Eunica

Skeleton Key #3

by J. Rose Alexander

Skeleton Key Book Series
One Skeleton Key. Endless Adventures.
https://skeletonkeybookseries.com

A life full of death is no life at all.

But Devon prefers to stay away from the living and deal with the dead. No social life, no parents, no family and only one friend, she hides away in the possessions of the deceased. One of the dead leaves behind a key-- a small piece of glass that transports Devon, quite literally, to her destiny.

Grandin is a sicutus -- a human with very little powers. Set into his corona, or circle, of Air elements, he has given up on his world as well and has chosen to guard the Eunia Crystal with twenty others. They are solitary people, revered but left alone. And it on his watch that the Eunia comes alive--and bring his destiny to him.

As the government of Cardinal Terrun sits on the precipice of disaster, only Grandin and Devon can make the decisions that save his world, or throw it into a war in which they are the generals --and the spoils.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal

ebook

Published June 15, 2016

About the author

Author a few poems here and there and several intermittently updated blogs, she lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and three cats. Chatter box, compulsive writer, bon vivant, stunt commuter, and a ninja in her dreams, J. Rose enjoys losing herself in the capes and masks of her superheroes and is always on the look out for a new adventure, on the page or in real life.

Reviews

[phoebess · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of this story was brilliant, there was no doubt about it, but the amount of information hurled at me right from the first chapter was overwhelming.
That happened mainly because I'm not a reader who loves (or even likes) to go back and forth between the glossary and the story, I prefer to learn from the characters' explanations or their own experience and in this story, most of the terms and politics were explained rather later than sooner because the author used the glossary as some kind of a crutch.
Another thing, I'm sure the hyperlinks to glossary were meant to be helpful but they were distracting and made me feel like I was reading just an ordinary document, not a book...
It looks like I don't have anything good to say about this book but it's not true. After I became more oriented in all this new-to-me world—I'm not proud to admit it didn't happen until somewhere in the middle of the first part—I was fascinated and desperate to know more about all those characters.
This story could be a good starter to absolutely amazing series.

[Patty Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book by this author. At first I was put off by the size of the glossary, but boy was it necessary and definitely made quick work of understanding the storyline. What an interesting other world she built. I love the destiny storyline and that the major players/rulers are women. Devon is a complex woman and Rand is perfection as a patriot. I love how the people they "bond" with are not love interests. I'm eager to read more by this author. My only disappointment is not seeing a book 2.

[Rockme Amadeus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before I give my opinion I want to say one thing real quick: my words might sound harsh but I don't mean to be. So if the author reads this review, what I'm going to write is meant to be helpful criticism and not just useless ranting ;)

Positive: I enjoyed the story. It was interesting, I enjoyed the characters and their relationships with each other. And while the other world was very confusing at first, it started to make sense after a while. You just got to keep reading.
So why did I only rate it three stars? Because:

Negative:
- Plot holes. I honestly couldn't believe that a story that got published in a collection would have one major plot hole and at least one smaller one. The whole story starts for Rand when the headmistress tells him that normally nobody is able to see the elements being used. He then talks to Bethela and she reveals that he is not a sicutus, like he always thought, but an animusi. And part of that means he could command all the elements and SEE others using them. When he and Devon later escape, he even tells her that it's not normal that she, too, can see the elements. But when they are at Olosos' house and he is surprised that Devon can see the elements, Rand says "of course she can see them. Can't everyone?", indicating that he is very surprised. This might not be a big deal to some but for me it puts the whole story line into question. Simply because him being able to see the elements is what got the whole thing going in the first place. Without it, he never would've found out he was an animusi, he probably wouldn't have been able to escape the attackers, never made his way to Olosos. That's just a big no-no. I wonder why none of the beta readers caught that.

- The ending, or rather what came right before the actual end. It was very abrupt and disappointing. Especially because there was so much potential there :/ I mean, this was made out to be THE battle. And then all we got was a few people holding bombs in the air and exploding them before anything happened. Nothing else. No real showdown between the factions. Not even a real ending to the battle. One moment they were holding the bombs and the next there was a new chapter and everything was fine. Like whaaaat? Where is all the good stuff? The fighting, the suspense, the almost losing but by some miracle winning at the last moment?

Like I said, I don't want to sound mean. I'm just this worked up because I actually enjoyed the story, like I said. With a bit of editing and rewriting that last battle, this could easily be a 4-star book for me.

Cheers :)

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Eunica" (The Skeleton Key) by J. Rose Alexander is a great read. I enjoyed reading about Devon, Mila, Rand, Olosos, and the others. This story has passion, travel to another universe, fantasy, paranormal, romance, and much more. Fantasy and science fiction isn't a genre I normally enjoy, yet I loved this story! Recommend to all fans of romance, paranormal, fantasy, and science fiction. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!

[Connie Hinsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

Good book. A little difficult to follow at times but only because of the vocabulary (when there's a glossary, you know there is going to be confusion). Some editing issues, but not bad enough to affect the story.

[Tamara Hull · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a little bit to get into this book; partly because the glossary at the beginning was overwhelming but by the second chapter I had got my head around all the titles and into the swing of the book. The glossary is helpful though.

Eunica is in many ways a typical Skeleton Key book featuring the magical doorway, a portal to another world. The way the key operates was interesting though and I enjoyed the twists and turns the story took. This was a surprising and enjoyable read with a few surprises I did not see coming.

Devon being a police officer made her capability in the face of disorientation believable, she let her training take over rather than focus on how insane everything was which I really liked; it's nice when characters behave in believable ways - even in fantasy stories.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I think this was a good story, there was a bit too much information we had to read first. I do enjoy knowing what the words mean but it was a bit much for a short story. Great ideas in the book though.

[Veronica LaRoche · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading fantasy books and this was a good and thank god there was a guide so I could go back and see what everything meant. Good concept and love Rand & Devon & Olosos

I received this book in exchange for an honest review

[Nichole Brunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little hard to understand but a great read. Can't wait to see what happens next.