TL;DR Review: More mysteries, and bigger. The fate of a world hangs in the balance, and can only be saved by a truly ragtag, lovable crew.
Synopsis:
Keeper Kate has spent weeks searching for her missing brother. Following his trail, studying clues, using the mysterious aenigma box to help reconstruct the story of what had happened to him.
But she’s gotten the story dreadfully, catastrophically wrong.
Now, faced with the losses and scars from her failed search, she and Venn must tackle a new obstacle: the elven White Wood and its ruthless king.
In a desperate attempt to find her brother, Kate finds herself entangled in a deadly quest to find the Warden of the Wood—a search that will lead to Kate’s own death if she doesn’t complete it in time.
Through a cursed ravine, a hidden ancient library, and centuries-old secrets, Kate and Venn struggle to sort out truth from legend and find the Warden before time runs out—for Venn and Kate and the entire human land.
Half treasure hunt and half rescue mission, this epic fantasy adventure is a tale of puzzles, mysteries, and the kinds of friendships—both old and new—that shape the soul.
Full Review:
The delightful combination of puzzles, riddles, and mysteries set up in Runelight continues, but now expand to higher stakes, greater danger, and more powerful magic.
Keeper Kate is still hunting for her lost brothers, only she’s now lost the puzzle box that was her only clue to finding them, and has no way to get it back from the treacherous, murderous elven prince who stole it.
But will that stop her? Not a chance!
With her newly discovered ability to see “remnants”—magical echoes of all living beings—she tracks Prince Faron into the White Wood.
And that’s when things get even more twisty-turny. Kate’s search leads her to being conscripted by the elven King Thallion to hunting down his missing wife and Warden, without whom, the White Wood will wither and die (and all living things with it). No pressure, right?
The endless quest for answers that made me fall in love with Runelight gets dialed up a notch in Mistlight. Now, instead of simple riddles and puzzles, though, we’re dealing with high-stakes magic—quite literally, the fate of the forest and all the world is in the hands of Kate and her crew.
And oh, what a wonderful crew that is.
Venn, the elven warrior who owes Kate’s brother a life debt, but who becomes the closest thing Kate has to a friend and confidante. Tribal and Silas the crafty, cunning, definitely thieving and con-artisting dwarves. Crofftus the grumpy but occasionally helpful body-hopping wizard. And, who knows, maybe another adorable misfit who might be watching and lurking in the darkness?
JA’s true strength has always been her characters, and Mistlight continues to prove that. As the stakes rise, the characters rise to the challenge along with it, growing bolder, stronger, and more lovable with every chapter. So much laughter, joy, heartbreak, grief, and love oozing from every one of them—they’re a delight to read, and the true heart of what makes this story so great.
The book wraps up with a shocking ending that takes everything you expected to happen and turns it on its head, promising a fascinating and wild ride in the third and final Aenigma Lights book whenever it comes next.
Leave a Reply