Alli is our orphan, fae heroine set in a new world. After eight years of training with her fellow untried fae, they must swear fealty to a fae power source known as Underhill. Underhill shatters and Alli is forced to run from her home after it becomes clear she knows who destroyed it. I loved this urban fantasy world and the elaborate magical systems that were in play. The relationship between Alli and her orphan best friend, Hyacinth, made me laugh. They also gave each other what each of them needed, even if it wasn’t always what they wanted. Alli is hunt down by none other than her childhood crush turned malicious acquaintance, Faolan. Faolan’s constant meanness had me cheering that she would end up on team Drake. The political plot and pacing remained rapid throughout the book. I’ve struggled with Mayer’s books, when it’s her own series, but when she’s paired with another author, I like the stories better. I know I’m in the minority there, but her Forty Proof series ruined her as an ‘auto buy’ author. Moving forward to book 2. (4/5 rating)
Tag: by Shannon Mayer
Book Review – Midlife Witch Hunter (Forty Proof 6) by Shannon Mayer
I just finished the 6th book of this series, and the 7th is due out in August. This is my second series by Mayer. I loved the premise of this series: middle aged witch finding her way, group of friends helping her battle evil, and potential love interests scattered throughout. In this book, they must travel to France at the Council’s request, and save a witch from being sacrificed for a vampire army. I really enjoyed this story in the first few books, but it seems to have stalled. I love the idea of Bree, but she hasn’t seen any growth as a person in six books and her hot and cold relationships with the love interests of this series. Her episode with Crash kind of ruined this for me. The magical side of this book was great but the relationship side of this left a lot to be desired and this may be the last book I read for a while. I really wanted to love this the same way I loved KF Breane’s similar midlife series, but Mayer has made that impossible. (3/5 rating)
