Christine Schulze
Golden Healer, Dark Enchantress
The Amielian Legacy: The Stregony Sequence Book 1

Review brought to you by OBS staff member Dawn

Chrystine is an elf. She’s in college with her best friends and what she wants to be is a healer. Chrystine is unique in that she has a gold thumb and toe while most of her kind have a green thumb and toe.

One of her best friends, Aaryn, is a fairy or so it seems. Who or what is Aaryn? And what does Chrystine have to do with it?

Review:

The book is fast paced and quite fun to read. It’s not overly descriptive in the beginning which is a huge plus for me. I was well into the plot by page 15.

I enjoyed the vampire lore and the differences in Schulze’s world of vampires. Aaryn is a fairy/vampire but he doesn’t drink blood. Instead, they drink an elixir and refrain from biting others. He is over 1000 years old, part of the Stregony Benefici who kill evil vampires. Their mission is to protect the Golden Healer so that the Golden Healer can defeat the Dark Enchantress.

Chrystine is being raised by her father who is an abusive alcoholic. I respect the way Schulze handled such a touchy subject and that she was even willing to go there.

I thought Chrystine would be a boring character, but at second glance I see a deeply layered young woman. She’s a people pleaser because of the abuse, she’s not judgmental of Aaryn or other beings different from her. Chrystine has a quiet strength and looks within herself for answers. She even rescues Aaryn at one point in the story.

The book has religious undertones but Shculze doesn’t overdo it. Faith, prayer and God’s plan are spoken of often.

Some of the book was slightly reminiscent of the Harry Potter world, but not enough so that I felt it was a rip-off. Twilight was mentioned which cracked me up!

I like the book and I definitely want to read the follow-up. It’s a good clean story. I think it’s perfect for young impressionable girls.