YA fantasy with a fresh premise - at least, fresh to me: people bond to any of a wide variety of mystical creatures and become arcanists, their powers differing based on the creature they are bonded to. Also, there's a magical plague which drives the creatures mad and corrupts the humans who are bonded to them, and pirates are deliberately spreading it as a terror tactic (and because it can make their creatures' magic more powerful).

It's a premise that's well thought through and well sustained. There's a contained cast - six young people, newly bonded, coming to an arcanists' guild as apprentices, all of whom were easy to tell apart, and most of whom played clear and necessary roles; and no more than four more senior guildspeople, of whom two featured heavily.

There's also a positive adoptive father-figure, who isn't on stage much but is very much present in recollection for the main character. That character is motivated to prove to everyone that he isn't a criminal like his parents, but a noble and good person like his adoptive father, and it's a strong motivation, well handled. He wants to do right, but because of everyone's expectations about him and the way the situation is set up, often ends up breaking the rules in order to do what he thinks ought to be done.

The kids' conflicts are believable and not just cliches, and their characters at least begin to flesh out during the story, in ways that make sense. While there are hints of early attraction that will no doubt cause trouble between them in the future, nothing becomes overt in this book as far as romance between the cast is concerned.

There is the usual hard-to-swallow YA trope of inexperienced apprentices being able to do anything whatsoever against a more powerful and mature foe (and I did spot the roles of "unexpected" villain and unlikely ally coming several miles off), but I think the author pulls it off in the end.

The worldbuilding is fairly light, and mostly centred on the magical creatures (who have their own personalities, particularly the ferretlike rizzel, who's consistently amusing). There are two or three familiar names from the real world, mixed with a lot of made-up names, which was a touch odd; I thought "at least the author doesn't make the common mistake of using biblical names in a setting where Christianity doesn't exist," but then late in the piece there was a cathedral, so perhaps Christianity, or something like it, does exist.

I had a pre-release copy from Netgalley, and the very common issue of missing past perfect tense when referring to earlier events in past tense narration was frequent; it may be reduced (but, given how frequent it is, probably won't be eliminated) by thorough copy editing before publication.

Overall, with those few caveats, this is a sound and entertaining piece of storytelling, and I would happily read more in the series.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Shami Stovall's Knightmare Arcanist, the first book in her Frith Chronicles series, turned out to be pretty fun and action-packed read. However, it did have some weak points that detracted from the overall reading experience for me. This book follows Volke Savan, an apprentice gravedigger on a tiny and remote island who's dream is to become an arcanist and finally leave his island. To become an arcanist and wield magic, one must first bond with an eldrin (a term for any time of mythical creature). So when Volke meets a knightmare named Luthair, he doesn't hesitate at the chance to fulfill his dreams.

The strongest aspects of this book for me by far were the premise and magic system. In this world, arcanists use magic based on the type of eldrin that they bond with. For example, phoenixes have fire magic, knightmares have shadow magic, etc. This might be because of the Pokemon lover in me, but what I really loved about this system was how much it focused on the bond between the arcanist and eldrin as well as the vast amount of different creatures out there. Overall, it makes for huge potential in future worldbuilding.

What really put me off throughout the whole book, however, was the dialogue. The overall writing itself was quite good, but when it came to character dialogue, it seemed a little simplistic and lacking nuance. The imbalance was quite jarring to me. Another, albeit smaller, issue I had was that the pacing at the very end seemed very rushed. Although everything wraps up, I ended the book feeling like an unwanted guest being forced out of someone's house.

Overall, it was a fun reading experience, and I'm curious to explore more of the world and see more eldrin in the future installments!

I really wanted to like this book. I have a love for Phoenixs so any book about them catches my eye, but yet they seem to disappoint me. I could be a harsh critique because I love phoenix's but this book just didn’t give me that feeling. I think this could be a very popular book among the ya fans, I just didn’t find it any more spectacular than other ya fantasy novels right now.

Shami Stovall delivers a world full of magic, adventure, friendship, secrets and lots of action. Everything is taking place into a well-crafted setting that you can easily visualize, due to the intricate details the writer is offering. The characters have distinctive personalities and while their utter goal is to attain the magic of their world, their motives differ from one another.

Our story follows Volke, a fifteen-year-old boy, who, despite his poor upbringing, is dedicated to becoming an arcanist. Arcanists can wield magic but in order to achieve that, they must form a bond with a mystical creature. What power the magician can control depends on his mystical creature’s abilities. After overcoming many obstacles, Volke manages to bond with a Knightmare named Luthair, under one condition: he must help him take revenge on his first arcanist’s killer. Volke must learn his craft, seak out the person who murdered Luthair’s partner while, in the meantime, trying to stay intact from a terrible plague that drives arcanists and mystical creatures crazy.

The story has a fairytale-vibe with sprinkles of darkness to make your skin crawl just at the right moments. The description of the world setting and the portrayal of the mystical creatures’ appearance and powers were cohesive and clear in a non-tiring way. I could picture, smell and feel everything the writer intended me to.

The characters by not being perfect are more relatable. Even the mean ones (not the evil ones) have redeemable qualities and the will to change when proven wrong. I loved that Volke has petty or bad thoughts, at times, but never acts upon them. He’s good and just and everything he does is filtered by the principles recited on the Pillar: an ancient staircase made of stone with one hundred and twelve steps. On each one are written words of wisdom for every sorcerer to follow; a very imaginative addition to the story.

I equally adored his interactions with Illia, the orphan girl he grew up with. Their relationship is based on loyalty and trust and their friendship is above all else, no matter what’s taking place. Romance is not a priority for this book’s plot so the reader gets to focus more on what’s happening.

The pacing was great for me and the writing made this book a quick read. My only complaint is that I wanted something more towards the ending. I expected/craved for things to not be so obvious; some twist, perhaps, that could change the course of the story.

Still, I enjoyed this first installment of the Frith Chronicles and I’m excited for the next one. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who is up for a magical adventure laced with dark-ish elements.

This ARC was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. I was absolutely thrilled I got this ARC! I love all things science fiction and fantasy so I was ready and willing to give this a go. Didn't disappoint I loved it! Will read more from this author in the future!