#BookReview: Shimmer and Burn (Shimmer and Burn #1) by Mary Taranta

  To save her sister’s life, Faris must smuggle magic into a plague-ridden neighboring kingdom in this exciting and dangerous start to a brand-new fantasy duology.

Faris grew up fighting to survive in the slums of Brindaigel while caring for her sister, Cadence. But when Cadence is caught trying to flee the kingdom and is sold into slavery, Faris reluctantly agrees to a lucrative scheme to buy her back, inadvertently binding herself to the power-hungry Princess Bryn, who wants to steal her father’s throne.

Now Faris must smuggle stolen magic into neighboring Avinea to incite its prince to alliance—magic that addicts in the war-torn country can sense in her blood and can steal with a touch. She and Bryn turn to a handsome traveling magician, North, who offers protection from Avinea’s many dangers, but he cannot save Faris from Bryn’s cruelty as she leverages Cadence’s freedom to force Faris to do anything—or kill anyone—she asks. Yet Faris is as fierce as Bryn, and even as she finds herself falling for North, she develops schemes of her own.

With the fate of kingdoms at stake, Faris, Bryn, and North maneuver through a dangerous game of magical and political machinations, where lives can be destroyed—or saved—with only a touch.

Mary Taranta grew up playacting her favorite stories and writing some of her own in the woods behind her family’s farmhouse. Originally from Ohio, she moved to central Florida at the age of fifteen, where she still remains with her husband, two cats, and library cards in two counties.

I have to say that I was so excited for this one. I adore dark fantasies. This one to start out was ok. It was well paced and The characters were pretty good. But at almost 50% it started to fall apart for me. 

But it was beyond confusing. The magic system was never explained well. 
The story of what I understood was the same. I had to go back many times just to make sure I was understanding what was going on. By the end of this one I just didn't care what happened. Although I should have die hard loved one it fell far from my expectations. The characters were kinda meh to tell you true. I kinda wish this would have been a book about Alister as he was much more interesting than anyone else in this book!! 

In the end I loved that this author wasn't scared to shy away from Blood, guts, and gore. It was a nice change from normal YA. However that just didn't do enough to fix the issues this one had dealing with the confusing story and somewhat boring characters.

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Posted in: 2 Stars, Edelweiss, Jessica P., Review, Simon & Schuster, Young Adult