My Rating ~ Four & a half Stars

RELEASE DATE: 9 March 2021

Format: Paperback

Pages: 431

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Please note this is book 2 in the series, so the blurb and my review will contain spoilers for book 1, Into the Crooked Place.

Blurb

After the loss of Wesley and the horrifying reveal that Zekia is helping the Kingpin of her own free will, Tavia, Saxony, and Karam flee to Saxony’s home to rebuild their rebellion. Meanwhile, trapped in the Kingpin’s darkness, Wesley must fight against the deadly magic that invades his mind and find a way back to his friends before it’s too late.

As the Kingpin’s dark magic spreads and his army conquers Creije, these four unlikely friends have to decide just how far they’ll go―and how much they are willing to sacrifice―to win

Review

Thank you so much to Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of City of Spells, in exchange for an honest review!

Ahhh it was so good to be back in this world. After the cliffhanger ending of Into the Crooked Place, I desperately needed to know what happened to Wesley! Separated from the rest of the crew and held against his will by the Kingpin, Wesley is enduring torture of different kinds. The torture to his body he can endure, but knowing he can’t convince his child captor, Zekia, to leave the Kingpin and escape with him is torture in itself.

Meanwhile, Tavia has had to step into Wesley’s shoes, not knowing where he is and when she’ll see him again. It’s not an easy task though – Tavia isn’t a killer and doesn’t want to have to do the things Wesley did. But the Kingpin’s dark magic is spreading fast and there are reports of him taking over entire cities. They’re going to need Wesley back.

There were some characters introduced in Into the Crooked Place that I wished had more airtime and City of Spells provided! Once again, the story was told from multiple points of view and I actually loved the way each person’s point of view would often finish on a reveal or mini cliffhanger. It meant you had to read another character’s chapter before finding out what was going on, but it made it so tense and exciting! The whole book was action packed and, although we didn’t need as much world building this time, being the a second book, the descriptions of the places we hadn’t explored much in book one were rich and detailed. The brilliant banter from book one was still evident in this book too (I was a little worried we’d miss out on that due to Wesley and Tavia being apart, but the other character’s stepped up to the plate).

If you enjoyed Into the Crooked Place, make sure you pick this one up ASAP and if you haven’t started the series yet and love dark, gritty stories, full of magic and underworld bosses, make sure you check this series out!