Hello everyone!
I swear I need to get better at this, because I'd read this one towards the tail end of LAST year, and yet here we are, nearing the end of February, but I'd never put the review up on my blog until now.
Sigh.
There's so much going on all the time though that it's almost impossible to really make a full schedule and stick to it, at least at the moment, because I keep getting ARCs that twist through it all and make me reschedule EVERYTHING.
But anyway, we're going back into the magical world C L Carhart invented tonight, and boy oh BOY am I excited to do it.
Because, and I kid you not, we finally get to meet our main character. Well, main MALE character in any event, which funnily enough does NOT happen in book one of this series.
So strap on your witchy hats and make sure your intentions are good, because I can assure you, even they might not be able to help. Not in Mystic Passage.
His Name Was Augustin is one of those series that's just *chef's kiss* and yet you really need to FOCUS when you read it, otherwise things will slip through the cracks and you just won't be able to fully comprehend.
Back in book one, Swanie, our heroine of dubious intelligence even though everyone keeps saying she's whip-smart, discovered a way to travel through time, and so she decided to go back almost a thousand years and figure out what happened to the Teuton people and how they fell, becoming the small conclave they are nowadays (spoiler alert: it wasn't the bad guy's fault).
Of course things do NOT go according to plan, she loses the time travelling stone, and now must wait her chance to see if she can beg the Song of Time from the current Prince so she can get back home, except she also botched the landing because they arrived twenty years BEFORE the fall of the city they wanted to witness.
So she and Joel, and their newfound acquaintance Freia, are taken in as citizens, and trouble pretty much begins right off the bat because Swanie finally runs into none other than Augustin, the eldest von Bayern brother.
Who, by all rights, should have been keyholder of the city, and yet ... he isn't. He's the executioner instead, and a dark priest?
Swanie has no clue what's going on THERE, only that she wants to know more, as he's nowhere in any records she can remember or find, but of course sneaking about only brings her right into the snare of Augustin himself, who immediately figures out she isn't who she says she is, and eventually she has to admit she's from the future.
They make a pact: he'll teach her the ancient dialects she wants to learn, and she'll teach him some of the modern ones in exchange, and thus begins the slow but inevitable fall for our Swanhilde.
In love? Yes, but also downfall in a way. You'll see what I mean.
Augustin puts it most succinctly, actually, when she admits about having been in love with Hans, the other older priest of her time, because he notes that having known the glory of a Teuton priest, she'll ALWAYS want one of them and never settle for less.
Whoops.
Anyway, as she and her buddies acclimate, it becomes increasingly clear to her that Joel, her cousin's boyfriend currently still stuck with her in the past, is trying to take care of her in his own way, and is pushing for the two of them to get married. Swanie, for some reason that's never fully explained other than her own reluctance, never turns him down or has an outright conversation about it, so basically everyone and their mother thinks they're practically promised.
She even gets told she might just inherit the lands of the lord they're living under the roof of, since he has no living offspring!
Any woman in her right mind - of that time - would have jumped at that, but Swanie, who's of a more modern mindset, is carving her own path, which is ... with Augustin.
Yep, she wants to learn from him, and more than just languages, she wants to learn how to control blood like Teuton priests do, and in the process he bleeds her, nearly kills her, but she manages to fall in love with him, learns of his tragic childhood when his mother died and he was basically forsaken by the rest of his family, then bleeds him in return and learns HE loves HER too.
This now means she REALLY can't marry Joel, but does she tell him as much? Nope, you guessed that right, she keeps stringing him along while agonizing what she's going to do with him becoming more and more intent on doing everything in his power to "protect" her - including a blood transfer which will bestow upon him the blood of Teutons.
If he lives.
Swanie, horrified, tries to change his mind, but when that fails, she then goes to Augustin with Freia, who will also be performing the ritual with her, so that maybe, by witnessing the horrific way it goes, she can convince the stubborn man to relent.
Spoiler alert: he doesn't, and he also survives because SWANIE can't seem to let the ritual go as planned and has Augustin intercede with the demon lord Woutan, again, to save Joel, regardless that it would have been easier if she'd just let him die.
Even Augustin notes THAT one. And honestly, even the Prince, Otto that is, has noticed that she's a little bit coocoo for cocoa puffs, after having her over for tea one time and ending up arguing with her and flinging both their elements around in a sudden fit as he tries to persuade her to drop Augustin like a bad habit, and she relentlessly declines.
Unfortunately, by the time the blood transfer comes to pass, the Prince has about had it with her meddling, and promises to punish her and Augustin both, which will be easy given they've formed the heart bond which is a unique thing Teuton priests can do, where the spiritual heart of their beloved woman is kept in their own care.
Swanie also finally learns why she's never heard of Augustin before anywhere, which should have been much clearer to her before: the filial curse.
Aka, the Prince is going to literally cut Augustin off from his family, erasing him from the family tree and making it as if he never existed, all because of his own petty jealousy toward the man (and possibly hatred because HE had to pick up the keys of the city once Augustin rejected them from their dying father, and thus also accepting the bond with the city Lady, at this time his stepmother - it's a lot, I know, but hopefully you've read enough Song of Ice and Fire to handle this JUST fine).
There's nothing our star-crossed lovers can do, so Swanie allows Augustine to finally take her virginity, something she'd previously denied him on every count, and then they defy the council too because, when Augustin severs their heart bond, Swanie tries to destroy herself in desperation. The only way to save her is to save her heart again, taking it for his own, so while the pompous Prince and the rest THINK they've done everything - including, but not limited to, kicking Augustin out, nameless, and leaving Swanie crying in the dirt in the rain afterwards - they haven't actually succeeded in their final quest.
Which is where we leave our girl, because man, do you need a breather after this cliffhanger!
But this is prime quality entertainment, right here.
Full disclosure: I was so very generously sent an ARC of this book. All my opinions and comments are totally and absolutely my own.
Allons-y!
Setting: 11th century Germany, or at the very least, the city state of Munich. Aside from the fact that it's walled and gated, and that there are tracts of land outside it, beyond the castle and city archives, we don't really get to see much of the setting, not in any particulars that would matter in the grand scheme of things. This book is very heavily character-driven rather than setting-driven, and while there are occasional drops of things about stuff happening in the 11th century (like, the ironworkers, or the central plaza with its marketplace) that's about it.
The main female character: *sigh* Swanie, Swanie, Swanie. She has yet to develop any common sense, as far as I'm concerned, and while I at the same time admire her DEEPLY for all the good traits she possesses (her loyalty, her compassion, her boundless love, her intelligence, the list goes on), she's still pretty much the cause of all the problems in this book. Talking to Joel should have been priority number one.
The main male character: we're finally fully introduced to Augustin, of the series title fame, and I can honestly say I love him. No, I haven't lost my mind, but, he's a very well-rounded, fleshed-out character. He can be cruel and kind, cold and hot, and has reasons for all the things he does. In short, he's the kind of guy I'd love to invite for a pint and just chat with.
The side characters: Freia and the count grew on me, Joel, I could do without, and the Prince and the von Bayern family can rot in hell. That's it, that's the plot of this section.
The world building: like I mentioned in the setting, if not for the sometimes reminders from Swanie we're in the 11th century, this could have been stronger, HOWEVER, there's definitely a difference from the modern century so, I'll give the author that. I still would have loved slightly more definition to it all, but on the bright side we get a TON of Teuton traditions, curses and other knick-knacks, which I LOVE. I'm gobbling it all up like a mad woman.
The magic: we're definitely hitting the nitty-gritty about the how or whys of magic in this one, and as someone who's previously mentioned I'd need more explanation ... this. This is it. This did it for me, and I applaud the author for thinking her magic system through and delivering.
The romance: forget Hans, give me Augustin, and also Joel can go back to the modern world and his actual girlfriend. Augustin and Swanie shouldn't make sense, but they do, and I'm convinced theirs is the song of ice and fire (see what I did there!).
Overall: I'm in this to the end, hook, line and sinker. If you don't feel Swanie's emotions ping-ponging all over the place, the despair when things really start going to hell in a hand basket, I don't know what to tell you. The characters really emote, they react, they don't just stand there, and all of what they're feeling is transcribed so beautifully that it transports you right into the middle of their anguished emotions, one way or the other.
... also, the fact that Swanie totally blew the landing and went further into the past than planned will never not be funny to me.
Full disclosure: I was so very generously sent an ARC of this book. All my opinions and comments are totally and absolutely my own.
Allons-y!
Setting: 11th century Germany, or at the very least, the city state of Munich. Aside from the fact that it's walled and gated, and that there are tracts of land outside it, beyond the castle and city archives, we don't really get to see much of the setting, not in any particulars that would matter in the grand scheme of things. This book is very heavily character-driven rather than setting-driven, and while there are occasional drops of things about stuff happening in the 11th century (like, the ironworkers, or the central plaza with its marketplace) that's about it.
The main female character: *sigh* Swanie, Swanie, Swanie. She has yet to develop any common sense, as far as I'm concerned, and while I at the same time admire her DEEPLY for all the good traits she possesses (her loyalty, her compassion, her boundless love, her intelligence, the list goes on), she's still pretty much the cause of all the problems in this book. Talking to Joel should have been priority number one.
The main male character: we're finally fully introduced to Augustin, of the series title fame, and I can honestly say I love him. No, I haven't lost my mind, but, he's a very well-rounded, fleshed-out character. He can be cruel and kind, cold and hot, and has reasons for all the things he does. In short, he's the kind of guy I'd love to invite for a pint and just chat with.
The side characters: Freia and the count grew on me, Joel, I could do without, and the Prince and the von Bayern family can rot in hell. That's it, that's the plot of this section.
The world building: like I mentioned in the setting, if not for the sometimes reminders from Swanie we're in the 11th century, this could have been stronger, HOWEVER, there's definitely a difference from the modern century so, I'll give the author that. I still would have loved slightly more definition to it all, but on the bright side we get a TON of Teuton traditions, curses and other knick-knacks, which I LOVE. I'm gobbling it all up like a mad woman.
The magic: we're definitely hitting the nitty-gritty about the how or whys of magic in this one, and as someone who's previously mentioned I'd need more explanation ... this. This is it. This did it for me, and I applaud the author for thinking her magic system through and delivering.
The romance: forget Hans, give me Augustin, and also Joel can go back to the modern world and his actual girlfriend. Augustin and Swanie shouldn't make sense, but they do, and I'm convinced theirs is the song of ice and fire (see what I did there!).
Overall: I'm in this to the end, hook, line and sinker. If you don't feel Swanie's emotions ping-ponging all over the place, the despair when things really start going to hell in a hand basket, I don't know what to tell you. The characters really emote, they react, they don't just stand there, and all of what they're feeling is transcribed so beautifully that it transports you right into the middle of their anguished emotions, one way or the other.
... also, the fact that Swanie totally blew the landing and went further into the past than planned will never not be funny to me.
xx
*image not mine
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