Skye and her brother James are students at Comagique, a university for magical studies. When one of the classmates dies in a séance gone wrong, they take it among themselves to find out who killed her and why. They discover a plot bigger than either of them could have imagined, as well as uncovering some of their own past.

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The stand-out element of the novel is definitely the world-building. Justin Ketter has a real skill not just for creating an amazing fantasy world, but for building it in a really interesting, engaging and (most importantly) easy to follow way. I’ve read a few indie books recently where the approach to world-building was to simply throw a ton of characters and terminology at you without giving you time to get used to the world, and it was refreshing to be able to take our time to get to know the characters and the world without feeling like it dragged out.

Skye, the main character, is a really fun character to read from and it’s great having a bisexual lead written so seamlessly in fantasy. Her brother James is a really interesting character too, with lots of layers and secrets, and it was good to see those be slowly revealed as the story progressed (and I’m sure there will be more to come in future instalments of the series!).

Unfortunately, the plot didn’t quite follow through from such a great set-up. I really enjoyed the murder mystery aspect, but that was resolved about halfway through and suddenly there was a new mystery that initially seemed unrelated to the first half of the story. I’d have much preferred to have the first half a little more fleshed out as a standalone story, and then the second half as a sequel. That being said, the end did set the story up really nicely for the rest of the series.

With the great world and characters, I have no doubt that this will become a great series, reminiscent of books such as City of Bones. Thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.