478 ratings | 360 reviews | avg rating:4.44

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2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

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Vona Stewart has read 5 of 100 books.

Vona Stewart

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://vonastewart.com

Genre

Fantasy, Children's, Young Adult

Member Since

November 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/verymom

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Vona Stewart is the not-so-secret pen name for a girl named Jessica who never wanted to see her own name up in lights.

She lives in Idaho with her family and a gigantic German Shepherd called Molly.

Vona enjoys reading, writing, eating dark chocolate, and sleeping as much as possible.

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Vona Stewart’s books

Average rating: 4.56 · 68 ratings · 30 reviews · 2 distinct works

	The Lost Emerald of Briarwood (Shadow Sovereign, #1) 4.40 avg rating — 45 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lost Sapphire of Azure Isle (Shadow Sovereign, #2) 4.87 avg rating — 23 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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Vona is Currently Reading

Vona Stewart is currently reading

The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy, #1)

by Sherry Thomas (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

read in April 2017

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Vona Stewart said: " 2024 This series has become an annual re-read for me. I just love it. The plotting is masterful, the magic and world building is incredibly well thought out, and the villain is actually terrifying.

I loved this series so much I bought the paperbacks, 2024 This series has become an annual re-read for me. I just love it. The plotting is masterful, the magic and world building is incredibly well thought out, and the villain is actually terrifying.

I loved this series so much I bought the paperbacks, the e-books, and the audiobooks back in 2017. I'm re-reading and was surprised to discover I didn't write a review back then. Tonight (halfway through book two), I remembered I wrote one on the whole series on the third book here.

This series has it all: A pretty great YA love story, non-mage and mage communities with an overlap at Eton College of all places, an incredible premise (prophecies and all their sticky self-fulfilling problems), wyverns, dragons, pegasi, a couple of extremely compelling villains (one of whom is trying to live forever and doing a far better job of it than say, Voldemort who dies at a youthful 71 despite all of his horcrux nonsense), and my favorite feature--the crucible.

The crucible is a magical book of fairy tales created so the royal family can train in different battle tactics inside each story without dying (they can bring trusted friends along, too). Inside the crucible, one can also access a library that acts like an old-timey, magical internet. "Bring me everything on __character or subject name__ and the books and articles appear almost instantly. The royal family can also leave a likeness of themselves inside the book in a 'teaching classroom' section. There, their progeny can ask them questions on subjects in which they had specialized while alive. Future generations leave notes outside their ancestors' classrooms as more magic or science is developed (eg: these potion recipes are out of date, try XYZ's classroom for updates). (I'd gnaw off an arm to have something like that for my late husband where I could ask him what all these loose keys are for and where he left the socket wrench set).

There's a lot more to the crucible, but I won't spoil anything for you. I'm half mad I didn't come up with the idea myself. It really is so cool.

I'm ASTOUNDED this series doesn't have a ravenous cult following with oceans of fan fiction and fan art. It's a crime, honestly. Though I have read the critical reviews and can understand why some don't like it. You do need to be patient while everything unfolds, particularly during book two when our main characters lose their memories, but I think it's totally worth it. As I say in the aforelinked review on the third book, the way all the different storylines and plot threads come together is worthy of an entire month-long writer's workshop. Thomas is incredibly skilled... and English isn't even her first language.

TL;DR: I love this and am so excited to be reading it all again. (Audiobooks are great, btw, but are lacking the wonderful footnotes the e-books & physical books have.) ...more "

Jun 27, 2024 10:07AM · see review

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Vona Stewart has read Alchemised by SenLinYu (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
DNF at around 33%.🙅🏼‍♀️Nope.
16 hours, 45 min ago · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Alchemised by SenLinYu. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Alchemised by SenLinYu <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Vona Stewart started reading The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy, #1) by Sherry Thomas (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16 hours, 45 min ago · like
Vona Stewart has read Alchemised by SenLinYu (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
DNF at around 33%.🙅🏼‍♀️Nope.
16 hours, 54 min ago · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Alchemised by SenLinYu. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Alchemised by SenLinYu <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Vona Stewart finished reading The Blackout Murders (Homefront Sleuths #1) by Anna Elliott (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 16, 2026 05:43PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Blackout Murders by Anna Elliott. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Blackout Murders by Anna Elliott <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Vona Stewart is currently reading The Blackout Murders (Homefront Sleuths #1) by Anna Elliott (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 13, 2026 09:41PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Blackout Murders by Anna Elliott. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Blackout Murders by Anna Elliott <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Vona Stewart finished reading The Way Home: Tales from a life without technology by Mark Boyle (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 13, 2026 09:40PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Way Home by Mark Boyle. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Way Home by Mark Boyle <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Vona Stewart is currently reading The Way Home: Tales from a life without technology by Mark Boyle (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 11, 2026 03:09PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Way Home by Mark Boyle. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Way Home by Mark Boyle <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Vona Stewart finished reading What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Goodreads Author) Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Fiction	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Jan 09, 2026 02:02PM · like · view books
Vona Stewart wants to read Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 08, 2026 05:19PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

More of Vona's books…

Vona’s Quotes

“I have been in love only once in my life. I suppose that makes me a romantic, in a sense. The idea that you have one true love, that no one else will compare after they have gone. It's a sweet idea, but the reality is terror itself. To be faced with all those lonely years after. To exist when the point of you has gone.”
― Matt Haig, How to Stop Time

tags: love, romance, time, true-love

37 likes

“It made me lonely. And when I say lonely, I mean the kind of loneliness that howls through you like a desert wind. It wasn't just the loss of people I had known but also the loss of myself. The loss of who I had been when I had been with them.”
― Matt Haig, How to Stop Time

93 likes

“You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable.”
― Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me

tags: african-americans, being-yourself, blacks, growing-up, race-relations, racism, self

495 likes

“In principle and reality, libraries are life-enhancing palaces of wonder.”
― Gail Honeyman, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

tags: books, libraries, reading

743 likes

“I believed then--and part of me will always believe--that my father's words ought to be my own.”
― Tara Westover, Educated

Vona’s Year In Books

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Vona’s Friends (178)

2026 Reading Challenge

Vona Stewart

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