Tag: magic

Book Review | The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett

Posted April 10, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett

Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle.

But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic–the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience–have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #24: Uneven number of chapters – in Book 1)

The Reason

I’d read the first couple of books a few years ago but never finished the series. I remember enjoying it though and I’m rereading all of them to refresh my memory and finally finish it!

The Quotes

“They said I was one thing. But I have changed my mind.”

“Traditional,” she echoed. “What a curious word that is. So bland, and yet often so poisonous.”

“Gregor Dandolo did his utmost to follow the laws: both the laws of the city, and his own moral laws of the universe. But more and more these days, one seemed to disagree with the other.”

“Reality doesn’t matter. If you can change something’s mind enough, it’ll believe whatever reality you choose.”

The Narrator(s)

Tara Sands. She was wonderful! I love all her voices and characterizations.

My Thoughts

Book 1 – Foundryside
I don’t usually remember very many details of books I’ve read, especially ones I read years ago, but for some reason I remembered more than usual about this book. Sancia’s abilities, Clef’s personality, the way they connected with each other, and then how they joined forces with Gregor, Orso, Berenice, and everyone else. It was all very exciting for me, and I loved how the characters’ personalities worked and clashed with each other in such organic ways. My favorite thing about this book was how everyone had their own agendas and how messy they all were in each of their own ways, and how reluctant they were to work with each other but became allies out of necessity. I got very invested in all of the characters and I wanted to know what happened next for them.

Book 2 – Shorefall
Although this is also a reread, I didn’t remember as much about it as the first book in the series. I did check my notes from my first read and apparently I was a little disappointed because it didn’t give me what I wanted out of it.

Spoiler
I wanted to see more about how the main characters build their Foundry together, worked together strengthening their relationships, using their skills and outwitting the other Foundries. I also felt like we didn’t see enough of Clef until much later.

Rereading it now, I feel the same way, but I went in trying to be more open-minded about what we actually got and I was able to get behind what actually went down. The story this time was still very exciting, and much bigger than previously. There are a lot more magical constructs and inventions that I thought was incredibly imaginative and a little complicated for me, but it works for the story.

I stopped here the first time I read this series, but at this point I’m still in it and I’m excited to finally read the last book!

Book 3 – Locklands
I just finished the book and I am very sorry to say I am very disappointed with it. In fact, I was already disappointed with the second book but trying to give the series the benefit of the doubt. I hoped this book would bring the story home but I felt like it really lost focus and meaning and I didn’t even know what we’re reading anymore. I kept hoping it would finish strong, but at about 80% of the book it got so difficult for me to get through that I seriously considered a DNF. I didn’t because it’s hard to let go of the last 20% of the last book after I’ve read everything before it so I pushed through.

I’m glad I finished so that I can know for sure that I don’t like it, but I am really disappointed it turned out this way. Also, I promise I’m not doing this out of pettiness but I’d like to talk about the editing of the book. The overuse of “rather” and the manner of speaking; “It wasn’t like this, rather, it was like that” happens A LOT. Another one was the use of “wasn’t it?”, “aren’t I?”, “can’t you?” etc., as in; “I can do this, can’t I?”, “The worst is going to happen, isn’t it?”. Obviously these are normal ways of speaking, but it happened a lot and at weird places in the conversation/narration, and with different characters.

It’s possible that these happened in the first two books as well but I didn’t notice as much because it’s a gradual buildup and I only noticed after being exposed for three books and/or I was more immersed in the stories in the first two books and bored with the third so I notice its flaws more. Either way, it’s still a disappointment. I loved the concept, the world-building, and the magical system in this series, but the story now seems so trivial and meaningless to me.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. An overall rating for the series.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

Tags: , , , ,

Book Review | Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

Posted September 5, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.

An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.

Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?

A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
N/A

The Reason

I’d been curious about the author because of another one of their books, and one of my friends convinced me to read this one as a buddy read.

The Quotes

“It’s much easier to tell yourself you’re a good person than it is to actually be one.”

“The question isn’t: How do I stop feeling this way? That’s stupid. I can’t. The question is: What can I do with this feeling?”

“So many parents will try to kill everything brilliant about a girl in the name of giving her a good life, a safe life, a chance at happiness.”

“Because good people can turn desperate when the horrors are upon them—especially people whose culture of plenty has left them with no systems to cope with scarcity or cataclysm. Good people will turn monstrous when it’s down to their survival or someone else’s.”

My Thoughts

This story was so brutal and hard hitting. It’s not what I expected because I thought there would be more magic study, more learning, advancements of the craft, more feminism and women breaking into the Magistry as Highmage, but instead, it’s a whole riot and revolution that happens so quickly, and with so much destruction! I’m not sure yet what I think about the direction the story went with all this destruction, but the storytelling itself is great. All that teaching through dialogue is not an easy thing to do without boring the reader, but I found it interesting and now I’m a little sad that this is a standalone and there’s not more to the story.

The thing that stands out most to me is definitely the denial of truth when it interferes with your comfort and way of life. We all do that to an extent, I think, but when it goes so deep and is rooted so deeply in evil, it’s just easier to not think about it and justify all the evil doing. Most evil doers don’t see themselves as evil, so it’s also interesting to see that characterized with some of the characters and how they see themselves. There is so much to think about with this story, honestly. I think I’ll be thinking about this book for a while.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

Tags: , , ,

Top Ten Tuesday | Books that Feature… Divination

Posted March 10, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 12 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books that Include/Feature…

Not exactly a plot device but definitely a sort of theme; I decided to go with books that feature divination. It made me realize that for someone who loves learning about divination tools, I don’t read a lot of fiction that features divination. Maybe some minor mention here and there, but not many that have divination as a main plot point.

I’m not sure that all the ones listed below do either because I haven’t read many of them, but searching for books that fit the theme certainly made me interested in reading them!

Top Ten Books that Feature… Divination

  1. The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick – One of my favorite series, it features a form of card divination, but the beauty of the books are the characters and the relationships between them.
  2. The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware – This one features tarot cards. I remember not really liking the story very much but being impressed with the accurate portrayal of tarot cards.
  3. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick – Featuring the I Ching. I haven’t read the book but I watched the tv series and loved it. I don’t remember the I Ching in the show though.
  4. The Darksword Trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – I have these books on my physical bookshelf but haven’t read them. They feature a form of tarot cards, but not exactly the same as real tarot I think. I love the Dragonlance series by these same authors!
  5. All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue – The main character is a tarot reader who goes to a Catholic school in a conservative Irish town. I am hooked! It’s YA and looks like it’d be an easy read so maybe I’ll get to it soon.
  6. Fated by Benedict Jacka – I haven’t read this one but I’ve heard some good things about it and I’m intrigued. The main character is Alex Verus who is a mage diviner and uses many different forms of divination. This is the first book of twelve.
  7. One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig – I’m not sure if I’d consider this one a form of card divination, but it does have cards with magical powers.
  8. The Lost Tarot by Sarah Henstra – I borrowed this from the library because of the title and the gorgeous cover. I don’t know what this is about except that it features tarot.
  9. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater – I have been wanting to read this series forever but never got around to it. I also love that there’s an actual tarot deck you can buy, my only issue with it is that I didn’t like the orange color, but I’m starting to change my mind about the color so we’ll see.
  10. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman – The alethiometer is the divination tool here, which is great because it’s different. I’d love to get my hands on one and figure out how it works if it was real. It sounds so fascinating when you read about it in the book and watch the film adaptations.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

Tags: , , , ,

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi | Book Review

Posted December 16, 2023 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

The Reason

I’ve seen this book pop up a couple of times on Bookstagram, and then it was available on Libby while I browsed, so I thought why not? I was also looking for new series to try and this one sounded really good.

The Quotes

“As it fades, I see the truth – in plain sight, yet hidden all along. We are all children of blood and bone. All instruments of vengeance and virtue. This truth holds me close, rocking me like a child in a mother’s arms. It binds me in its love as death swallows me in its grasp.”

“When your opponent has no honor, you must fight in different ways, smarter ways.”

“You crushed us to build your monarchy on the backs of our blood and bone. Your mistake wasn’t keeping us alive. it was thinking we’d never fight back”

The Characters

I listened to this on audiobook, so if I misspell the names, I apologize!

The four main protagonists are Zelie, Tsain, Amari, and Inan. I find their characters all very interesting in how dynamic they are. They aren’t the same people from beginning to end, they are changeable, flexible, they have good and bad days, times when they are strong and fierce, and other times when they are weak and defeated.

For most of the book, it’s Zelie, Tsain, and Amari on the same side, and Inan who is the villain pursuing them. I loved the way that the individual relationships between Zelie, Tsain, and Amari evolved through the book. Love, hate, anger, support, etc.

Inan, however, is the most complex character. I heavily dislike him as a person, but I absolutely love him as a character. One that moves the story along and makes you really think about people and what makes them tick.

My Thoughts

I loved the story! I love the world-building, the lore, the history, the people. It feels big and vast, and I love how it completely transports me into that world. The people and relationships in the story are by far the most interesting thing though. There’s so much push/pull, ups and downs, rational thinking vs. emotional feeling. This book manages to evoke so much of that with the characters, and it extends to the reader.

My Feels

So many different feelings evoked. Anger and frustration, distrust and caution, hope, heartbreak, warmheartedness, fear, triumph, satisfaction. I felt it all. I must say that Inan evoked the most feelings in me. Again, I don’t like him, but I am in awe of Tomi Adeyemi’s understanding of people in order to be able to write a character like him.

There’s also a lot of prejudice and senseless violence in the book that angered and horrified me. And there are scenes in the book when you can feel the hopelessness, the helplessness, the feeling of not being able to do a single thing to change anything or make things better.

At the end of the book, Tomi says in her Author’s Note:

“Children of Blood and Bone was written during a time where I kept turning on the news and seeing stories of unarmed black men, women, and children being shot by the police. I felt afraid and angry and helpless, but this book was the one thing that made me feel like I could do something about it. I told myself that if just one person could read it and have their hearts or minds changed, then I would’ve done something meaningful against a problem that often feels so much bigger than myself.”

I feel like she achieved what she set out to do. She captures the human condition so well in this book, and all the complicated and irrational thoughts and feelings that come with prejudice and indoctrination of prejudice. Maybe that’s why I am so fascinated by Inan’s character. He encapsulates a lot of people we maybe know in real life, maybe even some of his flaws being things that we see in ourselves.

My Rating

5/5 stars. I loved it, and honestly, I think this is one I will come back to again and again. I cannot wait to read the next books, and apparently there’s a movie in the works too. I’d be all over that!

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

Tags: , , , , ,