His was one of three lives protecting Aurelia’s: her mother the queen (who dies in the first book), Simon (blood mage mentor), and Kellen’s. If she is about to die, he dies in her place. Kellen Greythorne – bodyguard of Aurelia, his life is bound to hers with a blood oath. In the beginning of Greythorne, thought by Aurelia to be dead (really dead). “Died” near the end of the first book, Aurelia saved him using her own life force, so they are bound together. Zan (Valentin) – rightful king of the collapsed kingdom of Achleva, Aurelia’s love interest. Likes puzzle toys and is wise beyond his years Aurelia is the only blood witch who doesn’t hide her powers.Ĭonrad – eight year old king of Renalt, coronated in the early part of this book because his mother died in the previous installment.

Renalt persecutes witches, so they must live in hiding. She is a blood witch, meaning she is able to use magic that involves drawing her blood or using someone elses. I very much respect her effort and look forward to the third book in the series coming August 2021.Īurelia – young princess of Renalt, older sister of Conrad. However, I also know world-building is crazy hard, having tried it myself. While there were little clues left behind, they were so strange and out of place when you first read them, I was just confused, rather than intrigued, which I think was the idea. I’m not fully sure that Smith knows all of her own rules, which is pretty important for a writer.Īs an avid reader and aspiring writer of YA fantasy, I like to look back on a book once I’ve finished it and understand how I got to the ending. The brand of magic is far from generic, and I think that keeping the scale small (a tale of two kingdoms) is smart, but I don’t really understand most of the rules of the magic or the world that’s been built.

Listen, the world that I see, that I understand, I’m into it. However, I had to take a star away because though I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, I had a pretty large gripe, and it’s the same gripe that I had with the first installation: the world-building is half-baked and the plot is rather confusing. The characters are easy to root for, the pacing is pretty good, and I would say that it is decidedly unpredictable. Review: There is a lot that I liked about Greythorne.

Time it took me to read: 3 days of reading over 15 days (during NaNoWriMo)

Bloodleaf by crystal smith