Dark Heart Of Magic

by Jennifer Estep

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Dark Heart of Magic is a fun sequel, although not nearly as great as the first book. It's a few weeks later, and the Families are gearing up for the Tournament of Blades. Of course, Lila is surprised when she's put up as one of the contestants, but she's determined to win. Meanwhile, a bunch of magical creatures keep turning up dead, and someone seems to be sabotaging the competition. Are the two things related? Either way, Lila has to figure out what's going on before things go too far.

I'll start with why I didn't like Dark Heart of Magic as much. As soon as the first body appeared, I guessed at what was going on. It's that obvious. When there's a corpse with wounds that should be gushing blood, but there is no blood around, where did the blood go? It's like not like it evaporated into thin air, or just got up and walked away (or did it?). For every body that Lila stumbles upon she notes the lack of blood along with the excessive wounds. I mean, duh! I felt like I was watching Blue Clues and yelling "There's a clue behind you! Turn around, idiot!" Come on! How did she not even consider what was happening with the blood until the very end? Not even an inkling?

Dark Heart of Magic was still a lot of fun though. I really enjoyed watching the tournament, and the whole story takes place over just three days. I'm quite the fan of short timelines. There was also a bit more romance this time around as Lila fights her feelings for Devon. Devon, on the other hand, is making his feelings known and everyone around them is basically like "Get to kissing already!" I was definitely one of them.

In the end, Dark of Heart of Magic is a good sequel, if a predictable one. The blood thing just nagged at me until Lila finally figured it out. Then the culprit had to give their monologue about why they're doing this, and it was just kind of silly. It did lead to some interesting findings toward Lila's revenge though, so I definitely can't wait for the final book!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.