Just to let you know I tagged some of this review as a spoiler because well there's just no way around it.

I know that I am not going to do this book justice so just bare with me please. So this one picks up shortly after The Iron Flower ends. We get a slew of POVs in this story as it goes through the steps of telling its tale. However, Elloren is still in the for-front of it. We learn that the trees are out to get her and I kind of hope that she comes to terms with them in her own way. Maybe helping them grow and thrive or something. We learn of a devastating loss that might not be a loss. And Lukas Grey has successfully found firm place in my heart. Of course if he is alive or dead isn't something we know by the end of this story. Which of course has been screaming so much. Because I thought that he was going to be her enemy only to find out that he wasn't. I kind of love and hate how Laurie Forest has us fall in love with these characters only to have the rug pulled out from under us when we don't know if they are alive or dead. Which happens a few times in this one. So be prepared for that when you read it.

The only bad thing about this book is all of the new characters and their names. I will totally need to reread at least this book when the next one comes out next year or so. Because it is a lot of keep track of. Although each time I went into a new chapter with these new characters it was refreshed whom they were which was helpful. In the end I both loved and hated the jumping around.

As for the story itself it was well paced and done. I would probably get lost in this world if I was ever dropped into it. Even if I had a map. As for characters that we have grown to love and hate. I have to say that the author did an amazing job with them all. I love how by the end of this one Elloren has come into her own and isn't a scared little girl anymore. She has put on her big girl pants and is ready to take on the war that has found her. And it ends on a cliffhanger that I kind of saw coming. Ive been chatting with the author and knew this one ended on one. But I was thinking it was going to be so much worse than it was. So many lives hang in the balance by the end of this story and although I do know that one certain person is still alive thanks to a slip of the tongue in one of my author shows. (HEHEHEHE Thanks for that Laurie) I have to say that the one character that stole my heart in this one was the little dragon that for the life of me I can't find how to spell his name.


Go Into This One Knowing: This book is going to kill you!! And man was it sexy!!

Reading this book was torturous. I liked the first two books, even enjoyed them, but…this one just didn’t work for me. The biggest issue is the length of the book. It was so long, and unbearably boring for the whole entire book I read. So many characters, so many POVs, so much going on and add onto that my disinterest in any of the romances at this point.

The Writing
The writing is fine. It’s filled with so much prose and inane dialogue though, and is twice the length it needs to be. In fact, so much of it is pointless. I just did not enjoy it at all.

The Pacing
Bad is one word for it. Really bad. As in, cut some of this out! If I’m falling asleep reading what is supposed to be an exciting part, it is too long. If I’m skimming pages, it is too long. I do not think the pacing was done well at all, but again, it is tied into the writing which is pitifully long and drawn out. None of it was working.

The Plot
What plot? I feel as if we have seen this plot over and over and over again. It is boring. It is trite. There feel like there are no stakes. We know all this information. This has been so dragged out. It was unbearable. I wish this book had been condensed.

The Characters
Too many. Way too many. Too much going on, it never works for me, and it really didn’t work here. I didn’t care about any of the characters at all. In fact, if they all died I don’t think I would care.
Every character paired up…I even liked some of the previous characters, but I hated them ALL in this book. I hated the good guys, I hated the bad guys…I am just over all the characters.
Elloren is back and forth on everything. She has no consistency to her, and while it could make the story interesting all it does is drag it out into boredom. I wanted more from her.

Overall
Disappointing. I had high hopes for the series. I will not be continuing it.

DNF @ 46%

This book was amazing! I love the new character POVs. We get more insight into Lukas and the reasoning behind some of his past actions. This is the first book I’ve read that made me cry real tears. Have your tissues ready, you will need them! A definite 5 star read. I can’t wait for the next one!

This series has become one of my favorite series and book 3, The Shadow Wand, did not disappoint. This series has not been getting the attention that it so richly deserves. It is very beautifully written and the characters and magical system are very original. If you are looking for a solid fantasy with a brilliant main character and a great supporting cast then you should pick this series up and give it a try today.

This was one of the best books I have ever read and cannot wait to place this in the hands of my patrons. This series is a MUST READ for all Fantasy lovers. Elloren really comes in to her own in this book with EXCELLENT character development. You get a real sense of good vs. evil in The Shadow Wand and will often times find yourself hanging on to the edge of your seats.

Well Done Laurie Forest!

I have been a fan from day 1 but you have gotten better and better with each book.

Perfect for fans of magic, mages, good vs. evil, romance, etc...

I was so excited to get approved to read this book! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this amazing book by Laurie ! For a 640 page book, well let's just say I devoured it! Laurie Forest continues to weave the magical spell that is the Black Witch Chronicles. Her writing is so utterly beautiful and engrossing, it was definitely hard to put down. The way she describes everything in such gorgeous detail is something I love about this series, As I got closer to the end I realized that there would be yet another book in this series and I was so freaking happy!
So the books starts off with Elloren is instructed to go back home and seek the protection of Lukas Grey. The reason? Their potential allies have found out that she is the Black Witch of prophecy and are going to send assassins to kill her. Will Lukas help her? Should she trust him with the secret?
Elloren must learn to control her powers before Marcus Vogel captures her and uses her for his own plans. Her friends and family are scattered across the continent with their own battles to win.
I loved this book. Seriously, this will be a series that I can read again and again.

Thank you NetGalley.com for the ARC!!!

Mixed feelings on this one. Of course I read it eagerly - loved the book and seeing more of this world. But I didn't really like Elloren in this book. She had been through so much...and rebelled against societal norms in previous books. However, in this one, she was...well a whiny wimp. Ironically, I enjoyed the added development of other characters, in particular Tierney and Lukas.

And of course, The Shadow Wand ended with a total cliff-hanger. I NEED to know what happens next!!!!! Hopefully it won't be another year.

ARC from Netgalley. Thank you. I really liked this book! I felt it was a good flow from book 3. There are definite surprises in this book that I was not expecting. I agree with others that there are a lot of new characters but I felt that they had places in the story, not just randomly thrown in. It gave some history of some of the main characters which is always nice. I liked the choices Ren made. I liked the change of scenery as well. This book did well in anticipating the questions I had as I went along. I hate having to wait to the end of a book to understand the entire story. Very much looking forward to #4!

Look, I'm just going to put out there....the 3rd installment of the Black Witch Chronicles should have been the last. I was surprised to learn it is currently being planned as a five book series to begin with, then became further convinced a five book deal was unnecessary given how little plot important content appeared in this third volume, despite it's high page count. Roughly 1/3 of the book is given over to other characters and that time is spent almost exclusively pairing them off with inevitable romantic partners (none of them, of course, actually LIKE the people they will obviously end up with, but that seems to be Laurie Forest's bread and butter). The remaining 2/3 of the book are dedicated to Elloren, a protagonist so wishy-washy and sniveling that even the trees turn against her (and, frankly, I am with the trees on this one). Elloren's "plot" in this volume is limited to returning to her homeland to finalize her marriage to her problematic fiance, and then immediately leave again (literally, the majority of the book takes place over about 3 days, with the rest of the time stuffed into a one chapter training montage that covers six weeks of unexplored time). It's an approach that is, for readers not invested in torturous romances, boring, off putting, and likely to cause more than a few readers to ask themselves "why would anyone even care about this?"

Fans of overly dramatic, turgid, purple prose for teens (I'm looking at you Twilight and Fallen fans) are likely to DELIGHT in this book, so there's absolutely a market for it. But anyone going into this series for the fantasy element will be increasingly disappointed.

Wow! Dare I say this may be my favorite of the series?! The opening pages are very slow, but after that you won’t want to put this book down. So much drama and power! As the Black Witch, Elloren isn’t safe anywhere. Vogel wants her power to destroy Erthia and the rest of Erthia can’t trust the destruction of a Black Witch. Either route leads to hunting down Elloren. Her best chance for survival is allying with Lukas Grey for training and protection. Readers will enjoy watching Elloren develop her power and confidence. The romance has picked up in this book, which some readers will be head over heels to hear if it’s with Yvan or Lukas! Either way, fans of this series will not be disappointed!