Magic, a prized resource, is the only thing between peace and war. When magic runs out, four estranged royal siblings must find a new source before their country is swallowed by invading forces. The first in an Indian-inspired duology.
Vira is desperate to get out of her mother’s shadow and establish her legacy as a revered queen of Ashoka. But with the country’s only quarry running out of magic–a precious resource that has kept Ashoka safe from conflict–she can barely protect her citizens from the looming threat of war. And if her enemies discover this, they’ll stop at nothing to seize the last of the magic.
Vira’s only hope is to find a mysterious object of legend: the Ivory Key, rumored to unlock a new source of magic. But in order to infiltrate enemy territory and retrieve it, she must reunite with her siblings, torn apart by the different paths their lives have taken. Each of them has something to gain from finding the Ivory Key–and even more to lose if they fail. Ronak plans to sell it to the highest bidder in exchange for escape from his impending political marriage. Kaleb, falsely accused of assassinating the former maharani needs it to clear his name. And Riya, a runaway who cut all family ties, wants the Key to prove her loyalty to the rebels who want to strip the nobility of its power.
They must work together to survive the treacherous journey. But with each sibling harboring secrets and their own agendas, the very thing that brought them together could tear apart their family–and their world–for good.
I was really excited for this book as it sounded like a debut fantasy that included a fantastic quest, a good amount of angst and sent in Indian inspired fantasy world and for the most part that’s what I got. I really enjoyed the beginning and the set up and felt like real attention was paid to the worldbuilding and making sure that the characters were clearly defined and dynamic in their own right. Once you get past that initial set up however, I did feel the story and plot slow down a bit too much.
At about the halfway point it does start to pick up again and we really get into the meat of the story and characters. I did really like the different POVs and felt that once we got to the meat of the action it was non stop to the end. The slow section did drag down my enjoyment a bit, but the last half of the book was what I wanted out of it and would drive me to pick up the sequel.
Thanks so much to the publisher for sending me a digital copy through NetGalley. The Ivory Key comes out on January 4th, so make sure to pick it up if it sounds like something you will enjoy!
Happy reading!
The Wandering Wordsmith 