Title: Of Feathers and Thorns
Author: Kit Vincent
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 314 Pages
Category: Fantasy, Teen Fiction
Rating: 4 Stars
At a Glance: Kit Vincent wraps dangers and intrigues around a cast that served to help or hinder when Kieren and Esten were called on to show the stronger stuff they were made of. Of Feathers and Thorns is a smart and snappy Teen Fantasy.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: After manifesting thorned magic and nearly destroying his hometown, Kieren Belltower is summoned to join the Magic Service—an institution in charge of magical affairs—and start an apprenticeship with a high-ranking magician. But instead of the mage assigned to teach him, Kieren is greeted by his haughty and annoyingly handsome senior apprentice Esten, who clearly has more important things to do than chaperone some newbie. Their teacher has disappeared on a secret assignment, leaving Esten no instructions other than a warning not to trust a soul. But as Kieren’s unruly magic proves too dangerous to leave unattended, Esten has no choice but to involve him in the matter.
Together they retrace their teacher’s last known mission—an investigation into the illegal use of magic and its connection to the devastating phenomenon called sludge, which has plagued the country for weeks. But as Kieren and Esten grow closer, they uncover a plot that thrusts their lives into danger and threatens to shatter everything they know about magic and the world they were born into.
Review: Kit Vincent has a real knack for creating characters I can’t seem to help becoming attached to. While Kieren and Esten didn’t tug at my heartstrings anywhere near as potently as Eke and Kyp in the stellar Us, Et Cetera, they worked their own magic and kept me intrigued with the world they live in. The world they thought they knew. The world that, despite the Founders’ best efforts, would become imperfect simply because humans are nothing if not human and somewhat predictable in our habit of “othering” people.
The world-building in Of Feathers and Thorns carries the story, as it’s the social and ruling structures of the place that dictates the way the magic and the mundane coexist, as well as what happens when a child’s magic manifests. That they are removed from their family—or, in Kieren’s case, very much rejected, discarded, disowned—and sent to apprentice with a higher ranking magician. This is the catalyst for Kieren and Esten meeting. Kieren is sent to live and train with Master Hanska, much to Esten’s displeasure, which means there’s plenty of friction and tension between them. Esten’s disdain is pointed and purposeful. That Master Hanska has disappeared without a word doesn’t help their situation in the slightest.
This is where the mystery comes into play, which will ultimately force the boys to work together to solve where a destructive sludge has come from along with discovering Master Hanska’s whereabouts. Who is friend and who is foe, who can be trusted and who can’t, leads Kieren and Esten into a danger neither of them are prepared for or trained to handle. Kit Vincent wraps all these dangers and intrigues around a cast that served to help or hinder when the boys were called on to show the stronger stuff they were made of.
Of Feathers and Thorns is a smart and snappy Teen Fantasy.
You can buy Of Feathers and Thorns here:
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