Title: Scent of Magic
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Source: Amazon
Rating: ★★★★☆
Like Touch of Power, this book clearly exhibited the superb writing I’ve come to expect from Maria V. Snyder. Even better, she completely fixed the pacing issue I had with the first one. Instead of dragging at the beginning, this book started off fast. The author kept the tension and excitement high with the introduction of a second viewpoint. Strategic chapter breaks kept me constantly wondering what would happen next. The world building of the last book was expanded on in new and clever ways, always staying internally consistent. I was more engaged in this book than the previous one and loved every minute of it.
Title: Taste of Darkness
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★★
The first bit of this book seemed slow to me, but we quickly switched back to a multi-perspective format which preserved the exciting pace of the second book. The world-building only got better as Avry solved more mysteries about the plague. The action was constant. The relationships between the characters, both the romances and many great friendships, really came into their own in this book. While many series today seem to be trilogies because it’s trendy, Marie V. Snyder took advantage of that format in her creation of believable and emotionally engaging characters. The romance was very convincing, the friendly banter was a ton of fun, and the demonstrations of the trust these characters built throughout the series was inspiring. This series only got better as it went and after finishing the last page, I’d wholeheartedly recommend the whole thing.
Jillian @Addled by Books
Thanks for the reviews! I’ve never read any of her books, but I recently found out that Maria V Snyder lives in the same small town that I do, so obviously now I need to read them in case I bump into her at the grocery store. 🙂
DoingDewey
How cool! If you meet her, I’d love to hear about it 🙂
Christine @Buckling Bookshelves
I haven’t read this series, but have heard good things about it — may need to look into it one day!
DoingDewey
If you’re looking for a YA trilogy, this is one I’d highly recommend. The author’s writing is fantastic and she avoids the annoying YA cliches like love triangles very well. Plus the world building was very creative 🙂
Heather
I need to get back to reading Snyder. I read the first two books in her Study series and never finished! I have no idea why, because I really enjoyed them! If, no, WHEN, I finish that series, I will look this one up.
DoingDewey
Oh, you definitely should! I loved the writing in both series, but I liked the plot and the world building in this one much better 🙂