story craft

Genre: YA Fantasy

Format: Hardcover

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Favorite quote: “Her eyes were dry. Her voice hollow. Somewhere inside her, a howling storm of grief threatened, but she shied away from it. If she didn’t touch it, it couldn’t hurt her. If she didn’t look it in the eye, it wouldn’t rip her apart at the seams.”

Review:

Well, this is it. At least for the Ravenspire series. I was hoping to find more books in this new favorite series, but The Blood Spell was published in 2019, and so far no others have been added. After reading Book Four four years down the road, I’m still hoping for Hansel and Gretel to have their own story. Though that wasn’t Redwine’s pattern until this book.

Prince Kellan is the first hero who has a part in another book. (You’ll meet him briefly in The Traitor Prince if you haven’t already). I love that we see mention of his good friend and roommate Javan several times in The Blood Spell. It makes my heart happy when characters and stories connect so clearly.

Kellan surprised me. I didn’t know what to think about him in The Traitor Prince, though he did seem to truly love Javan. He’s kind. He dotes on his sister and respects his mother. He’s compassionate and wants what’s best for his people. And yet, he’s still the adventurous risk taker we know and love. In his own book, I fell for Kellan just as our heroine did. Or tried not to. Whatever.

Bernadina “Blue” de la Cour was just precious and feisty and incredibly intelligent. Her heart for the less fortunate and snarky comebacks, along with her willingness to speak the truth no matter who she’s speaking to quickly endeared her to me. At first, because of her father and the French sounding names, I at first thought this was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. (Maybe Redwine will grace us with one of those one day? I’d be there for it if she did.)

Again in this book, I’m struck by the way that even characters with magic in their blood try to only use it sparingly or use it only if absolutely necessary. Instead, they rely on their planning, strategy, wit, and stellar friends to get them through.

One of my favorite things about this book is Nessa, Kellan’s young sister and Blue’s alchemy protege. Redwine brings in a cute and spunky character, just as fierce as Blue in her own way, who struggles to speak but communicates effortlessly with the people who take the time to learn how to sign with her. I love the awareness this brings to the struggles and value of those who are hearing impaired. You’ll have to read to see exactly how, but Nessa is a critical player in Blue and Kellan’s story. In fact, without her, you might say they wouldn’t have one at all . . .

Anyway, Kellan and Blue are drawn together by tragedy and life experience despite the differences in their status. With a little help from Grand-mere—the delightful grandmother we all wish for (see what I did there? No? Maybe after you read . . .)—Nessa, wisdom passed through generations of women, and even the queen herself, maybe just maybe Blue and Kellan can stop arguing and work together to save Balavata from the wraith.

My take:

A thing in itself—like magic or power—isn’t good or bad. It’s what we make of it that matters. The same is true of people. What we see isn’t always what we get. Are we willing to look deeper to see the heart behind the mask?