Title: Lost: A Blood Inheritance Novel

Author: M. Ainihi

Genre: Fantasy

This fast paced sequel to Rise continues the story of Amanda, a young woman with demonic ancestry who can control shadow magic…if she dares.

Haunted by recurring nightmares and feeling a weight of guilt for her past actions, Amanda struggles to settle into what her life has become. She lives in the sorcerer’s castle in the Arcane realm, but she feels the answers to her questions—the questions the monster of her dreams keeps asking of her—can only be answered in the human realm.

Hoping to gain some direction, peace, and a good night’s sleep, she sends her jinni friend, Aden, to find two girls who keep appearing in her visions. One has siren-like abilities which let her influence the humans around her while the other is a healer who seems to always attract trouble.

Both end up in a village of jinn that somehow exists in the human realm, but all is not as it seems. Secrets abound, and every answer seems to lead to fresh troubles and more difficulties. The girls are just looking for a place to belong, but thanks to their strange powers, they may never find it unless they learn to trust each other and harness their gifts together.

The world building is very intriguing, with seven realms intersecting and magical creatures from all the realms coming and going in inexplicable ways. One gets the feeling that there are many rules and components to the worlds that the girls haven’t discovered yet, and it makes the book a journey of exploration for both the characters and the readers.

The main characters seem diverse and likable, though there is so much going on in the story that one doesn’t always get a clear picture of what these characters are like and what they want from life. They are desperate and eager for change, though, and their emotional states are consistent and believable with this.

At times, the world building makes the story hard to follow, as one is learning so much and the characters’ perspectives aren’t knowledgeable enough to help inform the reader about the creatures one encounters. The plot seems to lead directly into the next book at the end, with little to no conclusion given to the readers, though it doesn’t end on a cliff-hanger, per se.

Overall, readers might feel that very little “actually happens” in the book, as the characters seem to spend a lot of time running around rather than moving against the main villain of the book, and the plot isn’t helped by the frequent jumps that occur between sections, as readers are jolted forward in time, skipping over what they were expecting to happen next.

Readers who enjoy young adult fantasy with realistic female main characters and a creative modern world will relish this tale of discovery and belonging. Rich in details and magic, the story keeps things moving to where one never knows what the next page will bring—danger, mysteries, difficult decisions, or a light-hearted moment among friends.

This Editorial Review was written by the Book Review Directory staff. To receive a similarly honest, professional review for one of your own books, click here.