Michael Barnes
This reads as a very confident and assured writer, I was so impressed to discover this was a debut author. I signed up for this book as a pre-order after one of my favourites Xiran Jay Zhao revealed that Cait Corrain author whose debut fantasy novel Crown of Starlight was scheduled to be publish in 2024 had created multiple fake accounts on Goodreads to review bomb other authors of colour. Kamilah Cole's (So Let Them Burn), Bethany Baptiste's (The Poisons We Drink), Frances White (Voyage of the Damned), and K.M. Enright (Mistress of Lies). So I immediately pre-ordered these novels.
The worldbuilding and the mythos of how magic works in the contemporary greater Washington, D.C., metro area id intricate and interesting, but it's the family and relations between the characters is a real strength. Leading off by the protagonist Venus’ mother, the formidable Clarissa Stoneheart, used to be the Love Witcher. From Kirkus review "She broke her pledge to only brew love potions, lost her magic as a consequence, and then turned her attention to teaching Venus, the new Love Witcher, “her 3-B philosophy…Get your bag, brew, and bounce.” When Clarissa is murdered, Venus is tested to her limits as she fights external forces by using her calling (her magical ability to brew) for political gain while also struggling to quiet the deviation (or trauma-inflicted corruption of her calling) that infects her. The deviation, which she calls It, can give Venus access to immense power, but she’s still haunted, in more ways than she realizes, by the first time it was uncaged, when she was 15. Patient readers will eventually encounter unexpected twists and turns that provide an exciting and satisfying ending.
This reads as a very confident and assured writer, I was so impressed to discover this was a debut author. I signed up for this book as a pre-order after one of my favourites Xiran Jay Zhao revealed that Cait Corrain author whose debut fantasy novel Crown of Starlight was scheduled to be publish in 2024 had created multiple fake accounts on Goodreads to review bomb other authors of colour. Kamilah Cole's (So Let Them Burn), Bethany Baptiste's (The Poisons We Drink), Frances White (Voyage of the Damned), and K.M. Enright (Mistress of Lies). So I immediately pre-ordered these novels.
The worldbuilding and the mythos of how magic works in the contemporary greater Washington, D.C., metro area id intricate and interesting, but it's the family and relations between the characters is a real strength. Leading off by the protagonist Venus’ mother, the formidable Clarissa Stoneheart, used to be the Love Witcher. From Kirkus review "She broke her pledge to only brew love potions, lost her magic as a consequence, and then turned her attention to teaching Venus, the new Love Witcher, “her 3-B philosophy…Get your bag, brew, and bounce.” When Clarissa is murdered, Venus is tested to her limits as she fights external forces by using her calling (her magical ability to brew) for political gain while also struggling to quiet the deviation (or trauma-inflicted corruption of her calling) that infects her. The deviation, which she calls It, can give Venus access to immense power, but she’s still haunted, in more ways than she realizes, by the first time it was uncaged, when she was 15. Patient readers will eventually encounter unexpected twists and turns that provide an exciting and satisfying ending.