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The Divided Realms #3
Auralict
Following the nightmares of the Goblin's Gauntlet, Willow faces life with a broken spirit and a broken heart. She is easy prey for the seductive faerie prince, Theon Thornheart, who tempts her with a powerful, addictive elixir that warps her magic. Meanwhile, dark forces in Clarion set the stage for a new Game that will place humans, faeries, and goblins in a magical battle of wits. Does Willow have the strength to resist Theon's temptation and the ability to restore the Balance of the realms?
- GenresFantasy
498 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2015
About the author
Maggie L. Wood
7 books45 followersMaggie L. Wood lives in London, Ontario, where she writes in between doing the cooking and cleaning, reading her favorite YA authors, and watching her favorite AMC, HBO, and Netflix shows. Her books, Captured and The Darkening, of The Divided Realms series have had two different publishers and have both been orphaned by their former publishers before the 3rd book in the series (Auralict) could be published. Maggie has decided to publish Auralict and the Divided Realms series herself as e-Books, and as paperbacks through Amazon's CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform!
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 8, 2015
I was expecting a great number of things from Auralict, but it surprised me–not once, but repeatedly. For a series I began back in middle school, it’s moved in an impressively mature direction, balancing the beautiful, magical world of Mistolear with the unparalleled self-destructiveness of mental illness and addiction. The writing is still as crisp as I remember, and the plot is spectacularly paced, with tension, romance, heroism and magic blended well into the lives of characters I have always loved. I only wish the ending had been…a little more.
Nevertheless, I must commend Wood for sticking with her series through all the tribulations it’s faced. Willow is a heroine whose voice deserves to be heard, and I didn’t expect to connect with her on the level that I did. She’s headstrong and emotional, yes, but she lives with her heart on her sleeve, and her struggles with depression and addiction are both moving and empowering. Her message is a powerful one, and I absolutely adore the way her elixir addiction was handled–personally, I can’t imagine how it could have been better executed. It’s a fantastic portrayal of a very real world problem, and Willow deals with both the mental and emotional repercussions of her addiction in a very real way.
With a main cast of four, Auralict finds a surprising amount of time to develop, not only Willow’s character, but Brand’s and Theon’s as well. Brand has his weaker moments closer to the beginning of the book, but once his love for Willow rekindles, he truly becomes the knight in shining armour he has always hoped he would be. His love for Willow is powerful and genuine, but his feelings regarding her addiction are what truly brings his character to life: he’s conflicted, he’s afraid, and he makes a number of mistakes, but at the end of the day, it’s his unflinching resolution to remain with Willow that truly defines his character. As for Theon, he is very much the faerie prince Willow needed as she struggled with her depression. He plays an incredibly important role in her life, and even after betraying her, he spends almost the entirety of the book trying to make amends. I’ll be honest: I loved Theon. I loved his sense of humour, his cunning remarks, his intelligence, and his unflagging determination to make things right with Willow. He had a hard upbringing, and despite that, he’s remained a good man at heart, fighting for freedom and the freedom of his people even when it’s killing him to do so. As characters, Brand and Theon are definitely among the best in the series.
In regards to plot, I won’t lie: I stopped and shouted into empty rooms more often than not. There’s a death about halfway through the book that I wasn’t expecting at all, and the emotional whiplash was something I could not have prepared myself for. Dacia’s subplot also added yet another layer of suspense to the novel, and as a villain, she filled her role well: she had clear, believable motives, and her wickedly powerful magic made her feel like a real threat, much like the merciless goblin horde. Even minor characters in the novel, such as Willow’s mother and grandmother, or Brand’s father and step-mother, had their moments in the spotlight, adding depth to the story in a surprisingly well-executed way.
My sole complaint about the book was the ending. There’s a second major death in the last tenth of the book or so, and I hated how it was handled. This was a character that played an important role throughout the story, and the off-handed way their death was treated deeply saddened me. I can’t give too many details without spoiling who’s death I’m talking about, but suffice it to say that I was crushed to see only one character truly mourn them (and even that for only two paragraphs). Additionally, the epilogue left me with a lot of unanswered questions, and it really wasn’t what I expected at all. The sentiment was wonderful, but it’s difficult for me to accept that my last image of this series is of a horse being born (that’s not really a spoiler, I swear).
Even with that, Auralict is and remains a strong four-star read that I really, really enjoyed. There’s a lot of powerful elements to the novel that I’d hate to see overlooked, and for a conclusion to a trilogy that took nearly a decade to finally be published, I’m happy to say it was well worth the wait.
Nevertheless, I must commend Wood for sticking with her series through all the tribulations it’s faced. Willow is a heroine whose voice deserves to be heard, and I didn’t expect to connect with her on the level that I did. She’s headstrong and emotional, yes, but she lives with her heart on her sleeve, and her struggles with depression and addiction are both moving and empowering. Her message is a powerful one, and I absolutely adore the way her elixir addiction was handled–personally, I can’t imagine how it could have been better executed. It’s a fantastic portrayal of a very real world problem, and Willow deals with both the mental and emotional repercussions of her addiction in a very real way.
With a main cast of four, Auralict finds a surprising amount of time to develop, not only Willow’s character, but Brand’s and Theon’s as well. Brand has his weaker moments closer to the beginning of the book, but once his love for Willow rekindles, he truly becomes the knight in shining armour he has always hoped he would be. His love for Willow is powerful and genuine, but his feelings regarding her addiction are what truly brings his character to life: he’s conflicted, he’s afraid, and he makes a number of mistakes, but at the end of the day, it’s his unflinching resolution to remain with Willow that truly defines his character. As for Theon, he is very much the faerie prince Willow needed as she struggled with her depression. He plays an incredibly important role in her life, and even after betraying her, he spends almost the entirety of the book trying to make amends. I’ll be honest: I loved Theon. I loved his sense of humour, his cunning remarks, his intelligence, and his unflagging determination to make things right with Willow. He had a hard upbringing, and despite that, he’s remained a good man at heart, fighting for freedom and the freedom of his people even when it’s killing him to do so. As characters, Brand and Theon are definitely among the best in the series.
In regards to plot, I won’t lie: I stopped and shouted into empty rooms more often than not. There’s a death about halfway through the book that I wasn’t expecting at all, and the emotional whiplash was something I could not have prepared myself for. Dacia’s subplot also added yet another layer of suspense to the novel, and as a villain, she filled her role well: she had clear, believable motives, and her wickedly powerful magic made her feel like a real threat, much like the merciless goblin horde. Even minor characters in the novel, such as Willow’s mother and grandmother, or Brand’s father and step-mother, had their moments in the spotlight, adding depth to the story in a surprisingly well-executed way.
My sole complaint about the book was the ending. There’s a second major death in the last tenth of the book or so, and I hated how it was handled. This was a character that played an important role throughout the story, and the off-handed way their death was treated deeply saddened me. I can’t give too many details without spoiling who’s death I’m talking about, but suffice it to say that I was crushed to see only one character truly mourn them (and even that for only two paragraphs). Additionally, the epilogue left me with a lot of unanswered questions, and it really wasn’t what I expected at all. The sentiment was wonderful, but it’s difficult for me to accept that my last image of this series is of a horse being born (that’s not really a spoiler, I swear).
Even with that, Auralict is and remains a strong four-star read that I really, really enjoyed. There’s a lot of powerful elements to the novel that I’d hate to see overlooked, and for a conclusion to a trilogy that took nearly a decade to finally be published, I’m happy to say it was well worth the wait.
January 13, 2012
It's very rare that I read self published novels or even consider reading them. However, with Auralict I found myself agreeing to the author's offer for me to read and review this book because not only did I know it was professionally edited by its one-time planned publisher, but also because I'd been waiting four years for it. Back in 2011, Maggie L Wood published Captured and The Darkening with a small publisher called Lobster Press and planned to publish the last book in the series, Auralict, with them as well. Unfortunately, the publisher folded, and she was left with an orphaned series for the second time for these same books.
I love this series so much, and the first two books remain - even after a recent rereading - two of my favourite novels involving faeries. With this thought in mind, I couldn't wait to read this story, so I didn't hesitate to accept the review consideration and I'm so glad I agreed. While this review suggested it took me nine days to read this book, I couldn't be further from the truth. Once I started reading it, I realized that I was a little fuzzy on the content of the first two books, so I bought the eBooks and started rereading from the beginning to get the best experience possible.
Auralict is a worthy addition to the series and continues to take the characters and the world to new, surprisingly dark and difficult places. Willow faces great danger throughout the book for various reasons and in various circumstances, and she grows in ways that would seem impossible from the beginning of the book. I loved that Willow's addiction to altering her aura follows many of the situations that those with addictions to illegal drugs, and most importantly, I love that there are so many unpredictable twists and turns, which stand up to critique.
Highly recommended!
I love this series so much, and the first two books remain - even after a recent rereading - two of my favourite novels involving faeries. With this thought in mind, I couldn't wait to read this story, so I didn't hesitate to accept the review consideration and I'm so glad I agreed. While this review suggested it took me nine days to read this book, I couldn't be further from the truth. Once I started reading it, I realized that I was a little fuzzy on the content of the first two books, so I bought the eBooks and started rereading from the beginning to get the best experience possible.
Auralict is a worthy addition to the series and continues to take the characters and the world to new, surprisingly dark and difficult places. Willow faces great danger throughout the book for various reasons and in various circumstances, and she grows in ways that would seem impossible from the beginning of the book. I loved that Willow's addiction to altering her aura follows many of the situations that those with addictions to illegal drugs, and most importantly, I love that there are so many unpredictable twists and turns, which stand up to critique.
Highly recommended!
March 11, 2012
I am very grateful that Maggie L. Wood put so much effort into having Auralict (or as I thought of it for so many years, The Princess Heir) published despite all of the obstacles she encountered. I have been waiting to read the conclusion to this trilogy ever since I finished The Princess Mage in 2006 back when I was in middle school. The Mistolear books/Divided Realms became one of my favourite book series. That being said, while I was thrilled when I learned earlier this year that it was finally going to be published, I had a lot of hopes and expectations.
Highlights from the book: The revelations about Brand and Theon were very interesting, and I appreciated how these characters were fleshed out in this final installment of the trilogy. While Willow, Brand, and Theon all had their own low points in the book (at times I was so frustrated, both with them and for them), each one learned from their mistakes and this made them more complete as characters. The world of Mistolear was also expanded on in Auralict - this enabled me as a reader to build a larger picture, along with Willow, of the politics of Mistolear's society.
A low point for me while reading was about midway through the book - there was a death that caught me off guard and it hit rather hard because I really loved the character, and there wasn't much time with them in the book prior to this happening.
As for subjects for any potential future books, I would be very interested in reading more about what became of Malvin, and I am also intrigued by what Oriana's earlier life was like. I must say that, overall, I very much enjoyed Auralict and it was worth the wait!
Highlights from the book: The revelations about Brand and Theon were very interesting, and I appreciated how these characters were fleshed out in this final installment of the trilogy. While Willow, Brand, and Theon all had their own low points in the book (at times I was so frustrated, both with them and for them), each one learned from their mistakes and this made them more complete as characters. The world of Mistolear was also expanded on in Auralict - this enabled me as a reader to build a larger picture, along with Willow, of the politics of Mistolear's society.
A low point for me while reading was about midway through the book - there was a death that caught me off guard and it hit rather hard because I really loved the character, and there wasn't much time with them in the book prior to this happening.
As for subjects for any potential future books, I would be very interested in reading more about what became of Malvin, and I am also intrigued by what Oriana's earlier life was like. I must say that, overall, I very much enjoyed Auralict and it was worth the wait!
August 2, 2016
This book was absolutely amazing. It was the perfect end to a great series... and it was well worth the wait! It's 1am and I'm sitting here with that happy yet hollow feeling after just having finished a good book. Like I said, it was absolutely amazing and a perfect ending... but I'm sad to see it's over. I loved this book and this series and I am so grateful that it finally got the ending it deserved.
January 15, 2012
this book has got to be amazing!! cuz the other ones were so good! and they are one of a kind series.
August 14, 2022
I have followed this series since the first book was published as The Princess Pawn (now Captured), and am so pleased with how well this long awaited conclusion wraps up Willow's story.
As far as the story goes, it's a fantasy at its roots, a chosen girl in a magical realm who has to take up the mantle to save her kingdom (that she didn't even knew existed at the start of the series). There's a very fun intermingling of dimensional travel between the worlds of Mistolear, Earth, and the Faerie realm throughout this series, and I love that even though Earth is a nonmagical realm it is depicted as a sort of haven from magic, not as lesser because of what it lacks. My favourite part is this undercurrent of discussing magic as a force that has the power to manipulate outside of a magic user's intentions. It's fascinating to see magic as almost a character in its own right and really nice to see magic users actually struggle with managing it and learning it instead of just immediately being good at using it. Also love that when Willow enters Mistolear in the first book, the culture shock of literally being in a different realm with different ways of interacting with people and talking are actually pointed out. Willow continues to use her Earthen ways of thinking to relate to her life in Mistolear and I love that little detail because it's so realistic and rarely addressed in the fantasy genre.
This instalment answers a lot of the questions I had about the magical system and the division between the realms that I had from the first two books, and actually ties together the storylines from those first two books really well. I could really see the development in the main characters as they struggle with processing the immense traumas of the second book and seeing them come into their own as they deal with those issues was a really good way of giving the reader more connection with Willow and Brand especially, even allowing us insight into the minds of the Faeries a bit more through Theon and Dacia as well. Maggie has an author's note in the end of this edition that to paraphrase touches on previous editors having qualms about the open endedness of the conclusion, and I don't think I agree. I love when a story leaves things open for the reader to imagine their life going on after the last page. A story at its core is just a snippet of time in a person's life and this series covered the snippet of time that spanned Willow's journey discovering her roots and learning about a world whose existence was invisible to her for most of her life. To avoid any spoilers i'll just say that I think it was a very realistic ending that dealt with the consequences of many characters actions but still felt joyful and complete for wrapping up this leg of WIllow's journey.
As far as the story goes, it's a fantasy at its roots, a chosen girl in a magical realm who has to take up the mantle to save her kingdom (that she didn't even knew existed at the start of the series). There's a very fun intermingling of dimensional travel between the worlds of Mistolear, Earth, and the Faerie realm throughout this series, and I love that even though Earth is a nonmagical realm it is depicted as a sort of haven from magic, not as lesser because of what it lacks. My favourite part is this undercurrent of discussing magic as a force that has the power to manipulate outside of a magic user's intentions. It's fascinating to see magic as almost a character in its own right and really nice to see magic users actually struggle with managing it and learning it instead of just immediately being good at using it. Also love that when Willow enters Mistolear in the first book, the culture shock of literally being in a different realm with different ways of interacting with people and talking are actually pointed out. Willow continues to use her Earthen ways of thinking to relate to her life in Mistolear and I love that little detail because it's so realistic and rarely addressed in the fantasy genre.
This instalment answers a lot of the questions I had about the magical system and the division between the realms that I had from the first two books, and actually ties together the storylines from those first two books really well. I could really see the development in the main characters as they struggle with processing the immense traumas of the second book and seeing them come into their own as they deal with those issues was a really good way of giving the reader more connection with Willow and Brand especially, even allowing us insight into the minds of the Faeries a bit more through Theon and Dacia as well. Maggie has an author's note in the end of this edition that to paraphrase touches on previous editors having qualms about the open endedness of the conclusion, and I don't think I agree. I love when a story leaves things open for the reader to imagine their life going on after the last page. A story at its core is just a snippet of time in a person's life and this series covered the snippet of time that spanned Willow's journey discovering her roots and learning about a world whose existence was invisible to her for most of her life. To avoid any spoilers i'll just say that I think it was a very realistic ending that dealt with the consequences of many characters actions but still felt joyful and complete for wrapping up this leg of WIllow's journey.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews