(Unlike in some “chosen one” books in which said chosen one experiences great growth in a matter of weeks. West, smartly, keeps her protagonist young while factoring in enough time passed for Bristal’s growth to feel believable. And yet, there’s still hints of innocent, naive Bristal all the way through the book. Obviously, Bristal matures quite a bit in that time, and becomes a self-possessed, confident, cunning (in a good way) person with great power and smarts. But when a princess is threatened by a malevolent entity, Bristal must use her particular talents-shape-shifting and transformation-to both protect the princess and ready Nissera for war.Īs an elicromancer, Bristal’s body stops aging when she’s a young woman, but the book’s events take place over the course of nearly two decades. But the war decimated their population, and those with magical powers have become little more than curiosities. Thankfully, Bristal emerged from the water hale, and discovered that she was one of a rare and ancient breed of magic users: an elicromancer.īefore a war centuries ago, elicromancers used to be plentiful in the countries of Nissera, and helped royalty as advisors.

Both aspects play nicely into the story within.Īn orphan with no knowledge of her past, Bristal led a good, if unspectacular life … until the day she was kidnapped and forced into a magical river known for killing those without any magical gifts. I like how fierce the illustrator made the figure on the front look, as well as the fact that the figure could very well be any gender. This isn’t so much a Mulan-style reflection as it is a cold-looking, magical-hinting-at one. Relationship Status: Is This Love (That I’m Feeling)?

The nissera chronicles