K.A. Linde: The Wren in the Holly Library

In the first of a series, K. A. Linde, she shows what happens when the Monsters emerge:

Thirteen years ago, the monsters emerged and magic seemed to enter the world and changed everything. Kierse's world went into darkness and almost everything she had to live for was destroyed. Kierse has had to take to stealing to survive and she has become known for being able to get anything. When her latest jobs ends with her being forced into a monster's lair, she could be jeopardizing everything not just for herself but the treaty between humans and monsters. But Graves, the monster, recognizes that there is more the Kierse that even she knows and now she's locked into a dangerous bargain that there may be no escape from.

I'm a sucker for a heist book, and that was one of the main reasons that I was drawn to read this book. This book was good. I wasn't sure for probably the first third of this book. I found it slow and I wasn't sure where Linde was going to take it. I did find that the farther I got into the book it did grow on me and I think this was due to the fact that I began to get more invested into the characters. I wanted to know how far they would push not only themselves but each other for what they wanted to achieve.

I enjoyed that this book focused more on Celtic lore and folklore for the basis of the magic in this book. This is one that I have not read about before, however, after all the hints that Graves gives to Kierse I found the twist pretty predictable part of the way through the book. I also liked how this Lore played into the mafia/mob aspect that the book has.

As i write this I am trying to remember what the characters were like and all i remember is he is a moody MMC and she is a feisty FMC with a horrible past (though I wish the book was darker than it was) and while I liked her in the book and her loyalty to her friends, there was nothing really that stood out about either of the characters. 

I think one of the things i disliked about this book is that I think that Linde could have done more. More to separate herself from the other, and now oversaturated market of Romantsy. There are some typical themes that we see in these books and this one it no exception, especially the whole she has magic she doesn't know about, but he's the one to discover it for her and now she is the only one with this ability that can achieve this goal. It has been done time and time again and while I appreciate the magic that Linde gave Wren I just didn't like how it played out. 

This book was a good read that was able to keep me entertained. Is it one of my favourite fantasy reads this year, No, but I do plan on picking up the second book in the series to see where Linde takes it.

Enjoy!!!

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