By: Stephanie Wyatt
*I was given an ARC for my honest review.*
This book is the sequel to Moon & Shadow, and it’s the second book in The Channeler Trilogy. This book follows Anise on her journey at the Academy, a school for the magically gifted.
I love magical schools. Each one has a different style and concept. This school is no exception. Anise is what the author calls a Channeler, which means she can speak with spirits and manifest objects into reality when she dreams. She goes to the Academy to learn to control her powers.
The book takes you through her whole journey to the school, as well as her time there.
I liked seeing her relationships with the other characters, but most of them seemed to be glossed over. I also felt like going through three years of schooling in about 300 pages was a bit rushed.
I would have loved to have more fleshed out scenes of Anise and the other students learning and struggling with magic. It seemed like whenever there was a problem, it was resolved rather quickly.
I do like that this series has spirits and gods that choose to help the main character. I always love when supernatural beings use people to achieve their own ends or choose to guide someone. It’s one of my favorite fantasy tropes.
Another aspect I enjoyed was that you still had glimpses of the people from the town of Hero. Callbacks to the last book are always a win for me because I hate to abandon characters. Once I go on a journey with you, I am invested in your life, so it was good to see how the townsfolk were faring.
Overall, I think this book is a good beginner book for a young person who wants to read fantasy. The world is interesting, and the books have a small-town feel about them.
The Channeler Trilogy is available to read on Kindle Unlimited. You can buy the books here.
Functionally Fictional 