Thank you to Elise Kova for providing me with an ARC for A Trial of Sorcerers. All opinions are honest and my own.

Synopsis:

Eira Landan is a sorcerer and an outcast. Constantly living in the shadow of her brother Marcus, Eira has been shunned by other sorcerers for the last three years. After being the target of a cruel ruse by a boy she loved Eira lost control of her magic and killed another apprentice. Since then her family have become overprotective and keep a constant watch on her. 

When The Tournament of The Five Kingdoms is announced she decides that she is going to compete and win. Resulting in her showing her family she is fine on her own. With five trials to face before being crowned the victor, Eira must find a way to win without her past coming back to haunt her.

Review:

Elise Kova you have done it again. A Trial of Sorcerers is my first five-star read of the year. A statement that is not to be taken lightly, I do not give five stars very often. This book was utterly addictive. My need to know more overruled everything else. The ending of each chapter lured me quickly into the next and before I knew it the book had ended. 

I won’t be spoiling anything in this review, but just know that the last hour or so is completely gripping and you will not want to put it down. I genuinely wish I could have sat down and devoured this book in one day. 

As always the world-building is incredible, especially if you have read the Air Awakens series prior to this. The magic of this world will never cease to amaze me and getting to learn more about the different types, especially waterruning was fascinating. As it is a magic that focuses more on creating something tangible the descriptions of the magic were much more vivid and it was so easy to picture what was happening. 

Now let’s talk about characters. Elise has always created incredible well-rounded characters and honestly, Eira is her best to date. I loved how in touch she was with her emotions and how you could see her magic type reflected in these. Made of pure ice her feelings and emotions although often reflecting this were also at times the complete opposite. 

Although she often covers herself in ice as a way of protection, she has a heart that feels so deeply. The walls of ice that surround her heart were her only means of protection from the other cruel sorcerers, but I really liked her and I was definitely rooting for her through the entirety of the book. At no point did I think that she was too cold towards others because honestly, they all deserved it. 

Eira is a headstrong determined sorcerer who will not let anyone stand in the way of her plans and I love that for her. From where the first book left off, I am excited to see where Elise goes with Eira’s characters. There is definitely a place for darkness to grow inside her and I cannot wait to see if it does.

From the get-go I could tell I was going to love Cullen, despite his arrogance, and oh boy he did not disappoint. He may not be the nicest person, but I really like him and he is definitely a character that has tonnes of room for more development. Honestly, I can see him being one of the best, most layered characters of this entire world. Ten times more Cullen content in the next book, please!

The plot was a thing of wonders. It is incredible how after publishing thirteen books set in this world, Elise is still able to build more on this world and its characters. I am still yet to read the Vortex Visions series, it’s been on my to be read for a while, however, A Trial of Sorcerers has only made this want grow. I am desperate to delve back into this world and find myself lost in its intriguing lore and interesting magic. 

Romance is not a main plot point in this book, however, it does play its part. There are some affection interactions between characters but they do not outshine the story. I can definitely see it becoming more prominent in future books, however, in the past, Elise has shown a great skill for including great romance without having it be the focal point of a book.

If you have not read the Air Awakens series and want to read A Trial of Sorcerers then do not worry. The book is written in a way that first-time readers can understand the world and its magic. Personally, I would recommend reading Air Awakens first mostly because there are callbacks to the series and because a few of the original characters are prominent in this book. But it definitely is not needed.

I’m extremely happy and grateful that I received an arc of A Trial of Sorcerers, but now I’m devastated that I have to wait so long for the next instalment. Every day until then I will be greatly anticipating the next release in this series.

A Trial of Sorcerers is published on March 4th, preorder it here

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Like this post? Why not read this one too? To Be Read: March 2021