A review by alisonalisonalison
Mistress Mage by Kayleigh Nicol
2.0
I really enjoyed the first book in this series and I bought this second book immediately after finishing, but I liked this installment way less. I finished it feeling disappointed and like the series had soured a bit. It's nicely written and exciting and I still loved all the magic, but Kestral turns into an ass and the romance takes a very negative turn. I loved Niko and Kila, and Reshi continues to be entertaining, if a bit annoying. Kestral, however, is less likable and does something awful to Reshi (who he is so in love with, remember) and turns into an obsessed stalker and he never redeems himself. It's such a shame. Reshi and Kestral are fighting for most of the book and Kestral engages in some pretty fucked up emotional abuse, but it's never presented as such. I don't understand how the romance can possibly continue in this story, but somehow, inexplicably, it does. Because twu wuv, or something. They never properly talk about what happened and Kestral is unrepentant. Ugh. It's completely unbelievable for Reshi to stay in this toxic relationship after what Kestral does to him, but they are so in love at the end, la la la, like nothing happened. Yuck. They actually joke about it awkwardly. All is forgiven, apparently, and there's an uncomfortable, happy (creepy?) epilogue to prove it. Happy endings are great, but if it doesn't make sense and isn't earned and the problems aren't resolved, it isn't at all satisfying--it's the opposite. Slapping a pretty HEA bow on it at the end doesn't make the problems work out by magic. Two stars for it still being a well-written, engaging story.
Apparently, there is now to be a third book (this was initially a duology with a crappy ending), and hopefully what goes down in this book between Reshi and Kestral and all that unresolved ugly shit will be addressed. If not, I'm not sure I want to read it. I hope the third book turns this into the typical middle book of a trilogy where everything goes really wrong and the big finale of the last book fixes all the issues and wraps things up in a satisfying way. Fingers crossed. Though I'm not sure Kestral can actually redeem himself after this. Maybe he was possessed...
Apparently, there is now to be a third book (this was initially a duology with a crappy ending), and hopefully what goes down in this book between Reshi and Kestral and all that unresolved ugly shit will be addressed. If not, I'm not sure I want to read it. I hope the third book turns this into the typical middle book of a trilogy where everything goes really wrong and the big finale of the last book fixes all the issues and wraps things up in a satisfying way. Fingers crossed. Though I'm not sure Kestral can actually redeem himself after this. Maybe he was possessed...