Tome Thursday: Gift of Fire

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to yet another magical review, and I do mean magical.

 

Because we're going to be talking about witches and wizards in this one.

 

BookSirens just keeps on coming through with the ARCs that you can get off the site, and tonight's book of choice is also one of them, followed by a sequel that I'll equally be reviewing at a later point.

 

However, you have to start at the beginning, am I right?

 

Although technically there's a novella before the main books start, but I didn't know that until I was already well into the two novels, so I'll circle back to it eventually at some point.

 

For right now, suffice to say that we're headed to Germany, there will be talk about the elements, and there will be magic.

 

Among other things.

 

Gift of Fire opens this world up for us and, boy, does it do a good job overall!

 

As this is the series starter, there are no other links down below.

 

Gabi is an auditor who left her magical - Teutonic - heritage behind long ago, but is now returning to her home town where she's applied for a position. She gets it, and she also comes face-to-face with one of her high school bullies in the process, Lukas.

 

He just so happens to be her supervisor, because of course he is.

 

Now, Gabi's magical world handles magic so that each infant born to the community is tested to see just how potent the magic in their blood is, and she's barely over the threshold, which of course, like any other thing in this world where you aren't one hundred percent pure, will have polarizing views and there's going to be people mocking you for it.

 

She's built a life outside of that though, something to commend her for, considering she's now trying to figure out why Lukas keeps attempting to ask her out to a meal (Gabi, my girl), her acidic mother who treats her as if she were a guest in her own home, her father's job loss, and her best friend Bianca's quest to become pregnant, which doesn't seem to be working all that well.

 

And against all this comes the backdrop that the city's leader will pass away soon and the spirit which protects said city and inhabits the leader's body will be choosing another host.

 

Said host needs to be a maiden born in the city and who's been away on "travels" for a time before returning.

 

Naturally, more cannon fodder for people who DON'T want Gabi to be the one leading them.

 

But that's okay, because she finally lets Lukas take her out to dinner, where he manages to confess he's been in love with her since high school, that he bullied her because his mom kinda sorta "entertained" gentlemen a lot so had a reputation, and later on it turns out he, too, is on the bare threshold of magic (though we don't actually get to see anyone getting into HIS face about it).

 

He and Gabi grow closer, which helps fuel her determination and her self-assurance when the fairy of the ancient silver oak tree (important for the community) welcomes her back home, and Gabi realizes there are unscrupulous people in the community who would try to steal from said tree, so she puts a fiery barrier around it in the spiritual plane (oh yeah, she's a fire elemental witch).

She also gets accosted by another of her high school bullies, twice, though she's saved the first time by Lukas' mother, and the second time by her brother, thankfully, otherwise she might have found herself unwillingly bound to said priest who wants access to both her, her magic, and the silver oak tree.

So while dealing with all of that, Lukas' bitchy sister, and comforting Bianca (apparently, in this Teutonic community, if you can't have kids you're somehow lesser), Lukas bails on a date with her during a community celebration citing 'family obligations'.

Of course she then sees him at that same celebration with another girl and breaks up with him, is then miserable for a bit until a large dance that occurs every May during which young Teuton witches and wizards try to find lifelong partners, and then learns that hey, that girl?

Family obligation?

Actually family, but somehow Gabi didn't think to ask Lukas about it.

Anyway, turns out they have bigger problems as Gabi's brother summons the ancient demon that, er, is really bad news, and the demon catches Lukas and Gabi in his sights, saying that for the interruption, he demands their lives.

This isn't going to happen, obviously, and the city leader reveals that the demon actually OWES HER a couple of things, so she sacrifices herself before her body could lose its battle with the illness that she's been handling, so that Gabi and Lukas can be free.

So can her brother and a wizard you initially think is his friend, but nope, turns out they're dating, and while Gabi's father is alright with that, the other kid's parents really aren't. More prejudice, how fun!

OH and lest I forget - in the middle of all the drama surrounding everything else, Gabi learns her mother isn't actually her mother. The woman she THOUGHT was her mother couldn't have kids, so her father made a deal with a priest to impregnate one of his ... slaves? I think? I think it was a slave, it was a bad situation either way, and also to sleep with said priest so that his magic could be jump-started while he was at it.

Unfortunately, both her biological mother and the priest have passed on by the time of this revelation, so Gabi can't do anything about it; however, her relationship with the person she now knows is her stepmother improves rather dramatically overnight with the truth out in the open.

And with Lukas proposing during another big gathering, the final cherry on top of the cake is when they learn after their honeymoon that Bianca is finally pregnant and will carry this baby to term.

So all's well that ends well!

I picked this ARC up completely at random because I liked the sound of the blurb, and because I wanted to read book two but figured I might start at the beginning (mostly, as I said).

I enjoyed the setting and the magic system, though honestly? I'd really love to have it explained a little bit more. Sure you get glimpses of stuff through the story, but what we got is both confusing as it is perplexing. Apparently, you measure an infant's magical aptitude with a dagger (I'm imagining it rolling out percentage like a calculator now) and you can boost up your magical level by having sex? It's intriguing but also confusing because we never get to see the full extent of the rules.

Gabi and Lukas were okay as protagonists, though I felt Gabi was a bit too wishy-washy at times and Lukas needed to just settle himself a bit more firmly and talk to her about stuff. Miscommunication between them - mostly from Lukas' side when he didn't open his mouth - is the source of most of their problems throughout the story, and it's never my favourite thing to witness.

However, I did like the colourful cast of characters assembled for the story, and I was REALLY happy for Bianca at the end. I'm also curious enough to want to read the second book to figure out how this story unfold, so I may also keep tabs on this author and the series to see what's what in future.

Overall, the story was good, the protagonists okay, the magic system could do with some more explanation, and maybe a thing or two shouldn't have been solved as easily as it was.

It is, however, an engrossing and entertaining read, and can really transport you into quite the magical world for the afternoon!

xx

*image not mine