Realms of Mist and Ash by J.S. Malcom

(This will probably contain spoilers for Realms of Ghosts and Magic, book 1 in the Fae Witch series. I don’t know; as of this review, I haven’t read that book. Also, I read this via audiobook, so I apologize if I misspell any names.)

Cassie is a veil witch whom we meet back up with in a gathering of other witches back home. They attempt to summon a reverse medium (i.e., a dead medium) simply because they’re curious as to why a reverse medium would be needed in the first place. Cassie, however, is more focused on thinking of how to get her friend Julia back. She was taken away—her soul at least. Her body is in this world, but it’s someone else’s soul. On her way home, she feels a strange rift in the air. Unknowingly, she has stepped into another realm. It happens more than once, but on one occasion, she meets a man named Cade. From here, the two set out on a mission to infiltrate Faerie, where Cassie believes Julia, as well as another little girl, have been taken.

I think this book was well written in terms of prose. It had some fun, lighter moments that were well placed and executed. The pacing is such that something is always happening, so I would definitely say this is a more plot-focused book. It was engaging, and I found that once I started I couldn’t stop. I suspect a relationship between Cassie and Cade. However, the book does not make an explicit one—perhaps saving it for the sequels? I really appreciated their connection and that the book allowed them to get to know each other. By the end it’s still unclear whether they are friends or just good acquaintances (at least to me).

I like how the book balances out the fast pacing with the slow build of a relationship. The juxtaposition works well. In fact, we still don’t really know everything about Cade by then end. In terms of Cassie, she’s very headstrong and seems more introverted. During the summoning scene, she appears almost like she’s observing and not in the middle of the conversation. She tries to make the best out of a bad situation, even if it ends her in trouble.

The minor characters were relatively forgettable. None of them were bad, but overall they seemed to have one or two personality traits and that’s it. I also felt like Cade’s group of half-fae friends blended together with Cassie’s fellow witches from the beginning. Really, the minor characters felt too trope-y for my tastes. For example, there’s a scene where Cassie is captured and she meets the stubborn mother-figure (also a captive). She’s a character I’ve seen before, and I didn’t feel there was anything that made her stand out.

Probably the biggest gripe I have is with an attempted rape on Cassie. The scene comes almost out of nowhere. The fae have captured her. One of her captor’s sons tries to force himself upon her. She tells him “no,” and beats her way to freedom. Later, the man’s mother refuses to believe Cassie’s side of things. What really bothered me is how she treats the event as a mere slight inconvenience and nothing more. Other than getting a little annoyed, she seems completely unfazed by the event. I personally found the scene to be unnecessary. We had already seen evidence of the fae being despicable. To amp it up so dramatically was a move that did not pay off in my opinion. If it was to show that Cassie is a strong character, again, we’ve already seen evidence of that. She comes off as more unbelievable afterwards if anything.

This brings me to the last thing I would like to say. I liked how the fae were the bad guys. It’s something I haven’t seen done much. I like the subversion that the standardly beautiful are actually foul people. Meanwhile, the “less attractive” (whatever that means) are the ones with good hearts. It’s a simple subversion, but it works.

Overall, I liked this book. I wish the rape scene hadn’t occurred, though. However, other than it, the book was engaging and fun. It’s book 2 in a series, but it does a good job of bringing the reader up to speed. The book was a fun urban, portal fantasy (other than the assault scene). It has its issues (particularly the big aforementioned one). Hopefully, future books address if and how the trauma affected Cassie. All in all, I hesitate to fully recommend this book because of the (in my opinion) poorly handled assault scene. But like I said, other than that, I didn’t mind the book as a whole.