My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Summary (adapted from Goodreads)
After a raging fire consumes her town and kills her parents, Maggie Davis is on her own to protect her younger sister and survive best she can in the Colorado town of Burning Mesa. In Maggie’s world, the bones of long-extinct magical creatures such as dragons and sirens are mined and traded for their residual magical elements, and harnessing these relics’ powers allows the user to wield fire, turn invisible, or heal even the worst of injuries.
When she proves to have a particular skill at harnessing the relics’ powers, Maggie is whisked away to the glamorous hacienda of Álvar Castilla, the wealthy young relic baron When mysterious fires burn neighboring towns, Maggie must discover who is channeling relic magic for evil before it’s too late.
My Review
A fast-paced adventure with all of the classic elements of the wild west along with the unexpected element of magic and creatures of fantasy. I was caught up in the storytelling and the mystery immediately. The characters are interesting and lovable and human with faults and redeeming qualities. The world is inviting and easy to picture with great description. The writing is well done and perfect for the genre.
When I started the book I thought it was going to be a 4 star read because it was such a unique setting. I really liked aspects of the book, but in the end it also felt incomplete. Part of that, I’m sure, comes from that the author must have planned more books for this story, but for whatever reason they haven’t been published. There were just way to many unresolved issues for there not to be more. Knowing that I may never get the full story makes it hard to be in love with the book.
But, even if there were to be more books written there were holes in this story that I would have liked to see better addressed. More information about Maggie’s parents would have been helpful. I didn’t feel like I got a complete picture of her relationship with them. I also had questions about the history of the world in the book especially in relation to the relics. It seemed that with such magic and power available throughout the book’s world that problems with the misuse of that power would be common. I wondered what kind of structure or government was in play to prevent such lack of control, or if there wasn’t any such structure or government what other serious tragedies occurred in the history of the world? There would have had to be some. I also wanted more info on the historical dealings between the Apache’s and the townsfolk.
The other aspect of the book that didn’t work for me was Maggie’s realization/change of mindset when she was at rock bottom. She comes to the conclusion that she needs to stop running from or avoiding the problems in her life. From my perspective, she never was running from her problems. She took responsibility when needed, she jumped in and stood up for her truth, she helped others, and she was constantly being brave and taking chances to try to deal with her problems. I didn’t really see a transformation of her character through the book; she simply gained more information. I don’t think Maggie necessarily needed to transform. She was a pretty strong and likable character, so there just needed to be a different instrument for pushing the action forward.
None of my critques take away from how entertained I was throughout the book. It was a perfect read to just get carried away in a good story for a little while. I think the changes and additions that I would like to see would just make it a very memorable read and more impactful. The creativity of the world provides so much potential.
Age Recommendation: This is a young adult fiction and is perfect for young adults. I’d say as young as 14 could enjoy it.
Appropriateness: Saloon girls are a big part of the story and there is definite mention of whores and prostitution. There is attempted seduction as well, but none of it is described graphically. It could bother some readers, but because it wasn’t glorified or overly descriptive it didn’t bother me.
Other book recommendations: If you are interested in Relic you might also enjoy The Time Key by Melanie Bateman, The Winner’s trilogy by Marie Rutkoski, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, and Until We Meet Again also by Renee Collins.
The Reader's Salon 