Magic to the Bone (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress 7) by Annie Bellet

Stars: 3.5 out of 5

A lot of things happen in this book despite it’s small page count. First of all, Jade finally reunites with Wolf and integrates her into her own psyche so to say. This makes their bond stronger and more seamless than before. And she gets back her magic that she almost completely burned out in the previous books by rewinding time to save her friends from Samir.

Oh, and the final confrontation with Samir that we have been building up to for six books now, finally takes place. WARNING – SPOILERS:  So ding dong, Samir is dead by the end of this book. I am not sure how I feel about that. For six books he was built up as this ultimate big bad that Jade was so afraid of, so the final battle was a little… underwhelming? Don’t get me wrong, it was still intense and the stakes were high, but not high enough in my opinion. I guess that’s the issue with creating an ultimate big bad and hinting at how badass he is for six books – the reader has very high expectations of the final confrontation.

That disappointment notwithstanding, I liked Jade’s progress in this book. She finally realized that she can’t shelter her friends from danger all the time. And by trying to do that, she paints a big target on their backs and weakens herself as well, since she has to spread her attention so much. She realized that her friends weren’t hapless either, and that the best thing she could do was trust them to do their part in the fight.

That’s a lot of growth on Jade’s part, because all her life she was on the run, trying not to get attached, trying (and failing) over and over again to protect any found family she would create. 

I also liked that her friends trusted her enough to know she didn’t just run on them, even though they had no memories of the horrors that happened before she rewound time. I love protagonists who have a strong support system and wonderful friends.

The only question is what happens now? The big bad that loomed over Jade’s life for seven books is dead (or as good as dead), and there are three more books left in the series. What can be worst than an immortal sorcerer hell-bent on harvesting your heart and destroying everyone you love in the process? I guess I will have to pick up the next book to find out.

I am also a bit sad that Harper decided to leave town for a bit, though I understand why. 

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