YA Book Review: Bright Blaze of Magic by Jennifer Estep

Title: Bright Blaze of Magic

Author: Jennifer Estep

Series: Black Blade #3

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Kensington

Pub Date: April 26, 2016

Pages: 368

My Copy: Courtesy of Netgalley and Kensington

Book Summary:

Bad Things Always Come In Threes…

As a thief, I'm good at three things: hiding in the shadows, getting in and out unseen, and uncovering secrets. I put these skills to work for the Sinclair Family, one of the magical mobs that run the tourist town of Cloudburst Falls. 

Everyone knows Victor Draconi wants to take over all the other Families--and kill every last Sinclair. What they don't know is that I'm on to him, and no way will I let the man who murdered my mom get away with hurting all the other people I care about. Especially when I've got places to break into, stuff to steal, and Devon Sinclair fighting right by my side… 

Book Review:

A terrific third book in this series. I totally found myself enjoying the fact that everything hits the fan literally in this book as Victor Draconi puts his final plans into motion. Lila and company try to stop him of course from doing this and find that nothing is ever easy. 

What I really love about Lila is that she is super smart and very sneaky. She certainly seems to be a much different person and a little bit more attached to the people she has come to love and respect very much. I like how this book starts with Lila, Felix, and Devon stealing some black blades from Victor, so he can’t use them, and replace them with fakes. Think this idea is wonderful. Also the fact that Deah helps them avoid being caught. Deah knows that her father is no good and decides to help them.

Also the fact that Claudia tells Lila to hide the black blades someplace other than the mansion tells me that Claudia knows Victor will come looking for them and it’s best to keep them hidden to stop Victor from doing what he wants to do. This comes to be a very wise tactical decision as something happens that we should have seen coming. Lila and Claudia know that Victor will stop at nothing to destroy the other families if he has the chance.

So of course, chaos ensues at a dinner where all the families are and of course Victor claims that he has black blades and has taken all the magic and to join his family or die. Of course no one wants to do this. Of course, the Black Blades he thought he had, backfires on him as one of Victor guards uses a fake black blade and realizes that someone switched his black blades for fakes. This infuriates him and he decides to attack and try to kill everybody. A lot of people die and get captured, but Felix, Lila, Devon, and Deah get out of this situation and go into hiding. This makes things more difficult for them as they have to figure out how to rescue everybody and fight against Victor. Victor has to be stopped before it’s too late.

I like the action packed nature of this third book a lot. There is one scene where people are talking and trying to gather intel. One scene in particular was a little easter egg for those of who read The Elemental Assassin series. Love the Pork Pit shirt that Deah is forced to wear by Lila so that they can gain intel on what is happening now that Victor is trying to find them. They need to know where everybody is hiding. What happens is nothing but short of interesting as Blake finds them and Deah unfortunately sprains her ankle and gives herself up. So of course, Lila and Devon go back to the mansion at one point and she finds her pixie is well and good. She needs to get something at the mansion.

We also learn that Lila hid the rest of the Black Blades in a place where no one would think to look. The Library where she first stayed. Thought it was a nice way to bring the series in a way back to where Lila was at the start of this series. Thought this was a nice twist and also we learn that during the time when she is trying to rescue certain members of the family, Victor lures her into a trap where she is most likely to die from copper crushers. While the Copper Crushers venom is coursing through her veins, she gets a vision and sees her mother, who tells her how to defeat Victor and that she is the only one who can do it.

Claudia and Victor are supposed to fight, and yet Lila explains to Claudia how she saw her mother and what her mother told her. Claudia agrees to let Lila fight for the family. Claudia explains that even as a teenager, he always seemed to crave power and nothing was ever enough for him. Lila needs to do this for her mother and everyone he has killed. I really have enjoyed how Lila has changed and matured over the course of three books. 

The fight between Victor and Lila is really excellent and both of them have surprises in a few ways that you never expected. Also was surprised that they had good banter and that Victor was not going to give her an easy fight because of the way that both of their talents work. It’s very similar to one another. Also the fact that he is surprised by the fact that Lila has a talent he has wanted for a long time. So he wants to take her talent and kill her not realizing that Lila always has a plan as well. The fight takes you on quite a ride and I loved that Lila emerged victorious and then peace ensues.

I really loved how this series ended. It was a happy ending and Lila found something she never thought she would have in her life, family and friends. Her life is really good now that she has avenged her mother. Plus she can move on with her life.

Rating:

4.5 Hearts