Sarah Fine first caught my eye a while ago, a bit after her Guardians of Sanctum was released. I hated that book. Not because it was bad, it wasn't. It was one of the most intricate and imaginative plots I've ever read. Not because I didn't finish it, because I flew through the pages. It was just straight up depressing. Kind of like If I Stay by Gayle Forman - great but just makes you feel too sad. But Sarah Fine is an amazing author.

When I saw Reliquary and read the blurb, I clicked preorder straight away. It was a no brainer. Gorgeous cover. Amazing author. And a plot and world building that sounded riveting. I only held off on reading it when it became available because I was caught up in a few other series and I wasn't quite ready for my heart to be ripped out. The upside to this is that when I finally did get around to it - the sequel was only two days away.

This book is pretty much perfect. The world building is unique. The characters are fascinating and the plot is just good. It stands out in a sea of indistinguishable paranormal and urban fantasy worlds. The romance is about the only thing that somewhat ruins this book - and not because it doesn't make absolute sense, just because Asa Ward people, Asa frigging Ward. It's hard to adore Mattie when you just want to belt her over the head for being so stupid. But I think that in itself says a lot about the book because any author that can create a world and characters that can inspire so much feeling within a reader is obviously talented.

Plus I literally finished and proceeded to preorder both sequels. ( )

Loved the sex dungeon part. ( )

Mattie's fiance is kidnapped and she's determined to get him back. In doing so she finds herself in a world where magic-infused items are sold as a drug, and magic itself is addictive.

I liked the magic-as-drug thing. It made for a much grittier book when the stakes for doing magic--and using magic--are so high. I also liked how the addiction was clearly portrayed because it made people's motivations that much more understandable. The book also refreshingly did not concentrate on romance, despite the erotic scenes.

[I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.]
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The concept for this book and the beautiful cover is what drew me to want to check this book out. This book did start out good. I especially liked the darkness of the story. It really did feel like Mattie and Asa were chasing after Ben in the underbelly of the magical world. Although, I have to say that I was neutral when it came to Mattie and Ben. I wanted a little more backstory about their relationship before Ben disappeared. For me it was Asa that I liked better in regards to the two brothers. Yet, part of this did have to do with the fact that Asa was a stronger presence in this book. The abilities that Mattie had with taking magic and controlling it was cool. However even with the darkness of the story, Asa, and Mattie I did find myself struggling to stay connected in the moment while reading the book. Despite this factor I would try this author again. ( )

This book by Fine educated me. I had no idea what a reliquary was and now I do. It was an interesting portrayal of a group of people with special abilities that I did not know about either. At base the story was a romance with mystery involved and the story was one that kept you turning the pages to find out what was going to happen. Received the book through Goodreads giveaways.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" "Wesley's Wars" "To Whom It May Concern" and "Tell Me About the United Methodist Church" ( )