Charmfall (Early Review)
Charmfall by Chloe Neill
The Dark Elite #3
High school can be a battlefield, but for Lily Parker, surviving at St. Sophia’s School for Girls is a matter of life and death...
Protecting Chicago from the dark side can be an exhausting job, especially when you’re a junior. So when the girls of St. Sophia’s start gearing up for Sneak, their fall formal, Lily decides to join in on some good, old-fashioned party prep—even if it means not giving demons, vampires and the twisted magic users known as Reapers her undivided attention.
But when a Reaper infiltrates the school, Lily doesn’t forget what she’s sworn to protect. She reaches deep into herself to draw out her magic—and finds that it’s gone. And it turns out she’s not alone. A magical blackout has slammed through paranormal Chicago, and no one knows what—or who—caused it. But Lily knows getting back her magic is worth the risk of going behind enemy lines...
Protecting Chicago from the dark side can be an exhausting job, especially when you’re a junior. So when the girls of St. Sophia’s start gearing up for Sneak, their fall formal, Lily decides to join in on some good, old-fashioned party prep—even if it means not giving demons, vampires and the twisted magic users known as Reapers her undivided attention.
But when a Reaper infiltrates the school, Lily doesn’t forget what she’s sworn to protect. She reaches deep into herself to draw out her magic—and finds that it’s gone. And it turns out she’s not alone. A magical blackout has slammed through paranormal Chicago, and no one knows what—or who—caused it. But Lily knows getting back her magic is worth the risk of going behind enemy lines...
Even though Lily has only been "fighting the good fight" for a few months now, she's about had it up to here with all of it. So, in an effort to do something completely normal, she signs up to help with the party prep for the school's fall formal, Sneak. Of course she can't give up her protection detail completely, so when a Reaper is spotted on the school groups, Lily steps up to ward him off, only to find that her magic is gone, as well as every other adept's in the city. She will have to use every resource possible to get to the bottom of things, regardless of what her friends think of her methods, as they are all sitting ducks.
I was very happy to see Lily start to really think for herself in Charmfall. Prior to this point she has been blindly following the Adepts, and their creed that all Reapers are evil, soul sucking beings, making everything black and white. However, her reaper "frenemy," Sebastian has been trying to open her eyes to all the shades of gray there are in between. Of course she realizes that he probably has an ulterior motive, but that doesn't stop her from accepting his help with certain things. Unfortunately, the rest of the Adepts don't quite seem eye to eye with her on this, which causes a whole lot of tension. Yet, she didn't back down, and stood behind her beliefs in finding the truth, rather than blindly believing what anyone has told her in the past. This may be a little bit of a stretch, but I have a feeling that in time, Lily will do a whole lot of moving and shaking, and could potentially be the one to change the whole system. I guess only time will tell.
If you have read my reviews of the first two installments in this series, you'll know that I enjoyed the books, but not without a good bit of frustration. My biggest problems were a lack of forward momentum and an unclear plot. After finishing Charmfall, I actually breathed a sigh of relief because things are really starting to head in the right direction. It didn't take long at all for the action to pick up, and it was clear from almost the very start what the big issue would be, making for a much more engrossing read than the previous installments. However, I do have to admit there was one factor that disappointed me. I had been expecting to find out more about those "rat" things from Hexbound, as nothing was really revealed about them other than they were made by the Reapers. Also, we still do not have any new information about Lily's parents, and I am still incredibly curious about that situation. I'm hoping that the next installment comes with a good bit of information to help assuage my curiosity, but then again they did say that's what killed the cat.
Despite my frustrations in the past, I feel like Charmfall has erased all of those problems and given the series a fresh, new start. It was a perfect blend of action, romance, mystery, and character development, to make for a very entertaining read, and I'm very excited to see where things lead next. If you are a fan of Lily's adventures, then you won't want to miss this action packed installment.
(Received a copy from the publisher)
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