On the land of Terath, a strange problem has occurred.  A whole town, called Sorrow, has gone missing-reduced to a pile of ash, with no clues as to what happened there or who was responsible.  This is the second time such an event has occurred on Terath and Magistrate Trewe has assembled a team of five experts to investigate the situation.  Among the experts are Magistrate Trewe’s favorite nephew, Arc Wilding, a survival and wilderness expert as well as an archer; Will Azrith, a Blade and warrior; Luc Petrush, a manahi, one who can harness and control Terath natural energy source, mana; Izzy Gin, a reader and empathy; and a mysterious Shiv, called Justice trained in law, adjudication, weapons and combat.  As the team searches for the force that destroyed Sorrow, they will come across strange beings in the far reaches of Apex, discover a mana holder who is dangerously powerful as well as working together to unravel more about each other and themselves.

Imaginative and exciting Seeking Sorrow was an awesome adventure with great characters.  I enjoyed watching the characters grow and develop relationships.  Each character was well developed and brought something different to the group; they also all seemed liked real people, even though some had extreme abilities.  I especially liked Arc and the Justice and the relationship that they formed.  Arc was very genuine and down to earth as well as talented and courageous.  Justice was trained to be the middle ground, a fighter and emotionless, it was nice to see the Justice transform without losing identity as the search took place.  The world of Terath and the mystery of Sorrow were very intriguing.  The writing brought together, action, emotion, curiosity and a little bit of magic for a very exciting and fast-paced ending that I didn’t see coming.

This book was provided for free in return for an honest review. 

Skye is witch with the charm of True Sight, among other, which makes it easier for her to sense the presence of another witch.   Skye is called by the Sisterhood to use her gift in Seattle.  This means moving away from her home in London and her movie-star mother.  The Sisterhood needs Skye and her charms to track down the ‘Singularity’ a very powerful witch who may not know the extent of her charms and has the ability to mask her signature.  Skye is planted in Greenwood High to be on the lookout for the Singularity, since witches come into their power at fifteen and the sisterhood has been searching for her for two years.  As soon as Skye arrives on campus, she meets Drake.  Drake is a little shy, but charming and a perfect gentleman.  Skye shouldn’t be getting involved with boys while she is on a mission, but Drake might be the key to finding the Singularity.

I found myself liking this book more than I thought I would.  The Skye and Drake felt very real and acted like normal high school kids that I would have been friends with, even though Skye is a witch.  Neither of them are perfect and they both have insecurities.  Though, there were some typical Young Adult trends, such as no parents present and never actually seeming to be in school, at least there were reasons for each.  I liked that the story was told from the changing points of view of Skye and Drake; it made for a fast-paced read and gave me insight from each character about the other.  I also thought that the explanation of witchcraft was pretty unique, not just magic, but more like a part of science that has not been fully understood by everyone yet.    I was fully intrigued by the mystery of the Singularity as Skye and Drake try to track her down.  I really did not have a clue of who it might be until near the end.  I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series.

 

Monstrous lords rule over slaves.  Without names to even differentiate themselves, the slaves live only to serve the lords. The lords are able to take control of the slaves bodies or 'puppet' them, read minds and breathe fire or shoot sparks.  Any rebellion by the slaves would be quickly squashed. One slave, the son of the Queens 'pet' has developed the gift of mind reading, just like the lords.  When his love is imprisoned by a lord, he will do anything it takes to free her and establish a life of their own.  

This fantasy was very intriguing to me.  The lords were a bit of a mystery at first, it was unknown what creatures they truly are since they are able to take different forms.  Also unknown is the full extent of their powers and if they just had special abilities or if they were truly evil.   Through the eyes of one slave, the lords true nature is discovered.  Since none of the characters had names throughout most of the story, I did have a little bit of a hard time keeping track of everyone.  I was very grateful when the slaves began to name themselves as well as find a different title for themselves.  This was one of my favorite parts of the story; after many of the slaves escape they have to figure out how to live on their own, figure out leadership and community without the rule of the lords.  However, when the groups were on the run from the lords, the story did move a little slowly.  Things picked back up again near the end and the true form of the lords are revealed.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.