Book Blurb:
Witches are not born. They are made.
I died alone in a frostbitten forest. It was not heroic. I did not die defending an innocent or hunting to feed my loved ones. I died because I was stupid and cowardly. I died running away. And that would have been the end of my story. Until the witches found me and made me one of their own.
Outcast by her coven more than three hundred years after her resurrection, Koryn faces certain doom. Without her coven’s magic to sustain her, she will wither away to nothing. But earning back their trust means betraying the last living member of her family—the family whose downfall came at Koryn’s own hands.
Offered a bargain she cannot refuse…
Four hundred years ago, the gods sentenced the continent of Velora to death. Now Koryn must make a desperate final bid to save Velora—and herself—by passing each test posed at the Seven Gates. Nothing less will prove her worth to her coven or save her family.
To make matters worse, she finds herself bound against her will to Garrick the Red, a legendary bounty hunter with a secret that makes him not just her rival, but her bitter enemy. She does not need him to protect her—Koryn stands alone.
But when an adolescent dragon appears from the forest and declares herself Koryn’s familiar, her understanding of the world begins to shift. Koryn’s choices do not just affect her, but all the residents of a dying, desperate land.
Faced with a devastating choice…
For every gate she conquers, Koryn’s world grows more precarious. A deadly warrior turned bonded protector and forbidden lover. An adolescent dragon entrusted to her care. A powerful male from her past calling in a debt she is not ready to pay. And vengeful gods who demand their due, and force the frost witch to choose—her coven, her love, her dragon… or her soul.
Tropes:
*Netgalley ALC *Witch FMC *Reverse Age gap *dangerous trials *Magic
*Cursed lands *Fantasy *dragons *Familiar *Fae *Time Jumps *slow burn *Spice
*Sets up for a second love interest for book 2 *ends in a cliffhanger *curvy FMC *one bed
*trigger warnings (check them)
Thoughts:
Koryn (FMC) is a witch she is 400 years old and happened to be born the very year the gods placed a curse on the land she was born on and has lived on for centuries. The gods did make a way for Velora to be saved get through the seven gates with trials and the land will be fruitful again... easy enough?... not really years have passed and no one known has made it past the 5th gate, long gone are the days where there was a line up for the honor of being the one to break the curse so participants are few and far between these days.
In this world witches are made after they die and receive the powers in alignment with how they died, Koryn died cold in icy water and has the power of frost.
Koryn was cast out of her coven and has been on her own for awhile now, she has been barely surviving (just like everyone else in these lands) and working on making enough coins to get off of this desolate land... only she knows this will just be temporary as a witch needs her coven to survive longer term they provide safety and are linked together when together they are more powerful... away from each other for long and their powers decrease and diminish.
Koryn moves from town to town never staying long in one place because people don't like witches and she would be a target, with decreased powers she doesn't need that on her back. She is given an opportunity to rejoin her coven... if she can get through all 7 gates she will redeem herself and can come back... this at this point isn't that appealing since no one has done it. She's been making some coins providing spells to people in need and just about has what she needs to leave this god forsaken place when the one person who would tie her here comes into play,
Koryn sees her last remaining relative (her sisters great great... etc... grand daughter) the rest of her family have long since left these lands. Even though it was against the rules of her coven to have interactions with any family or humans in general she couldn't help herself and continued to check in all these years and make sure at least someone survived. Unfortunately her great (great x a lot) niece is about to make a huge mistake her father is ill and she is about to go through the doors to compete in the trials... this is a known death sentence as no one has done it but she's determined before her niece can go through she places herself through the door and next thing she knows she is one of 7 competing members to get through the gates.
While you would think that they would be working together to get through these gates right away you can see that's not how it's going to go at all... but something surprising happens during the first trial while another opponant savagely takes one of the 7 out on a climb, when Koryn has the same opportunity to do so she instead saves her opponents life... the god of this gate then binds them together until the debt is repaid.
Next thing you know Koryn once alone has a partner in this a man who is devistatingly handsome and good with his sword... but their lives are tied together.
Along this journey they grow closer together, protect each other, he teaches her how to protect herself better since she has always been considered "soft" for a witch.
They also come across something Koryn has never seen... a dragon who wants to be her familiar, she wasn't even aware at this point that dragons still existed since the curse caused most living things that could flee to flee.
Along the journey between gates they have more to worry about than just the dangerous terrain and even if they make it to the next gate there is no telling if they will make it through the trial that the god has chosen for them.
After a slow burn that would drive anyone wild... some other factors come into play that change the course of their journey and the bond they had been building, but will they be strong enough to get through this trial too?
The narrator did a good job with the story and was easy to understand/follow thank you to Netgalley and the author for this ALC!
I liked the premise of this story well enough and enjoyed it enough to want to read the rest of the series but here are some negative things that I found with this book:
*I found it odd that a 400 year old witch still hadn't mastered her powers and was taking advice from people who were not witches and did not have powers to help hone her powers this led to frequently bringing up that she was "weak" for a witch... come on girl, come into your power and show them who's boss! ... when her power does come she doesn't know how to control it (still)
*there were some inconsistencies (maybe I missed something... totally possible) but it was said a few times that witches didn't need to eat... but then later in the book she was starving and looking forward to the food provided from the next pre-gate temple.
*I thought there would be a bit more to the trials... they were kind of lack luster for the effort it took to get to the different gates.
*I think that maybe too much was thrown into this book, it goes back and forth between present and different events in Koryn's past but nothing is fully told, like we don't even know yet how she ended up alone in icy waters that led to her change into a witch... maybe this is in book 2
*there were a lot of repetitive things in the story like the discussions of her powers weakening without her coven's support.
*She keeps bringing up her shriveled dead heart but is super emotional about everything
*I think that less plot points could have helped this story feel more put together, I do plan to read the next book eventually so will see what else comes together in the next book.
Have you read this one? What did you think?
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