Book Blurb: 

What do you believe in? You have power, but what will you use it for?

Hunted down by Vincent Reznick’s henchman, Nora Youngblood is forced to flee the only home she’s ever known, while the life of Aidan, the boy she loves, hangs in the balance.

Nora and the wizard, Malachi, escape to Aeraileas seeking the help of the Ashwaken, a council of powerful wizards. But before she can complete their mission, Reznick tracks her down, and she finds herself thrust into a world she knows nothing about.

Throughout her journey there, Nora learns to be strong and face danger head-on. With newfound determination, she must find the next piece of the Morrigan, a powerful weapon, before Reznick can, and risk everything, including her life, to save Aidan, her friends, and the people of her world.

Book Review:

This is the second book in the Grim Nora series. The story ramped up and how!
I had also read and reviewed the first book in the series, you can find it here – Grim Nora and the Secret of the Skull

So as you can tell, I really liked the first book, and the only minor concern I had was that the pacing wasn’t the best. In this book, I am pleased to say it has definitely improved quite a bit. Similarly, the character development was equally realistic and interesting, and deeper than surface level insights. You can see that Albaugh has gotten even better with this book, and I love love love it so much when an author I enjoy grows as a writer and it reflects in their next books. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Nora’s future!

The plot, just like in the first book, is pretty awesome. I particularly enjoyed the world building, which take the universe we see in the first book, and expands on it. There were quite a few intriguing snippets of information that make me want to read the next book immediately! I’m a fan of Albaugh now, and I think I’ll start reading epic fantasy series again – something I was reluctant to get back into. I’d stopped reading those a few years ago for various reasons, but this series makes me want to dive in again. So hopefully you can expect more epic fantasy / series reviews on here!

As for the story line – more characters, larger story arcs, multiple worlds, and really cool “side quests” for our lead character Nora make this a wonderfully engaging read. Fast paced in all the right ways, I breezed through this over the course of a weekend. I also enjoyed reading about Koneko, Connor, Aidan and Kabos. Gavin’s compass was a pretty important character too!

The final chapters were super fun to read, and I really need to know more about Aidan ASAP – not a spoiler by the way; you know I don’t do those! I know I’m repeating myself but I really hope this is a longer series because I totally want to read more of this universe and how Nora grows. And her powers! And the Morrigan!

So in case I haven’t been clear, which of course I have, I absolutely recommend this book. On that note, I also do recommend all future books in the Grim Nora series even though I haven’t read them, and I don’t know whether Albaugh has written them yet!