Book #41 of 2024: Hand and Talon

Hand and Talon by Melonie Purcell.

Quick synopsis: Set in a magical fantasy world, a young orphan girl finds a (grumpy, emotionally wounded) father figure and a little brother thief/powerful mage.

Brief opinion: I loved the first 85% of this book! The worldbuilding was great, loved the magic system. Unfortunately the last 15% took a radical turn and I didn't enjoy it. [Originally read February 2, 2023. Review here. Somehow I remembered almost nothing of the story even though I just read it a year ago...]

Plot: Krea, an orphan, is actually one of a magical race -- she has a "counter", an other-self. Her race can turn into a supernatural animal (dragon, unicorn, griffon, etc.).

Sorin, an older man, is a "Caller". People of his calling work with people of Krea's race because once they turn into their counter, they can't turn back to human without a Caller.

Dane is a street rat who turns out to have the potential to be a powerful wizard in him.

Through most of the book, the three have to learn to work together as they travel from one end of the land to the other. Sorin's duty requires him to take Krea to a city where she can be trained, and the Goddess told him to take Dane to be trained as a wizard, too.

Soren lost his partner though, the man who he was a Caller for. So he's sad and hurting, and working with Krea is hard for him.

The last 15% of the book was quite different, all about a war in the land's capital city.

Writing/editing: I enjoyed the writing a lot (the author has a way with descriptions), but there were quite a few editing issues.

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: I really enjoyed most of the book, but both the first time and this second time I read it, I didn't enjoy the ending. It was too different than the rest, plus there were too many unbelievable coincidences.

In my first review I said I wasn't going to pick up the second book, but I already did, so hopefully I'll enjoy it.

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars, liked.