The Mist-Torn Witches
The Mist-Torn Witches, Book #1
By Barb Hendee
ISBN# 9780451414151
Author’s Website: http://www.BarbHendee.org
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Sammy
Synopsis:
National bestselling author Barb Hendee presents a dark, fascinating new series set in the world of the Noble Dead Saga… the story of two sisters who will discover they have far more power than they ever envisioned…
In a small village in the nation of Droevinka, orphaned sisters Céline and Amelie Fawe scrape out a living selling herbal medicines in their apothecary shop. Céline earns additional money by posing as a seer and pretending to read people’s futures.
But they exist in a land of great noble houses, all vying for power, and when the sisters refuse the orders of a warlord prince, they must flee and are forced to depend on the warlord prince’s brother, Anton, for a temporary haven.
A series of bizarre deaths of pretty young girls are plaguing the village surrounding Prince Anton’s castle. He offers Céline and Amelie permanent protection if they can use their “skills” to find the killer.
With little choice, the sisters enter a world unknown to them — of fine gowns and banquets and advances from powerful men. Their survival depends on catching a murderer who appears to walk through walls and vanish without a trace — and the danger around them seems to grow with each passing night. (Goodreads)
Review:
This is a fast, fun read. While the synopsis says this is a “dark, fascinating new series” I personally didn’t find it all that dark, which is not to say that dark things didn’t happen, but they were written about in a discreet way. The story doesn’t get bogged down in darkness which I liked. The characters are all interesting and well fleshed out. I liked them and connected easily and quickly to them.
I have not read anything else by this author so I was not familiar with the Noble Dead series, but it will definitely be worth checking out. I loved the way the author unfolds her story. It did at one point change completely from what it started out to be thanks to someone else’s history, which happens many times in books causing the story to not flow as well or it takes me out of the story, the author made it so that didn’t happen in this book. The way Barb did this helped the story and made it more interesting.
This story has a bit of everything, with mystery, a bit of romance, strong young women characters, strong take charge warriors and interesting paranormal touches. I look forward to reading more in this series. I highly recommend for young adults to adults that enjoy fantasy that are easy to understand and follow and holds a readers interest throughout.
One note, the story does talk mildly about one of the character’s mistress and how beautiful her body is, so it depends on a parents idea of what they are comfortable letting their child read about sexually. Plus, there is a bit of violence. So it will depend on how mature your young adult is before letting them read this wonderful story. It’s not more violent than say Harry Potter, but it is more sexual. Again, I really enjoyed this story and will look into more work by this author and future stories in this series.
