![]() But she soon realizes that the university may be the most treacherous place of all for the granddaughter of the Black Witch.Īs evil looms and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, Elloren's best hope of survival may be among a secret band of rebels…if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to fear. When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at Verpax University. But while her perople believe she will follow in her grandmother's footsteps and become the next Black Witch of prophecy, Elloren is devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else. ![]() Prepare to be spellbound by The Black Witch.Įlloren Gardner is the spitting image of her grandmother, who drove back the enemy forces in the last Realm War. More time could have been spent with these characters - it seemed strange to introduce their stories at the beginning and only touch on some of them again at the end - but they are sure to occupy more pages in the next exciting installment.Powerful magic. They are all preparing for war against the evil Mage Vogel, whose full power we're only beginning to grasp in The Shadow Wand. Most of the book is in Elloren's voice, but some other voices emerge as well: Elloren's gay brother Trystan who's fled Gardneria to fight against his people, a broken Gardnerian soldier forced to massacre innocents, an Urisk woman trying to escape enslavement, an icaral taught to hate who she is, a water fae who finally gets to reveal herself after years in hiding. It's fun to watch Elloren cast off her gender expectations, embrace her own sexuality, and then her role as a warrior. There doesn't seem to be anything harder than being a female hero in this world, and somehow she begins to manage it. Elloren faces a horrific ceremony before she loses her virginity, where men are shouting "bloody the sheets" and talking about her responsibility to breed powerful mages. There's a lot of romance here actually, but it's layered around ideas of gender equality. This fantasy series' third installment has more of a romantic bent, but it's still densely packed with wild magic, assassins, evil creatures, and has plenty of depth. Other mature content includes some drinking, heavily once to mask the pain of an injury, and rare swearing, including "hell," "damn," and"bitch." The main character, Elloren, besides experiencing a sexual awakening in The Shadow Wand, fights her own fears to become the warrior that her imploding world needs now. As the series gets closer to all-out war and genocide, characters recall stories of being beaten as children for being different and running for their lives to escape enslavement or death. The book is perfect for those who wants to read young adult, romance books. Other violence includes the death of a major character who's heavily mourned, the masacre of young fae, the whipping of prisoners, and attacks by assassins and giant magic bugs that cause major injuries. The Shadow Wand is a beautiful novel written by the famous author Laurie Forest. There's some sexual violence, too, with a man nearly raping a woman in the serving class (only to have her employer tell her to wear "less tempting clothes") and an attempted rape that ends in a severe beating of the predator. That said, the "fasted" or married couple's first night together goes on for pages and leaves little to the imagination. If teens are in that phase where they're thinking about their own sexuality and what kind of partner they want to have and to be someday, there are good messages here about using birth control and being a committed and equal partner. ![]() Parents need to know that The Shadow Wand, the third book in the Black Witch Chronicles, has much more sexual content than previous books in the series.
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