Bright Blaze of Magic (Black Blade, #3)

by Jennifer Estep

"The characters are as fantastic as Estep fans have come to expect." – RT Book Reviews

Bad Things Always Come In Threes…

As a thief, I'm good at three things: hiding in the shadows, getting in and out unseen, and uncovering secrets. I put these skills to work for the Sinclair Family, one of the magical mobs that run the tourist town of Cloudburst Falls.

Everyone knows Victor Draconi wants to take over all the other Families--and kill every last Sinclair. What they don't know is that I'm on to him, and no way will I let the man who murdered my mom get away with hurting all the other people I care about. Especially when I've got places to break into, stuff to steal, and Devon Sinclair fighting right by my side…

"An adventurous ride you will never want to get off." --#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout on Cold Burn of Magic

• ISBN10: 161773828X
• ISBN13: 9781617738289
• Publish Date: 26 April 2016
• Publish Status: Inactive
• Out of Print: 25 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9781617738289

Reviews

[Berls]

This was such a great read! I don't know why it took me so long to commit to reading - maybe because it was the last book in the series? I'm giving it 4 stars

Loved - characters, action, suspense. The monsters - especially the lochness monster. Some really heart wrenching moments.

Could have been better - I feel like there were a few points that happened too easily. And I struggle with Mo as a family leader - he just seems to fun and not serious enough with his Hawaiian shirts lol

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a ChapterI received this book for free from Kensington in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.





I had to start Bright Blaze of Magic by Jennifer Estep a second time. When I tried to listen to it the first time I couldn't get passed the handfuls of "I/he/she sniped". In the Midwest I have never heard that phrase. It was jarring each and every time and it seemed to be a lot.

Bright Blaze of Magic was a satisfactory wrap up to the Black Blade trilogy. I hate to say it but there wasn't a ton of surprises for motives and such. Lila Merriweather remained the girl her mother raised her to be.

I enjoyed the characters and the storyline but it didn't blow my mind. I thought the world building was done well. The pacing never seemed to work for me. There seemed to be a lot of frenzied action and then an abrupt stop or no pause whatsoever.

I'm sure I'm one of the few who found Bright Blaze of Magic by Jennifer Estep a middle of the road story. I still want to give Estep's adult series a try!

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

It is very rare that I think that the last book in a series/trilogy is the best book in the series. I think that the last books must be the hardest for authors to write (or at least that is how it seems to me). I’ve read so many great series that I love only to be disappointed by the last book in the series. It is hard to go out on a high note. That is something that Jennifer Estep pulled off with the Black Blade Trilogy. I thought this was a great ending to Layla’s story.

We’ve known since book one that Victor Draconi has had aspirations to rule all of Cloudburst Falls with all the families swear allegiance to him alone. Well, with only one story left, we also knew he was finally going to make his move in this book. Well, Victor didn’t disappoint. I will admit that this was a far more deadly (but not that gory) of a takeover that I would’ve expected for a YA series (but hey, I was reading Stephen King at twelve, so what am I to say about what should go in a YA novel. I also don’t read a large number of YA, so I’m really not a good judge).

As we’ve watched Layla grow from the independent thief to the leader of the group to help come up with the plan that involves many people to win the day, though she takes most of the danger and responsibility onto her own shoulders. I also love that she spent plenty of time learning more about her mother from Seleste and Claudia. She also learned more about her mother’s relationship with the monsters of Cloudburst Falls.

There is a ton of action in this book as Layla and the gang go from one thing to another to try to save their friends, family and everyone in Cloudburst Falls. I think Layla deserves quite a vacation after this all over. One of my favorite parts is we got a lot of time with Oscar, Layla’s pixie, who has been a favorite character of mine since book one. He reminds me of a redneck version of Jenks from The Hollows series. Oscar’s pet tortoise, Tiny, is adorable, too. I was glad that he had a larger part in this book, since he didn’t have a large roll in book two.

I was very happy with how this all wrapped up. We got time with all the major and even some time with some of the minor players in this series. I think it wrapped up well. If you read other series by Jennifer Estep, you will see some Easter eggs for Karma Girl and Elemental Assassin series. I also can’t talk about an Estep book without mentioning food. She does several great callouts to bacon in this book. Mmmm… Bacon. Never listen to an Estep book if you’re hungry, it will only make it worse. LOL Great series, I recommend you try it, after you’ve eaten something.

Narration
Brittany Pressley has narrated this entire trilogy and has done a wonderful job. She nails all the different voices of all the characters very well. She has to handle both male and female of adults and teenagers and she does it with ease. She does a great job with Oscar and his redneck pixie voice. I know that me and several of my friends prefered to get the audios over the ebooks because of the great narration.

[Leigha]

Please note: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

In the conclusion to the Black Blade trilogy, Victor Draconi finally sets into motion his plans to take down the Sinclairs and the rest of the mob families. Will Lila live to see a new day?

Based off the two past books in the series, I was guaranteed to enjoy this last installment. There was plenty of action, a dash of romance, and an epic showdown between the families. And yet I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I had hoped. I think the issue lies with the secondary characters. While I truly fell in love with Lila, I never really connected emotionally with any of the Sinclairs or other mob families. It’s a problem when major characters to the novel are in peril and you are pretty “meh” about it. I did enjoy Devon a bit more this time around, but I should have been connected to him since the beginning of the series considering his connection to Lila. Overall, this isn’t a bad book or ending to the series – it’s just not as engaging due to underwhelming characters.

tl;dr Stay for the great action, interesting plot, and Lila being amazing. Skip it if you are not invested in the secondary characters.

[kimbacaffeinate]

I was a tad nervous beginning Bright Blaze of Magic as last books tend to disappoint me but Estep delivered capturing my attention from the onset. Lila along with Devon, Felix and Deah work together to foil Victor Draconi plans to rule Cloudburst Falls. Revenge, love, magic, and promises of a final battle has me slipping into this world once again.

Bright Blaze of Magic was a well-developed conclusion to the overall trilogy. Readers are rewarded with answers regarding Lila’s mother and Victor’s obsession. I had fun seeing the personal development of Lila as we learned more about her and her abilities. Interactions with monsters, supernatural creatures and time spent within the Sinclair castle made Cloudburst Falls a magical place.

One of my favorite aspects of the trilogy has been time spent getting to know Lila and witnessing her growth. The stories told from her POV giving us insight into this humorous, resilient young woman. When the Bright Blade trilogy began, Lila was very much a loner. She was a brilliant thief, fearless and wise beyond her years but there was sadness to her. As her story progressed, we witnessed her opening up, trust in others, and assume a role of leadership. Above all we witness her taking a leap of faith.

The romance throughout the series has been delightfully free of young adult pitfalls such as drama and triangles. The romance strengthened and remained sweet. Devon is a valiant hero but I loved that Lila was the stronger character. While it stayed firmly in the background, fans of the series and couple still get a few swoon-worthy scenes to curl their toes.

What truly made this story aside from the cool, freakin’ magical world that is Cloudburst Falls was the plot of good vs. evil. Estep executed intense action scenes and had me holding my breath as our motley crew of heroes faced their opponents. Our villain is ruthless and Estep does not spare us from loss, pain and anger. She perfectly balanced the dark and light creating an ebb and flow that had me devouring this tale in a single afternoon.

Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Bright Blaze of Magic was a pretty good ending to this trilogy. It doesn't have that same something that the first book had, but it kept me quickly flipping pages to see how it would all turn out. It picks up right where the last book left off. Lila and Company are moving forward with their plan to stop Victor Draconi and it's going well. At least until they get caught. Victor is no idiot and he will not let some teenagers stop him from taking control of all of the magical families.

While I did enjoy Bright Blaze of Magic overall, it did feel overly simple and almost dumbed down. Lila overexplains everything that's happening, and often repeats herself to us, which I have noticed is a problem with all of the author's books. Whenever there's a surprise, or she learns something new, Lila has to recap everything that led to that point and explain how it's possible, even though I'm sure we can figure it out ourselves. This made the twists not very interesting, because we're essentially told step by step how the characters got to that point and what it means instead of just letting the twist happen and moving on.

Bright Blaze of Magic does move swiftly though, so I never got a chance to get bored with it. Lila and her friends move from one situation to another as they try to save the families. There's also plenty of appearances from the adorable monsters who live in this world! I do love these monsters, but their help was way too convenient which took away some of the excitement. Like I said, it was all too easy.

I really don't know what else to say. Bright Blaze of Magic was a good series ending. Everything worked out. Good trumped evil. Monsters weren't monstrous. There was kissing.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.