Brave the Tempest by Karen Chance
Reviewed by: Alexandra Schenk, Student Intern
Genre: Fantasy
Suggested Age: Adults, Teens
What is this Book About? Cassandra Palmer recently (6 books ago) became chief clairvoyant of the magical world but she is still not very happy about her new position. She can barely uphold all the responsibilities weighing on her shoulders. As Pythia, she not only has to rule her own court and interact with the most powerful creatures of the magical world, but she also has to protect the timeline from being manipulated. And protecting the time is a hell of a job with the magical world at war even with the ability to “jump” in time and space. But, Cassi manages everything even if it might drive her crazy, she learns to trust in other people and she also learns to stand up for herself and for the people depending on her. Between saving the world from destruction, planning a war against the realm of a fairy king and nearly dying several times, there is still time for some romantic interaction between Cassi and her bodyguard mage John Pritkin.
My Review: I started reading Karen Chance’s books a long time ago when someone gifted me the first book in her Cassandra Palmer series and I became a fan since then. I love the world Chance created for her books. There are vampires, mages, fairies, witches, demons and many more magical creatures. They live parallel to us normal humans. Each species has their own government and we learn about how they live, but there is always a perfect balance between what we learn about the “circumstances” and what we read about the personal drama. And there is a lot of that! The main character Cassi has a big mouth, a super powerful vampire ex-lover, a super powerful half mage half demon boyfriend and she apparently is a half goddess herself. Like I said, potential for a lot of drama, but also for a lot of fun! Especially in that book we witness how Cassi grows, accepts her new responsibilities and begins to find her place between the magical rulers and I really liked that. Chance’s books always have a funny tone. Cassi always seemed a little bit clumsy, but in Brave the Tempest we see that she is grown up now and with war on the horizon the book, all in all, seems a little bit darker and more serious. But the book still had its funny moments and especially the secondary characters made me laugh out loud sometimes. Like I said, I always loved Karen chance’s books so I might be a little bit biased. It was a quick and joyful read and I recommend the Cassandra Palmer series to everyone who likes paranormal romances. The only reason I don’t rate it 5/5 is that I would have loved to see a little bit more of my favorite character…
Three Words That Describe This Book: fast, funny, magical
Give it a Try if You Like: The Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh, The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward
Rating: 4/5
