Cast in Secret

Cover
This cover is pretty typical and boring. I’ll ignore it though because never judge a book by its cover and all that.

Initial Thoughts
I’ve read this book before a while ago. It is a little easier to read the second time around. For whatever reason I enjoy reading these books even though I can pick out so many things that annoy me. I always get through them though.

My New BFF
I really like Lord Nightshade. I’d like to be BFFs with him. Plus he’s all powerful and stuff like that. He just really interests me. He never does anything predictable and he’s a bit of a mystery. I wish that we could get to know him a little bit more though.

My Crush
Severn is my crush for sure. He’s always calm and cool and will do just about anything show more to protect what he thinks is right. It’s very noble of him. And it makes him very attractive.

Writing Style
I can pick out so many things wrong with the writing in this book. There’s not enough information handed to you. The main character can be pretty annoying. It can be a bit childish sometimes. But for whatever reason I enjoyed this book. I don’t know what it is. I think i’s the world. It’s just so interesting and different. It kind of reminds me of a video game setting sometimes.

Closing Thoughts
I really enjoy reading about the world and magic in this book. I think I needed a little bit of romance thought. If I don’t get some soon I think I might give up on this series. I’m really enjoying the characters though. I wish Kaylin wasn’t so young and clueless sometimes but all the other cool characters make up for it. The stupid main female badass character is getting a little old I think. Didn’t we learn anything from Bella Swan? It’s kind of annoying how you never get any information. Something is really important, but nobody can tell you what. Also it’s a little weird that they send a 15 year old to investigate the end of the world. Something is off there. There were so many things that bothered me about this book but it still sucked me in and wouldn’t let go. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this book or not. show less

Private Kaylin Neya has a thing for children. When she sees the reflection of a young girl in a pool in Evanton's secret garden, she has to try to rescue her while trying to locate a missing reliquary that was the reason Evanton called for the Hawks in the first place. Then a young child from the Tha'alani also goes missing and Kaylin is certain that the two cases are connected.

In order to rescue the missing Tha'alani child, Kaylin has to learn much more about magic than she would like. She has spent years trying to ignore the strange magic that appears as writing on her body. But Kaylin has to deal with the Elements - especially Water - and a missing Arcanist who spent years experimenting on the Tha'alani with the Emperor's approval show more and who really wants to continue his work despite the fact that his experiments were terminated and he is being hunted by the wolves.

This is a richly complex fantasy set in a wonderfully detailed world. I really enjoyed learning more about the Tha'alani and their history. I also enjoyed watching Kaylin learn more about her strange powers and the world she lives in.

The narration by Khristine Hvan was excellent. She has a great sense of pacing and a way of making each character's voice distinct. show less

It's always delightful to find an author who manages the middle-series books with as much enthusiasm and attention to detail as Sagara does in this one. Instead of giving us a formulaic story from a slightly different perspective, we get a completely original story that serves as a shuttle of sorts from one part of Elantra, to another. I am learning new things about this world in every page, and the way the characters react to that world are as refreshing and exciting as they were in book one.

Definitely give it a read!

When Kaylin Neya is called to investigate the theft of a stolen box from one of the (surprisingly enough) actual mages on Elani Street, home to fakes and real mages alike, she's not overly concerned with magic being a factor in this particular case. Until she looks into a pool of water while investigating the scene of the crime and sees a battered looking young girl - who calls her name. Kaylin has more than a small soft spot for children in trouble so it's no surprise when she makes this unusual case her only priority even though she has to face many, many unpleasant facets of her past to gain the information she needs to save her. Only when she begins to dig deeper does she understand the magic at work may not just threaten the life show more of one child but the entire city of Elantra.This being the third installment in Michelle Sagara's engrossing series, I feel like I've got a good handle on her characters and the world of Elantra itself. Sagara's world building is practically mind-blowing. Each of her five races are so distinct with rich, deep histories that the reader learns right along with Kaylin. Cast in Courtlight dealt primarily with the imperious and crafty Barrani and this book zeroed in on the mysterious Tha'alani - mortal creatures who have stalk-like appendages that can 'read' a person. Both were fascinating and I have a sneaking suspicion the next book will force Kaylin to learn about the Dragons...Despite its thickness (over 500 pages!) I'm seriously appreciating Sagara's style: the slow buildup of action so really doesn't make much sense until all the pieces of the puzzle neatly fall into place, leaving you basically stunned with the sheer intelligence of the entire setup. The easiest reads, they ain't - but well worth any effort you put into them. show less

Sagara doesn't give you (or Kaylin, for that matter) a moment to rest. I love how this book explored more of Elantra and the races we all love. I like how we get more insights into not only Kaylin's power, but also more of her past and her interactions with others.

It's a bit of a dissapointment that Sagara doesn't give her any time to LEARN about all the things she needs to know, but given how each book happens right after another, there is really no time to fit Kaylin's learning in. But despite this, I think one of Kaylin's major character flaws is her inability to learn by herself. She constantly calls the subjects of her failed classes useless, but time and time again we can see that if she had known everything from her classes, a show more lot of hurt wouldn't have happened. Ignorance is no excuse, as many characters have said.

The only other thing that bothered me in this book was Sagara's repeated use of the phrase "Kaylin/She had the grace to flush." the exact same phrase was repeated multiple times and I just thought it could have been rephrase to avoid exact repetition over and over again.

But otherwise, I loved the story. show less

Michelle Sagara's The Chronicles of Elantra series is one of my favorites and this title did not disappoint, A few of the books in this series have not been as strong in my opinion but this is not one of those. The story was engaging and helped to move the plot along. I felt like I learned more about many of the characters including the protagonist in this volume. I highly recommend this book.

This is the third book in the Chronicles of Elantra series by Michelle Sagara. It has been getting mixed reviews but I have to say I really enjoyed it. I mean you couldn't barely pry me away from the book, so that should say something about it.

In this book Kaylin and Severn are trying to track down a couple young girls that have been kidnapped. There is some nice character development between Kaylin and Lord Nightshade. You learn a lot more about the race of the Tha'alani, which is pretty interesting. In fact a lot of the book focuses on the Tha'alani. Kaylin learns, much to her dismay, more about her magic.

Overall I really liked this book. It was interesting to learn about the Tha'alani and you get to learn some more about the history show more of Elantra. I really don't like Kaylin as a character too much, she has kind of grown on me like a fungus, but I love the supporting cast. I think the different races in the book are very interesting. I also really like the elemental magic in this book; it was a neat idea and fun to read about.

There are a couple of things that did irritate me about this book. We all know that Kaylin has a weak spot for children, we get it. I really don't need that beat into me anymore than it already has been. It also kind of bothers me that this book is never quit sure about Kaylin's relationship to the men around her. For some reason all the guys are very protective of her yet, you can't figure out if there is any romance there; they all treat here like she is a young teenager or something. Maybe this ambiguity in Kaylin's relationships with the men around her is part of the charm of the book.

I am interested to see how all of the story arcs tie together; the overall series sometimes seems like it doesn't know where it is going. Still I really enjoyed this book, even though I am not really sure why. I will definitely read the next book in the series. show less