Rant & Rave- The Witch of Fire and Shadows by Bri Mooney

Hello everyone! Over the past week I've managed to read three new books- What We Devour by Linsey Miller, The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman, and The Witch of Fire and Shadows by Bri Mooney. Today's main focus will be The Witch of Fire and Shadows, the first of the Burning Bloodlines Series, which I was very excited to read early. I'll also do a brief synopsis of my thoughts on What We Devour and The Ivory Key. Starting with What We Devour by Linsey Miller- I enjoyed this book. I'm not normally a mood reader, but I was looking for something dark and this really hit the spot. The lore in the book is excellent, and the puzzle is engaging. The one issue I had with this book was that, at some parts, it felt like you didn't know enough of the lore to make predictions until one of the characters thought of an idea and explained the lore behind it. This wouldn't have been such a big deal to me if the book hadn't been advertized as a puzzle to solve. Overall, I'd say that this book is excellent if you're in the mood for something dark, but isn't ideal if you're looking to solve a mystery. The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman was unexpectedly great. Owlcrate books are nearly always good, so I should have set my expectations accordingly, but I was expecting to draw a lot of parallels to Sisters of the Snake. I didn't particularly enjoy Sisters of the Snake. In fact, it was probably my least favorite Owlcrate book so far. My point being, I set my expectations too low. I underestimated how much I would enjoy the archaeology and puzzle side of the book. The politics did seem a little shallow. I don't think it really effected my enjoyment of the book, but if you are someone that enjoys the politics of fantasy kingdoms, it might bother you. I will definitely be reading the next part of the duology when it comes out. So on to our main feature, The Witch of Fire and Shadows by Bri Mooney. This book follows the next elder of a well-known coven, Maeve. She has an affinity for the fire element, though she can control all of the elements on her best days. Until the council of the supernatural deems her ready to be an elder, though, she maintains a fairly normal life. In the novel, witches have exposed themselves to mortals and been, for the most part, accepted by society. Other supernaturals, like vampires and fae, remain mostly hidden. At the beginning of the book, Maueve is fairly happy with her life, although a string of missing witches forces her to have a bodyguard, Aspen, with her at all times. Her boyfriend, Thane, has been pretty jealous of the time she spends with Aspen. However, as the book progresses, she realizes this is the least of her problems. Throughout the book she is attacked, falls in with the wrong crowd, and makes deals she couldn't hope to fulfill. Despite her great power, she finds herself in the middle of a supernatural fight she doesn't even want to be a part of. A quote directly from the description: "TWOFAS is a tale of elemental magic, supernatural courts, and unfolding secrets." So let's rant: My biggest issue with this book is that the pacing felt off. The book was short (under 200 pages). A lot happened in those 200 pages, but it seemed like the majority of the time was spent doing day-to-day interactions. Then, all of a sudden, it would be action-packed for 10 pages, then back to day-to-day. The action-packed sections were heavy in physical action, Maeve's confusion, and learning new things about the courts, while the day-to-day didn't live up to the action sections and seemed boring in comparison. In my opinion, the distribution of new information should occur more during the day-to-day interactions to spice them up, or the day-to-day sections should be cut down considerably. My second issue with the book was that the personalities for each character were exposed primarily from dialogue. This makes sense for characters Maeve is just meeting, because the book is in first person (although even their actions seem to influence Mauve's opinion less than their words do). However, some of the characters are people she's known for years or spent tons of time with. These people could be described using memories or day-to-day encounters where they react instead of just giving a verbal response. And let's rave: I think the most well-done parts of the book were the sections where the main character is mentally compromised (from poison, alcohol, suggestion, stress, etc.). They were described well in the sense that we could see and feel what Maeve was seeing and feeling, but Mooney didn't over explain things. Some authors tend to overexplain during these scenes, and that takes away from the confusion and fear that the main character is suffering from. I want to feel confused and a little fearful with the main character during these scenes, but when I know exactly what is going on and why, the confusion is lost and it becomes more difficult to connect with the character. Another strong part of the book was that there was a good balance between sections of metaphor or intangible feelings and sections of observation. By this, I am referring to the difference between seeing someone watching you and sensing someone watching you, for example. One is concrete and exact using your senses, while the other is more energetic or metaphorical in nature. Mooney does an excellent job of describing each experience from the more pertinent of the two perspectives, as opposed to doing both or using the "wrong" one. Plus, once she chooses a style, she doesnt change it up until a natural switching point. Finally, I'm not sure how much research into witchcraft was conducted, but the book seemed to be at least mildly influenced by real witchcraft practices. Of course, in a fantasy book some liberties are going to be taken, but I don't think it ever crossed a line or became offensive to witches, the coven structure, or witchcraft practices. Overall, I really enjoyed The Witch of Fire and Shadow. I think it is a good example of contemporary fantasy, and the start to an interesting story centered on supernatural courts (which I can't wait to learn more about in the next book). I owe a special thank you to Bri Mooney for sending me the book early so I could share my thoughts with all of you. It will be released February 1st, 2022, for anyone interested in reading it themselves. As always, thanks for reading, feel free to let me know what you think of the book or my analysis in the comments, and reach out if you want to receive email notifications for this blog! Until next time! Dana