A review by smitch29
Playing with Monsters by Amelia Hutchins
5.0
I thought this book was great. Definitely my favorite showing from this author, thus far. This story captivated my attention and left me wanting more. I have enjoyed Amelia Hutchins's previous works, but this one really enthralled me more than the others. The characters were original and well developed. A lot of questions were left unanswered by the end of the novel, especially about the characters and their identity, yet I wasn't bothered by the cliff-hanger. I just wanted to get the next book quicker. Normally, in such a situation, I find at least a mild annoyance at being left without more answers, but this time, it was so well done that I have no complaints. I felt that the characters were true to their development and the ending was well suited to the natural storyline.
For a recap, Magdalena Fitzgerald is returning to her family and her coven after three years of being away. She's stayed away to properly grieve after a series of unfortunate events took place. Her beloved grandfather passed away, then her father walked out, then she caught her fiancé cheating on her, and finally, her older brother died while in Afghanistan. She left her home to study botany and try to fix herself on her own. She only returned after hearing that her coven's next Awakening was to take place. That is when all the young adult witches of her coven go through a ceremony to break a curse placed on every child within in the coven that contains their power until such ceremony. Lena is excited and ready to have her full witch's power and rejoin her family and coven.
The reunion with her twin sister, Kendra, and mother went fairly well, with everyone happy to see each other. No bitter feelings seem to reside as a result of their separation. However, it quickly becomes evident that things of changed in the coven. Her family is a lot closer to the coven as a whole, and the coven is being highly influenced by Helen, an outsider who bought her way into the inner circle (also, her daughter, Cassidy is who Lena's fiancé slept with when he cheated). Another new addition to the community is Lucien Blackstone. He's a businessman (he owns a sex club) and he helps out the coven financially. Lena has trouble believing his story that he's a loner warlock, that the coven pulled in in a mutually beneficial arrangement. He just seems too powerful. One things she can't deny is the chemistry between her and Lucien, though she does try awfully hard to pretend like it doesn't exist.
In truth, Lucien isn't who he says he is, but rather, he's a mysterious, extremely powerful creature that is looking to kill a specific girl. She is going through the same Awakening ceremony as Lena, and has the reborn soul of Katarina, who lived long ago and betrayed Lucien. Their backstory is revealed more at the end but his true motives never seem to be revealed to the coven. Lucien still goes about his mission, testing everyone in the Awakening, including Lena. His tests come back negative, and yet he continually grows closer to Lena and vice versa.
Their relationship is one of the most peculiar I've ever read, and yet it works. Or it worked for me, and it did so really well. As the relationship develops, Lena strengthens. She started out fairly weak, but morphs into a bigger and bigger warrior. Unfortunately, that comes at the price of worry and pain. A lot happens to her in this book and we see her grow from needing Lucien to rescue her to fighting to the top on her own. All the while both of them have ever increasing feelings, that only complicates their lives more.
The only time I ever questioned the story was a few moments were it seemed that neither Lucien or Lena would satisfactorily question how the other could do something that seemed beyond his/her power. It was as if they would wonder why the other was so powerful and yet they'd just end up filing it away in the back of their mind, as if puzzles/problems didn't need to solved asap, or threats weren't looming and needing constant vigilance. It seemed odd that they wouldn't be more paranoid and questioning given the stress and mystery in both of their lives. Some of this was explained away, or at least it felt as if they had eventually come to question some things within a timely manner, but I would have to re-read the book to decide for sure.
I am highly anticipating the next book in the series. I can't wait to find out what happens next. There was so much left hanging that I am dying for answers to all the problems.
For a recap, Magdalena Fitzgerald is returning to her family and her coven after three years of being away. She's stayed away to properly grieve
Spoiler
and to try to tamp down the "darkness" she felt rising inside of her at her brother's funeralThe reunion with her twin sister, Kendra, and mother went fairly well, with everyone happy to see each other. No bitter feelings seem to reside as a result of their separation. However, it quickly becomes evident that things of changed in the coven. Her family is a lot closer to the coven as a whole, and the coven is being highly influenced by Helen, an outsider who bought her way into the inner circle (also, her daughter, Cassidy is who Lena's fiancé slept with when he cheated). Another new addition to the community is Lucien Blackstone. He's a businessman (he owns a sex club) and he helps out the coven financially. Lena has trouble believing his story that he's a loner warlock, that the coven pulled in in a mutually beneficial arrangement. He just seems too powerful. One things she can't deny is the chemistry between her and Lucien, though she does try awfully hard to pretend like it doesn't exist.
In truth, Lucien isn't who he says he is, but rather, he's a mysterious, extremely powerful creature that is looking to kill a specific girl. She is going through the same Awakening ceremony as Lena, and has the reborn soul of Katarina, who lived long ago and betrayed Lucien. Their backstory is revealed more at the end
Spoiler
(Lucien was in charge of guarding a box that contained the seal. Sort of like a key, that if turned could unite all the worlds (i.e. Faery, human world, demon world), and create Armageddon. He was trying infiltrate Katarina's coven to harness some of their power and find a way to destroy the seal. However, her coven caught wind that he wasn't what he claimed and moved to send him back to hell (which is where they though he came from). In their plot against Lucien, Katarina ended up opening the box, which transplanted the seal into her body. The seal is sentient and ended up attaching to her soul so every time she is reborn, the seal is reborn as well. Lucien hunts Katarina's reincarnated form every time it appears and kills her so that the seal can never come into its true power. He's trying to protect the worlds. However, it's complicated by the fact that he had fallen in love with Katarina and she betrayed him. Only, Katarina listened to her coven, and believed that Lucien was a monster and that he had betrayed her by not being honest.)Their relationship is one of the most peculiar I've ever read, and yet it works. Or it worked for me, and it did so really well. As the relationship develops, Lena strengthens. She started out fairly weak, but morphs into a bigger and bigger warrior. Unfortunately, that comes at the price of worry and pain. A lot happens to her in this book
Spoiler
she discovers, that she still has a living brother, Benjamin, who her mother gave away because he was "dark" at the age of 3; she fights said brother, then she survives a bomb; then she almost dies trying to save her family when their home is spelled on fire; then she gets beaten and raped by her ex-fiancé who was really possessed by a demon at the time; she also fights her attraction to Lucien because she is supposed to stay celibate during the pre-game of the Awakening; only during the ceremony, the ancestors look through as if she's not there and she isn't chosen to have the curse lifted; then she runs to Lucien to seduce him since all that celibacy was for nothing and she's distraught that she's not getting her powers; but then after they have sex her powers show up, leading to a fight with Lucien; when she runs to the coven for answers, they kick her out of the coven because they are scared she only came into her powers through a dark method of lifting the curse; then she's abandoned until she finally succumbs to the Harvest ritual she had begun in that makes her super horny and hunts down Lucien to sex him up again; they have sex until Lucien realizes she's not eating and has to call in the Fae and vampires from Amelia Hutchins's other novels to help save her life; finally she feels her sister being attacked and doesn't make it to her in time to save her (or most of her coven).The only time I ever questioned the story was a few moments were it seemed that neither Lucien or Lena would satisfactorily question how the other could do something that seemed beyond his/her power. It was as if they would wonder why the other was so powerful and yet they'd just end up filing it away in the back of their mind, as if puzzles/problems didn't need to solved asap, or threats weren't looming and needing constant vigilance. It seemed odd that they wouldn't be more paranoid and questioning given the stress and mystery in both of their lives. Some of this was explained away, or at least it felt as if they had eventually come to question some things within a timely manner, but I would have to re-read the book to decide for sure.
I am highly anticipating the next book in the series. I can't wait to find out what happens next. There was so much left hanging that I am dying for answers to all the problems.