The plot contains welcome surprises, and the large cast piques curiosity readers will wish more time was spent getting to know them. However, the themes of love, the power of story, family influence, and holding onto belief are well rounded and add depth. While the pervasive magic and concept of the Fates as a religious system add interest, other fantasy elements are haphazardly incorporated without enough time devoted to building a cohesive world. The writing style fluctuates from clever and original to overly verbose and often confusing in its jumble of senses. The bargain they strike sends her on a dark and magical journey throughout the land. Evangeline desperately prays to the Prince of Hearts, a dangerous and fickle Fate famed for his heart that is waiting to be revived by his one true love-and his potentially lethal kisses. Despite inheriting a steady trust in magic, belief in her late mother’s homeland of the mystical North (where fantastical creatures live), and philosophy of hope for the future, her dreams are dashed when Luc, her love, pledges to marry Marisol instead. When her father passes away, Evangeline is left with her cold stepmother and kind but distant stepsister, Marisol. Witty, romantic and filled with personality-after the slow start.Īfter praying to a Fate for help, Evangeline discovers the dangerous world of magic. Once characters deal with the ends-justify-the-means idea of sinking to Raiden’s level to fight him and reach the fight scenes, the story becomes a page-turner right to a cliffhanger. Vane is a bundle of charming contradictions-protective yet pacifistic, nobly loyal yet unable to hear “haboob” (a type of dust storm) without boob jokes. Tasked with many expository reveals, Audra’s narration doesn’t shine as brightly as Vane’s chapters. Conveying so much information causes the first act to progress slowly, resulting in weak tension until the vague stakes become specific and immediate. Meanwhile, Audra learns the dark secret to Raiden’s strength. They still hope Vane will fall for the last of the previous royal family and would be furious to know that the reason Vane broke off that arranged engagement was Audra. Luckily, the Gales don’t know that Audra also speaks Westerly, a result of the forbidden romance and magical bond between the two-another secret. The sylph army known as the Gales desperately wants to use Vane and his Westerly winds as a weapon against power-hungry, one-note Raiden, but Vane knows the Westerly nature is too peaceful. With Audra off dealing with fallout from revelations in Let the Sky Fall (2013), Vane is stuck by himself figuring out how to be a sylph king on the verge of war.

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger