In the first book in a new series Elise Kova a convicted
illegal magic user and a prince are going to try to do the impossible, remake
the world that they know:
Clara has been part of the underworld ever since the death of her mother, until one day she is betrayed and sentenced to the worst prison imaginable. Clara doesn’t know how long her sanity will last and just when she thinks all is lost, a Prince comes to visit her and he needs her particular set of skills to steal Tarot cards from the King. To conceal her identity, Clara now becomes the betrothed to the Prince and a First year at the Arcana Academy, but she must survive the academy in order keep pretenses up. While Clara may be working with the Prince but Clara cannot forget where she comes from and the resistance that she was part of.
This had me hooked from the beginning and I did not want to put this book down. Anytime, I could pick this book up I could (Why does one have to work?). My favourite aspect of this book (by far) is the use of tarot card magic. Not only does each card have different element that can comes forth, what that element will do but the swords create swords and the face cards are master cards that have immense power. I also appreciate that one has to ink card in order for them to use them, this means that not only are there different levels of magic but also the abilities that one can possess.
This book is set in an Academy that is more deadly than some
of the books that I have read and if one does not measure up, they are branded
and sentenced to servitude till death. This adds even more competition between
the first years, and you need to have allies in order to survive there.
For lack of better words, this does follow a similar format
to other fantasy books that there is something special about Clara, something
that only she can do, with her inking powers. She also is a powerful wielder of
the cards. I did enjoyed Clara as a character, but she seems to be typical for
this genre.
I wish that Kova took the time to develop more of the side
characters, not just the Prince but also the friends that Clara makes. I feel
like all of the side characters lack any depth to them and there are some
interesting ones in there that I want more from.
Not enemies to lovers, they come around pretty quickly, and
really go from mistrust to lovers but they never really trust each other in the
book. Overall, I did not mind the romance but the tension felt a little forced
in the book.
I'm not 100% familiar with what each card in the tarot means
so i would have appreciated a little more definition of each card, even just in
general as i understand they can mean different things at different times.
There are times we get a little information about what the card represents but
not a lot.
The cliffhanger in this one is pretty awesome but at the
same time I saw part of it coming and I cannot wait to read the second book in
this series to see where Cova takes it. And I hope to learn more about Tarot
Card Magic.
Enjoy!!!!
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