Veil of Mist by Tessonja Odette
Fantasy. 346 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
A mountain of secrets.
A web of lies.
Darkness is reborn.
After years of exile, Cora has returned to her rightful place as princess. She has her title, her home, and even the man she loves. Just when she thinks it can’t get any better, a devastating secret threatens to destroy everything she’s worked for.
With one year until his and Cora’s impending marriage, Prince Teryn is determined to spend all the time he can with his betrothed. But when the two are separated, his plans come crashing down. In a moment of anger, he makes one fatal mistake that brings upon a new reign of darkness.
Evil has returned to the land of Lela. This time, no one will ever see it coming.
Veil of Mist is BOOK TWO in the LELA TRILOGY. If you like royal intrigue, romantic subplots, metaphysical magic, and surprising new worlds, then you’ll love Tessonja Odette’s epic fantasy tale.
BUY VEIL OF MIST TO UNLEASH THE MAGIC TODAY!
Start from the very beginning of Lela Trilogy with BOOK ONE, SHADOWS OF LELA.
My Review:
First of all, that cover is stunning!
Secondly, wow! What a sequel! The plot certainly got thicker here, regarding the overall story of these kingdoms. The book itself had a smaller plot arc that was intriguing and concluded very nicely. Let me tell ya, that climax was epic, y’all! The plot continues to draw me in and I’m very excited to see where Mrs. Odette takes us in the concluding book. I really liked how this book delved in deeper to the Ancient Realm. I love the history she’s constructed and we definitely got more of that here. I want to know more about the two races of the Ancient Once. Also, I thought it was a nice touch that Cora noted that they weren’t like the stories of her childhood-legends often are distorted from the truth somehow, so I thought that was a great portrayal to throw in there. The crystal was a great plot element and kind of threw the whole world of book one for a loop. I’m curious about the veil, Cora’s powers, and the prophecy. (I have a feeling we aren’t quite done with that yet. Fingers crossed!) Also, two of the three major things that had me up in arms at the end of book one were addressed in this book, so yay! Mrs. Odette continued with the bittersweet pattern she’d begun in book one and boooo hooooo! *tears* Kay, I needed to mourn a few plot twists, even if they were excellently constructed.
The characters, both returning and new were good. I liked Emylia a lot. I’m curious about her kind and what she was or where she came from. I kind of hope we get more of her backstory in book three. Mareleau kind of took me for a spin. I liked how she grew and I feel like I have a little more respect for her by the end of this book. Cora just keeps drawing stuff out of her hat! I need to know more about her tie to the Morkara and the prophecy and her powers and who she is and all this!! Valorre. Man, who doesn’t love a great unicorn character!
The world building deepened and was developed even further in this book, which is always a good sign. I don’t know how it’s all gonna pan out and be explained, but I feel confident Mrs. Odette knows exactly how all of her threads tie together in the end. I very much enjoyed the world she has built.
I was given an advanced copy and so found a few errors, but am sure those will be wrinkled out by the time of publication. The story isn’t poorly written, but it isn’t professionally written either, in my opinion. There were some ways the writing could have been improved on a deeper level, syntax, phrase structure, passive voice, repetition, etc. but, again, the story wasn’t poorly written at all.
Content-wise: I feel like the story was not as violent as the first book, though there were still a few violent scenes. The story dealt a lot more with darkness vs. light, but I found that a good thing, personally. There was like one minor swear word. This book had more romantic elements, but it was a clean read. Some topics were alluded to and implied, but there was nothing explicit and it was handled very maturely.
More:
Shadows of Lela is the first book in the Lela Trilogy (4 Stars)
The third book is Shades of Prophecy (5 Stars)
I’ve read and reviewed the above on Goodreads. You can click the links to find out more. The trilogy should be read in order!
On GraceBought
If you missed it, check out my thoughts on book one! And stay tuned next week for the review of the conclusion to the trilogy!