BOOKS | Review: Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson

Name: Mysteries of Thorn Manor (Sorcery of Thorns series #1.5)

Author: Margaret Rogerson

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Date published: January 2023

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 186

Rating: 5/5

Elisabeth Scrivener is finally settling into her new life with sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn. Now that their demon companion Silas has returned, so has scrutiny from nosy reporters hungry for gossip about the city’s most powerful sorcerer and the librarian who stole his heart. But something strange is afoot at Thorn Manor: the estate’s wards, which are meant to keep their home safe, are acting up and forcibly trapping the Manor’s occupants inside. Surely it must be a coincidence that this happened just as Nathaniel and Elisabeth started getting closer to one another...?

With no access to the outside world, Elisabeth and Nathaniel have to work together to discover the source of the magic before they’re due to host the city’s Midwinter Ball. Faced with a house filled with unexpected secrets, the couple will have to lean on their connection like never before to set things right before it’s too late...

- From Goodreads.

The characters were still as delightful as ever in this and I loved them just as much as I did when I read Sorcery of Thorns. I really adore Nathaniel and Elisabeth's relationship and how good they are for each other, and I love how unique a character Silas is but how well he fits in with them, like a strange family. It was also wonderful to see Mercy again and to get to see more of her.

I loved that we got to see more of the house and how it came alive with magic. It was so inventive and had such a lot of personality and was a great way for the author to show off her skills with description. It really made the plot a lot of fun.

It was so sweet how part of the plot was so fairy tale influenced, it was perfect for the enchanting atmosphere of the story and was a lovely way to continue Elisabeth and Nathaniel's story and see how their relationship had progressed. They have such a wonderful dynamic together and I could read endless stories about them.

I also loved that the story made time for less light-hearted things, like their complicated but strangely endearing relationship with Silas and how they were all still recovering from what had happened to them in the first book. It was such a short story with a simple plot, but it still had a lot of depth to it.

I would definitely recommend reading this if you enjoyed Sorcery of Thorns, it is a perfect follow up and is such a quick, fun read.

BOOKS | Review: Longshadow by Olivia Atwater

Name: Longshadow (Regency Faerie Tales series #3)

Author: Olivia Atwater

Publisher: Orbit

Date published: August 2022

Genre: Fiction, adult, romance, fantasy, historical

Pages: 288

Rating: 4/5

Proper Regency ladies are not supposed to become magicians - but Miss Abigail Wilder is far from proper. The marriageable young ladies of London are dying mysteriously, and Abigail Wilder intends to discover why. Abigail's father, the Lord Sorcier of England, believes that a dark lord of faerie is involved - but while Abigail is willing to match her magic against Lord Longshadow, neither her father nor high society believe that she is capable of doing so. Thankfully, Abigail is not the only one investigating the terrible events in London. Mercy, a street rat and self-taught magician, insists on joining Abigail to unravel the mystery. But while Mercy's own magic is strange and foreboding, she may well post an even greater danger to Abigail's heart.

- From Goodreads.

Although I still really loved this book, I think I did struggle with it a little more than I did the other two books in this series. It was a little frustrating at the start that Abigail could not understand that Elias wanted to protect her. Of course her desire to help and take part in the investigation was understandable, it just might have been better it she had still been able to see that her father just did not want her involved because he did not want her harmed. Even if she still went against his wishes it would be better than her not being able to understand his feelings at all, which did not really make sense to me, even if it was somewhat resolved later, it did not really seem like a necessary conflict to include and just made the beginning of the book a little more difficult to get through, when for the previous two books I have not had any issue finding them enjoyable and easy to read right from the beginning.

It still had a really great sense of humour and some really funny moments, like with Mr Hayes the little scarecrow, that I really enjoyed. I also thought the plot was really clever and exciting to read, the mystery was well done and had a few surprises I was not expecting.

It was really nice to see characters from the previous books again and to catch up with them, I still just absolutely love the romantic couples from the first two stories so much, Elias and Dora and Euphemia and Juniper just have the perfect affection for each other and it makes me so happy.

Abigail and Hugh's bond was really sweet and they had some really heartfelt and emotional scenes together. It was nice to see Elias, Dora, Abigail and Hugh all as a family, they had some lovely moments together and you could tell how much they loved and cared for each other.

I do not think I fell in love with Abigail as a main character and her romance with Mercy as much as I fell in love with the characters and romances from the previous books, but I did still really like Abigail, she was a good character to follow and I did like that the romance was something a little different in this book, each one in this series certainly stands on its own and does not feel at all repetitive.

Overall this was a lovely book to read and I still really adore the way Olivia Atwater writes so I will definitely be picking up her next book.

BOOKS | Review: The True Queen by Zen Cho

Name: The True Queen (Sorcerer Royal series #2)

Author: Zen Cho

Publisher: Pan Books

Date published: November 2019

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance, historical

Pages: 367

Rating: 4/5

When sisters Muna and Sakti wake up on the peaceful beach of the island of Janda Baik, they can't remember anything, except that they are bound as only sisters can be. They have been cursed by an unknown enchanter, and slowly Sakti starts to fade away. The only hope of saving her is to go to distant Britain, where the Sorceress Royal has established an academy to train women in magic.

If Muna is to save her sister, she must learn to navigate high society, and trick the English magicians into believing she is a magical prodigy. As she's drawn into their intrigues, she must uncover the secrets of her past, and journey into a world with more magic than she had ever dreamed.

- From Goodreads.

I liked that in this sequel we got to see old characters as well as new ones and that the story was told from more perspectives because of that. We got to see the characters we already knew in a new light and learnt to love them even more at the same time we were getting to know the new characters, and growing to love them too.

I think it did a good job of building upon the world we already knew, adding details to characters and places we were already familiar with and filling in the gaps in our knowledge. It was especially nice to see more of Henrietta, to learn more about her and see more depth to her character, I thought she was really sweet and lovely. I am glad we got to see quite a bit of Prunell, but it would have been nice to see a little more of Zacharias as he was such an important part of the first book, although we did get a couple of scenes with him, I did still miss his presence in this one.

The romance in this book could have been built up more in the beginning, with a few more little hints at what might happen between the two characters and more moments between them as they only really had time for the romance to grow in the third part of the book, and I think the romance in the first book was developed slightly better, although this one was still very sweet and I did really like how it ended, it was very heart-warming.

There could have been a bit more at the end to wrap up the story more thoroughly and see a little more from each character, but overall I did enjoy the ending. Generally I really liked this duology and how creative and unique and heartfelt it was, and I would definitely like to read more from this author.

BOOKS | Review: Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Name: Sorcerer to the Crown (Sorcerer Royal series #1)

Author: Zen Cho

Publisher: Pan Books

Date published: January 2016

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance, historical

Pages: 371

Rating: 5/5

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers - one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain - ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up. But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain - and the world at large…

- From Goodreads.

I thought it was clever how the story had the history of our world but took it and added magical elements, it was very creative and made for a very fascinating world with interesting politics that added to the twists and turns of the plot. The plot was very exciting as the different mysteries unravelled and I thought the climactic scene that everything culminated to was very well done and fun to read.

I really loved the two main characters, Zacharias and Prunella, they both had such intriguing stories to follow and and really great personalities and their romance was definitely my favourite thing about the book. Every moment they had together was delightful to read and I loved how they became protective and supportive of each other. The final scene of the book with them brought me so much joy.

The writing style was perfect for the book and very well done, it really helped me feel immersed in the setting of the book.

I would recommend this if you also enjoyed books like Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater and Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson.