Back so soon? I think so! I went ahead and started the second book of the Legends of Muirwood because I was really curious where the story would lead. Plus, I needed more of Lia and Colvin in my life (and oh my did I get more of them)
And SPOILERS from previous book
Rising from her humble beginnings as a lost orphan, Lia is summoned to be Muirwood Abbey’s protector and special guardian for Ellowyn Demont, the lost heir of the fallen kingdom of Pry-Ree. After the death of the ruthless king at the battle of Winterrowd, the great Aldermaston and Abbey leader calls on Lia to use her mystical talents to save Muirwood from two new threats—a vengeful queen accusing the Abbey of her husband’s death and a deadly plague threatening to destroy the land.
Amidst the turmoil, a battle ensues, and soon Lia learns the world’s magic has begun to falter. As a blanket of dread envelops the Abbey, hopes are tested, and Lia will be forced to come to terms with a secret that will change her life forever.
Remember how I mentioned I liked The Wretched of Muirwood because it didn’t have all that romance aspect? Well, if I had to categorize this book somehow I’d label it as 80% romance with splotches of it later on. In this book we continue to follow Lia who has gone from Cook to Hunter in the span of one adventure. With John Hunter dead, the Aldermaston needs to appoint a new hunter and Lia takes on the new task
With a year’s worth of new tricks up her sleeves, Lia is now even stronger than before. Now she can work with the medium and take down a man twice her size with a few quick maneuvers. And now the other girls at the Abbey have another reason to tease her. But these things are of little consequence when Colvin, who’d left after the battle at Winterrowd, is finally returning to the Abbey
Which leads me into some of the semi-cringeful stuff of this book
From beginning to possibly the last third of the way in, the book talks about Lia and Soah’s (I have no idea how to spell her name since I was listening, LOL. But Soah is Lia’s best friend) chances with the guys at the Abbey. Soah has matured and become the prettiest girl at the Abbey and has attracted all kinds of attention while Lia has possibly attracted the attention of the guy she wants. Talk of marriage is plenty and in a way I’m glad this happens, but at some point it just felt like too much
Relationships are cleared up, a certain guy blows up at Lia (and makes me FURIOUS), and the L-word shows up more frequently. Again, this isn’t bad, per se, but I was expecting more of the adventure and possible fight scenes since Lia can now hold her own in a fight. Fortunately for me, we did get more fight scenes. A pretty…terrible one close to the end in fact (like a good fight but terrible for a couple characters)
But what bugged me about the whole romance here isn’t how it played out. I love Lia and Colvin and the thought of them together will make me grin and coo at them. No. It’s that the book is called the Blight of Muirwood but the actual blight isn’t really talked about. It’s mentioned at the beginning and then the last fourth of the book when our characters travel to Pry-Ree. It’s basically a disease that’s going to destroy the world, but the tone of the book doesn’t feel that way. Some mysteries are starting to clear up about the blight and who started it (so to speak) but by the end of the book nothing is truly resolved in that aspect
We do, however, learn about this one truth that I suspected in book one and that I’m really happy to learn is actuality. Makes me wonder how certain things will play out now (hehehe)
Putting aside the plot of the book, we also meet quite a few new characters. We get to finally meet Colvin’s sister and Edwin, a fellow soldier that was with Colvin at the battle and helped Lia. We meet the Queen Dowager who claims she’s come to seek vengeance on her husband’s murder (battle at Winterrowd) and possibly the more important one, Ellowyn Demont, the heir of Pry-Ree. The girl who spent a year with Colvin trying to learn about the Medium, the girl Lia is jealous of because they were both raised as wretches but Ellowyn is given the chance to read
Even though she’s an important piece in the story, we don’t really get too much into her head since she’s a quiet person. We get a few glimpses of her when Lia sees her but overall they don’t interact much (twice). I’m curious how she’ll grow as a character, what with her Gift near the end of the story PLUS the revelation.
If the first book didn’t waste words, this one had a tad too many at the beginning. If the first book had a near perfect score, this one will get a 3.5/5, almost a 4/5
Onto the third book I go!!
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