[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and 47 North in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
In Elsie’s world, she was rare – a spellbreaker. In her mind, spells were like complicated knots she was able to untangle. She could also sense magic – visual signs for physical spells, sounds for spiritual spells, smells for temporal ones, and a certain sense in her mind for rational spells. But Elsie is self-taught and unregistered. Elsie’s secret caused a lot of trouble for her recently. And in the end, she discovered a killer. {Spellbreaker – ♥♥♥♥}
Now, she’s trying to figure out what to do with her discoveries. No one will believe her accusations. And despite the ways she was manipulated, Elsie bears some guilt for all that happened.
Then, someone reveals Elsie’s secret. And she is arrested for unregistered spellbreaking. Bacchus has a plan to get her released, though. Elsie will have to pretend that she just discovered her abilities. And they have to get married to keep with his story.
But a quick wedding and life with a man she’s sure will abandon her like everyone else in her life is only one of Elsie’s many problems. There’s still a killer on the loose who knows all too well what Elsie is capable of – and whose full plans have not yet come to fruition.
Review
This is a satisfying wrap up to the story begun in Spellbreaker. These books absolutely should be read in order. In fact, I read them back to back which helped a lot because there isn’t a lot of recap in Spellmaker for those who may have forgotten all that happened in the first book. The world building, while present and explained to a degree, relies on the reader already having a grasp of what has come before. For me, these books have a bit of the feel of the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger, but without the steampunk elements.
I liked the first book a bit more than I enjoyed this one. This adds the romantic pieces that for me became a distraction at times from the magic and action of the larger story. Those were the things loved in the first book. I appreciated the deeper look into Elsie’s psyche as she struggles with doubts about Bacchus and fears that she will be abandoned again. But the larger mystery/suspense pieces were more of a draw for me.
While I liked Elsie and Bacchus together, they didn’t stir up much for me feeling-wise. They were a logical match. And I appreciated how he saw and responded to Elsie’s insecurities. But I didn’t feel there was any “chemistry” there.
The fantasy/magical crimes story was really well done across the duology. I am eager to check out the author’s other work because I really enjoyed the fantasy elements here! And if she chooses to return to this world again, I will happily dive back into any books set in this universe.
Rating: ♥♥♥½*
*♥♥♥½ = Good+