published by Disney Hyperion
release date: October 1, 2013
genre: YA, Fantasy,
**received e-copy from publisher/netgalley in exchange for honest review.
Summary (Goodreads): They called it the Thorn Hill Massacre—the brutal attack on a once-thriving Weir community. Though Jonah Kinlock lived through it, he did not emerge unscathed: like the other survivors, Jonah possesses unique magical gifts that set him apart from members of the mainline guilds. At seventeen, Jonah has become the deadliest assassin in Nightshade, a global network that hunts the undead. He is being groomed to succeed Gabriel Mandrake, the sorcerer, philanthropist, and ruthless music promoter who established the Thorn Hill Foundation, the public face of Nightshade. More and more, Jonah’s at odds with Gabriel’s tactics and choice of targets. Desperate to help his dying brother Kenzie, Jonah opens doors that Gabriel prefers to keep closed.
Emma Claire Greenwood grew up worlds away, raised by a grandfather who taught her music rather than magic. An unschooled wild child, she runs the streets until the night she finds her grandfather dying, gripping a note warning Emma that she might be in danger. The clue he leaves behind leads Emma into Jonah’s life—and a shared legacy of secrets and lingering questions.
Was Thorn Hill really a peaceful commune? Or was it, as the Wizard Guild claims, a hotbed of underguild terrorists? The Wizards’ suspicions grow when members of the mainline guilds start turning up dead. They blame Madison Moss and the Interguild Council, threatening the fragile peace brokered at Trinity.
Racing against time, Jonah and Emma work to uncover the truth about Thorn Hill, amid growing suspicion that whoever planned the Thorn Hill Massacre might strike again.
My Thoughts: This is one of those instances that I wish this hadn't just been added to the Heir trilogy and had been its own series in the same world. I found myself confused for the first part of the book because I was expecting it to be at least close to the other books. Not the case. While there are some characters that show up, none really have much to do with the story. I found that once I stopped looking at it as a book four and more as a first book, I was able to enjoy the story more.
The characters and their magical abilities is very different than the guilds we are used to from the other stories. This is explained (sort of) by what took place at Thorn Hill. We're told that their wizard stones are different/broken in some way and whatever killed all the adults caused this but that's kind of where it ends.
This was another book that was more story driven for me. There wasn't an individual character that really grabbed me it was more all of them as a whole. Jonah had/has the potential but I found him to be too single minded on most things. There were times that it seemed he was trying to do the right thing but when it came down to it he always went back to one answer for everything. The only thing about Emma was the fact that she is a luthier. We are told that she is this strong street kid and more of a truant but then when it came right down to it she didn't strike me as someone who could take care of herself.
Overall, this was a definite first book in a series. Lots of things were started, wizard deaths, zombie ghosts led by someone named Lilith, magical kids with different abilities than we are used to, but this is all we have. Nothing was really finished. A lot of build up and then an ending that left more questions than answers. All that said, I still enjoyed the book and am looking forward to finding out the answers to the questions.
Rating: 4
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