Review by Booklist Review
Having rejected the herbs and low magic of her mother, Lydia Polk is the right hand of the Grand Mistress, who oversees England's Royal Academy of Witches. While English witches have traditionally stayed out of world affairs, Grand Mistress Isadora sees that, without the witches' help, Hitler is sure to win the war. Isadora then tasks Lydia with finding magical relics before the Nazis do. One such artifact, a book called the Grimorium Bellum, is incredibly potent and dangerous enough that whoever possesses it will win the war. During a ceremony to locate the book, the Academy is infiltrated by a Nazi witch, who leaves tragedy in her wake. A heartbroken Lydia must now leave England and go to France, the last known location of the book. In France, Lydia befriends French resistance fighter Rebecca and art historian Henry, and the two become integral to her quest. In her stunning debut, Ryan mixes fantasy, historical fiction, and a tiny bit of romance with great aplomb. Ultimately a story of mothers and the powerful magic they possess, this character-driven fantasy adventure novel is perfect for fans of H. G. Parry's Shadow Histories duology and anyone who loves some magic with their historical fiction.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ryan's ambitious debut fantasy traverses WWII-era England, France, and Bavaria while juggling plotlines about the struggle against Hitler, mother-daughter drama, and a witch's coming-of-age. Though Britain has previously brutally suppressed its population of witches, when Winston Churchill calls for them to join the war effort, determined young Lydia Park and her mentor, Isadora, Grand Mistress of the Royal Academy of Witches, respond. After an intruding Nazi witch slashes Isadora's throat, a traumatized Lydia goes against the orders of the witches council to undertake a dangerous mission that could turn the tide of the war, traveling to France to find and destroy an ancient and powerful book of battle magic, the Grimorium Bellum. Along the way, she meets African American art historian Henry and Jewish Resistance fighter Rebecca, and together they battle a Nazi coven for the book. Gradually Lydia also comes to value her own mother, cherish her new friends, and recognize deceit in her mentors. Some loose narrative ends and a kitchen-sink approach to the magic system make the plot feel somewhat overcrowded. Still, Ryan keeps up a headlong pace and provides plenty of details for history buffs. This is a promising start. (July)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A talented young witch named Lydia Polk finds herself in a race against time to track down theGrimorium Bellum, a book of unspeakable magical power, before it falls into Nazi hands at the height of World War II. As a young girl, Lydia never expected to be accepted into Britain's elite Royal Academy of Witches, let alone get a chance to use her innate magical abilities to help keep Hitler and his occult-obsessed Nazi followers from getting their hands on dangerous magical items. When an ancient and unspeakably powerful book known as theGrimorium Bellum ("The Book of War")--rumored to contain spells with the ability to bring about a plague of madness and summon an army of spectral assassins--goes missing from an antiquities collection in the French countryside, it falls to Lydia to track down the tome before it's too late. When a shocking act of violence sends the older members of the Royal Academy into a tailspin, Lydia is forced to make her way to France in search of theGrimorium Bellum with little information to go on and a coven of Nazi witches hot on her heels. It's only with the help of Rebecca, a hotheaded French Resistance fighter, and Henry, a devastatingly handsome Haitian American art historian who wields his own magic, that Lydia learns just how powerful and dangerous theGrimorium is. With fascinating worldbuilding set against a rich and thoroughly researched moment in history, this debut novel is nothing short of wildly entertaining; it's an excellent choice for anyone looking to dip their toes into historical fiction or fantasy, and its urgent pace will have readers in a white-knuckle grip from start to finish. An exciting, fast-paced blend of historical fiction, spy drama, fantasy, and romance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
