Mini-Review Monday: Blood Mage

Blood Mage
By Aimee Davis
Series: Changing Tides #2
Ebook: 360 pages
Publication Date: July 18, 2017
Publisher: Createspace / Self-published
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ✰ ( 4 out of 5 Stars )

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Related: | Wheel Mages | Heart of Betrayal |
Categories: Fantasy, Magic, Review Copy

Monster. Murderer. Oathbreaker.

Three years after the events leading to the deaths of her friend and lover, twenty-one-year-old Alena Kozlov is still trying to outrun her past. But the darkness within her is not something she can simply leave behind.

The nightmares plaguing her become reality when a familiar face seeks her out in her isolated desert home bearing news that awakens all she’s tried to keep locked inside. There’s a promise she made long ago she’s determined to keep, even if it means she will have to tear what remains of herself, and her world, apart.

To save her friends, she may have to become the monster once more. But fear is not for the damned.

**I received this advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review**

This book picks up three years after The Wheel Mages ends, with our main character, Alena living in the midst of a barren desert. She has closed herself off from the world, the Sanctuary, and her own magic and memories. The first book ended with her performing blood magic, which is against the law, to free herself from the evil Allard, killing dozens of people in the process. Her master and love, Nikolai is dead. Philipe is a traitor. Everything is ruined. So she runs and avoids, living in guilt and self loathing.

I hadn't touched my magic in the last three years and letting it loose so casually caused exhilaration to coarse through me. I'd forgotten what it felt like to embrace this part of myself, to let my magic sing to me.

Until Camille tracks her down in the middle of the desert, informing her the fire mage she rescued from the streets has now been kidnapped by Allard and is being used to lure Alena back to the Trade Nations. This story is about her journey home, but it is so much more than that. It describes her journey back to herself, as well. She must face the guilt she places on herself for the deaths of so many. She must also find a way to trust again, and with the addition of Lukas, a sexy air mage leading the expedition, trust doesn't come easy. The last air mage that she trusted, Philipe, betrayed her in the worst way possible.

You're a water mage. You put on your emotion like you put on clothes. And if that weren't enough, the whole of the magical world knows your entire life story because of who you are and what you've done. Whatever secrets you think you have, they're not secrets.

It is a hard road back to salvation that she must walk, and my heart broke for her again and again. Watching her fury destroy when all she really wanted was forgiveness for the evils that she had done to escape.

We were damned, all of us. I thought the reminded might ease the terror, but it wasn't to be convinced. It continued to claw at the parts of me struggling to surface through the darkness, the parts of me holding onto life with bloody fingers.

I loved this second book in the series! The characters were well developed, the world was beautifully written, the plot line was fast pace and flowed well. I really enjoyed this addition, and I cannot for Aimee Davis to write more in this heartbreaking adventure!

Meet the Author: Aimee Davis
Hey everyone, I’m Aimee, author of the debut novel The Wheel Mages. If you’re here, you probably want to know a little about me, so I’m going to give you a quick run down. I was born on February 22, 1988 (Pisces) in a little town in west-central Pennsylvania called Dubois, which is just outside Punxsutawney (the place with the weather-forecasting groundhog). My family moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia when I was about 9 months old, and I still call the suburbs home.

I grew up in a typical (read: dysfunctional) family. I loved school and reading and all things magic. My bedroom was always covered in posters of unicorns and dolphins, and I dreamed of being an author. To make that dream come alive, I went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to enter their creative writing undergraduate program and hone my craft. Fast forward a bunch of years, and here we are.

Here’s the most important thing to know about me though: I want this journey to be as much about you as it is about me. Authors wouldn’t be much without their audience, after all. You matter to me. Say it aloud if you have to. You matter to me. Never forget that.

So that’s why I’m encouraging everyone to tell me about him or herself. Drop me an email, comment on this post (or any other), hit me up on Facebook, tweet me. Tell me about you! Tell me about your dreams and hopes and fears. Tell me about where you’ve been and where you’re going. Tell me about what you had for breakfast, I don’t care. In return, I’ll tell you some fun things about me and try my very hardest to keep you involved in the creative process, warts and all, so you can see how writing goes from telling a story to taking a journey.

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