cover and had high expectations. However, as I dived into the story, I found myself struggling to stay engaged. Despite the constant attempts to get interested, the plot failed to grip me, and I eventually decided not to finish the book. While the cover art initially drew me in, the story itself didn't manage to hold my interest, leaving me feeling somewhat disappointed
The Wolf's Eye is the second book in the Order of the Seven Stars duology by Luanne G. Smith. It picks up right where the first book ended, following Petra and her motley crew of supernatural friends back to Prague where they must find a cure for the wolf curse or else risk having one of their own killed by the nefarious war forces.
I enjoyed this story and duology for its Eastern European magic and fast paced adventure. I loved that this story took place entirely in Prague as it's such a magical city, on the threshold of magic and science. Alchemy, family secrets, and scientific explorations are the gold and silver threads woven throughout this story that added another layer of mystery to the plot. I liked learning more about Petra and the origins of her magic which was a nice conclusion to this story. The fantasy elements in this book were whimsical but still entrenched within the Eastern European folklore, culture, and mythology.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and thought the duology was entertaining and bewitching.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book wasn't what I expected, and I had trouble connecting with it. DNF for now, but may return at a later date. It might not be for me, but it will find its audience!
I loved this book a lot. The combination of historical and fantasy was very well done and I loved it so much. The writing was beautiful. I would highly recommend this book.