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The Briley Witch Chronicles #3
Dark Secrets
Underneath a tranquil surface, secrets lie everywhere in the village of Maepole. What is the anniversary that no one dares to speak of? Why do the Whiteheads hate all witches so passionately? And what are the terrifying spell fragments hidden deep within the pages of Briley's grimoire?
In search of answers, Briley and Smokey are drawn to the nearby market town of Chaeton. But danger lurks within its narrowed streets: a flash of steel, a swathe of grey, a hidden dark witch armed with an ancient grimoire. And a waiting trap ready to spring.
Will Briley and Smokey prevail?
All will be revealed when Dark Secrets are unveiled...
In search of answers, Briley and Smokey are drawn to the nearby market town of Chaeton. But danger lurks within its narrowed streets: a flash of steel, a swathe of grey, a hidden dark witch armed with an ancient grimoire. And a waiting trap ready to spring.
Will Briley and Smokey prevail?
All will be revealed when Dark Secrets are unveiled...
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 30, 2014
1 person is currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Jane Avory
17 books98 followersSarah Jane Avory is a self-published author, as well as a full-time Senior computer games programmer. She started writing a long time ago, and joined the world of self-publishing in May 2013.
Her published books (and future releases) are:
Hidden Kingdoms:
1. The Hidden Fox.
Briley Witch Chronicles:
1. The Spirit Of A Witch.
2. Storm Grey.
3. Dark Secrets.
4. Lies In The Dark.
5. The Fallen Witch.
6. Grey Waters.
7. Grimoire Citadel
8. Crimson Wolf
9. Godhenge
10. The Spirit Witch
Stone Of Argentos:
1. Bond Of Terror.
2. The Vixen Trap.
3. Fall Of Darkness
Mecha-Tale:
Book 1.
Sarah enjoys reading when she's not writing, as well as following Formula One. She is also the proud owner of two kittens, one black and the other white.
Blog: http://sarahjaneavory.wordpress.com
Email: sarahjaneavory@gmail.com
Her published books (and future releases) are:
Hidden Kingdoms:
1. The Hidden Fox.
Briley Witch Chronicles:
1. The Spirit Of A Witch.
2. Storm Grey.
3. Dark Secrets.
4. Lies In The Dark.
5. The Fallen Witch.
6. Grey Waters.
7. Grimoire Citadel
8. Crimson Wolf
9. Godhenge
10. The Spirit Witch
Stone Of Argentos:
1. Bond Of Terror.
2. The Vixen Trap.
3. Fall Of Darkness
Mecha-Tale:
Book 1.
Sarah enjoys reading when she's not writing, as well as following Formula One. She is also the proud owner of two kittens, one black and the other white.
Blog: http://sarahjaneavory.wordpress.com
Email: sarahjaneavory@gmail.com
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 12, 2014
Before I had finished this book, I was in love. Having already fallen for Briley and Smokey in the previous installments, I was ready for some fresh characters and Avory delivers. Alyssa is refreshing, vibrant, and on fire (literally). Avory introduces a complex, haunted character into her normally one-sided story, providing a look at the "other side of the tracks" where witches aren't shown how to manage their dark side and don't have a familiar to guide them. And did I mention kittens. There are kittens, and one especially magically fire cat. Embers is magically aflame not unlike the Human Torch or Ghost Rider, but so much cuter. I am stunned every time I read Avory's stories how easily I can get lost in the story without meaning to, and to me that is the mark of a great writer. It's also interesting to note and enjoy the different word choice by British Avory compared to my native American vocabulary. It allows me to look at words in a new way. Keep the Briley story coming!
September 30, 2014
I follow this author and have all of her books. This third installment to the Briley Witch Chronicles was exciting and rewarding. I love the addition of the new fire element and all of its surprises. I hope Ember is a permanent character, as she is wonderful.
I especially find the bad vs good witch moral dilemma intriguing and look forward to learning whether a bad witch can be reformed completely or not in this magical system.
I recommend this series, as it has brought me hours of joyful reading.
I especially find the bad vs good witch moral dilemma intriguing and look forward to learning whether a bad witch can be reformed completely or not in this magical system.
I recommend this series, as it has brought me hours of joyful reading.
October 31, 2014
I swear I didn't mean to pick a witch book the week of Halloween.
But I did and it works so, BOO! Also, here's my review of Book 1 and Book 2 of the series.
In Book 3, we pick up right where we left off in Book 2, after the storm that destroyed the village and nearly destroyed Briley herself. But we also meet a new face - another young witch named Alyssa from another town (more on this later). Alyssa, like Briley, is struggling with her inner darkness, but unlike Briley, does not have anyone to show her the ropes. She ends up running away from home, and into our protagonist, about halfway through the book, and together they continue trying to keep one step ahead of the overly-dramatic Whiteheads and Lord Grey, who are still trying to eradicate witchcraft.
(True story they actually do try)
Writing the third book in a series is hard. Introducing a brand new character in the third book - and having a third of the story from her POV - is even harder. The problem is that we spent two books getting to know Briley and the Baxters, and then we are supposed to form an immediate interest in Alyssa (this is not limited to Avory - Sarah J. Maas did the same damned thing in Heir of Fire, and I had the same gripe there). The series is called the "Briley Witch Chronicles" - which means that the reader expects to see the book through Briley's experience. Trying to make a connection with Alyssa took away from the enjoyment of the book, and although I liked her as a character, I would have preferred a different way of getting acquainted.
Besides that, there's still some series level concerns. As I mentioned in the first two reviews, Briley is supposed to be in her early twenties, but acts like an overgrown woman-child some of the time. She was adopted by the Baxters in the end of the second book (still puzzles me), but the "Mummy" and "Daddy" and "Daughter" felt way too weird for me. For whatever reason, I kept being reminded of Will Ferrell in Step-Brothers:
The sentiment is fantastic, especially considering Briley's character as one searching for a home, but the execution is heavy-handed. The core idea in the book, and the title - Everyone's got Dark Secrets, suffers from that same lack of nuance. The phrase "Even X has secrets" was used three or four times, enough to be noticeable.
That being said, there were a ton of tie-ins to previous books that I didn't even consider to be secrets, which was a lovely surprise. Briley's book, for example, was explored more, and there's a couple of unanswered questions that will carry us over into the fourth book. It was nice to see the continuity threads; sometimes it's hard to tell where the series is going. And with all of the attention on Alyssa in this book, I feel like Briley didn't grow as much as she did in the first two books. I missed her and Smoky as the lead and only protagonists, and it was noticeable towards the end.
But I did and it works so, BOO! Also, here's my review of Book 1 and Book 2 of the series.
In Book 3, we pick up right where we left off in Book 2, after the storm that destroyed the village and nearly destroyed Briley herself. But we also meet a new face - another young witch named Alyssa from another town (more on this later). Alyssa, like Briley, is struggling with her inner darkness, but unlike Briley, does not have anyone to show her the ropes. She ends up running away from home, and into our protagonist, about halfway through the book, and together they continue trying to keep one step ahead of the overly-dramatic Whiteheads and Lord Grey, who are still trying to eradicate witchcraft.
(True story they actually do try)
Writing the third book in a series is hard. Introducing a brand new character in the third book - and having a third of the story from her POV - is even harder. The problem is that we spent two books getting to know Briley and the Baxters, and then we are supposed to form an immediate interest in Alyssa (this is not limited to Avory - Sarah J. Maas did the same damned thing in Heir of Fire, and I had the same gripe there). The series is called the "Briley Witch Chronicles" - which means that the reader expects to see the book through Briley's experience. Trying to make a connection with Alyssa took away from the enjoyment of the book, and although I liked her as a character, I would have preferred a different way of getting acquainted.
Besides that, there's still some series level concerns. As I mentioned in the first two reviews, Briley is supposed to be in her early twenties, but acts like an overgrown woman-child some of the time. She was adopted by the Baxters in the end of the second book (still puzzles me), but the "Mummy" and "Daddy" and "Daughter" felt way too weird for me. For whatever reason, I kept being reminded of Will Ferrell in Step-Brothers:
The sentiment is fantastic, especially considering Briley's character as one searching for a home, but the execution is heavy-handed. The core idea in the book, and the title - Everyone's got Dark Secrets, suffers from that same lack of nuance. The phrase "Even X has secrets" was used three or four times, enough to be noticeable.
That being said, there were a ton of tie-ins to previous books that I didn't even consider to be secrets, which was a lovely surprise. Briley's book, for example, was explored more, and there's a couple of unanswered questions that will carry us over into the fourth book. It was nice to see the continuity threads; sometimes it's hard to tell where the series is going. And with all of the attention on Alyssa in this book, I feel like Briley didn't grow as much as she did in the first two books. I missed her and Smoky as the lead and only protagonists, and it was noticeable towards the end.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews