Smoke and Scar (Shattered Crown, Band 1)

strong female character up until the point she met the male love interest and finds him interesting FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN THE AUTHOR SAID SO

After Elyria lost her lover to the Crucible she spends her time drowning her sorrows and avoiding her past, including her best friend Kit. Feeming abandoned, Kit is determined to join the upcoming Crucible to get closure about what happened to her brother. Elyria refuses to lose another loved one to these trials and follows Kit after unsuccessfully trying to change her friend's mind. All Elle wanted was to make sure Kit survived the Crucible, but it has a mind of it's own and a prophecy is waiting to be fulfilled...

I liked Cedric from the start. He might be at a disadvantage in every way possible, but his heart is in the right place and he grows so much as a person during their trials. The story is well planned out and Gretchen's writing is beautifully immersive. Of the minor characters, I enjoyed Thraigg the most. With so many characters, it's impossible to cover them all in one book, as a result some of them were a bit one-dimensional but I'm optimistic book two will give them more depth.

Eine zauberhafte kleine Reise, die Welt verspricht Einzigartigkeit, allerdings bringt die Geschichte nichts wirklich Neues. Der Mittelteil war recht mitreißend, am Anfang und Ende eher zäh und wenig fesselnd. Der romantische Anteil ist auch nur ein kleiner Funke, der die Geschichte nicht ausreichend trägt.