Okay, so a pitch of a no romance story of any kinds a hook for me. But this now was also an urban fantasy one, a road trip1 and with a title that sounds like we’re getting a little touch of horror elements? I’m checking it out at least.
The story flows Blythe, a young woman in a magical family with no magic herself. This isn’t a strange thing or treated like it might be an issue, because she knows she is a Guardian, though we don’t know what that means. She is not an outcast in her own family, but she’s moved around so much that she has trouble bonding with people, given that she always has that fear of leaving in the back of her mind.
And then it all goes to hell when her parents and little sisters are kidnapped. She’s whisked away as a Guardian to be brought into safe keeping and the adventure starts, with Blythe realizing that the people taking her to safety might not have her best interests at heart and the people who have kidnapped her family are not all they seem. She finds the rest of the Guardians and together they try to rescue her family from the Trident Republic, a rival magical…. Government, I guess.
The story is a lot of fun! With a large cast, I wouldn’t have blamed Monet for resorting to more stereotypes, but each of the main kids felt fleshed out and like real people, with their own lives outside of this strange situation they were pulled into and those lives reflected how they dealt with the struggles each of them had. Cords is the only one who I felt had a full character arc happen in the first book, but the rest are well on their way to their own paths of self discovery at the conclusion.
I do want to talk a little about how the diversity was handled in the book, because it feels notable. This is a very diverse cast both racially and in terms of queer representation. First off, it didn’t feel like a checklist like some other books I could mention. They all felt natural and like it was part of who they were instead of them being defined by it.
As an example, Blythe in particular is a bi black girl, and you never forget either of those. She’s not constantly referencing either thing, but she does state she’s bisexual early on. From that point on, you know every time she’s checking out another character2 you know it’s because she’s interested. And there’s little things that remind you that she’s black, such as her reaction to danger and casual mentions of her hair now and then.
This is the trend with everyone else in the cast. There’s the initial mention to make it clear, and then little reminders in the rest of the text so you don’t forget and so that it informs and elaborates on their character rather than being a constant reminder of how diverse the book is. Which, as you’ve probably guessed by now, is what I look for in my representation.
I will note that there was one thing that never quite clicked with me, and that was the tense. I do not like present tense. It’s a very small thing, but it was there and it was always a little jarring while reading for me. I know this is an issue for almost no one but me.
Anyway, I really liked the book! It was a lot of fun, the characters were interesting and believable, and the story was entertaining. I’m a bit sad the second book isn’t out yet, honestly.