Droplets of Magic: A Review

 Book 4 of the Unstable Magic Series by Emily Bybee

Blurb:

Kira’s spells always end the same—rain and violent storms. She’s what’s called a Defect, and that means one of two things in the witch world—losing your magic or death. After faking her demise, Kira is in hiding. She risks exposure and travels the world, making the Defective magic that would get her killed into a gift by bringing rains to places that most need water.

The witch world has changed in the ten years Kira’s been gone. Kira doesn’t know that she has a much bigger part to play against an ancient danger that threatens the entire world. But the witches want her for their own greedy plans. Her only chance to escape the witch council is to hide in areas where her storms go unnoticed. After one last stop in Africa, she plans to disappear again.

But Kira’s past catches up with her and a decade old blood debt comes due. As if being prey to the witch world isn’t enough, her family’s history with the Russian Mafia causes an enemy who was once her childhood friend to hunt her down. She and her only ally Alex—a naïve American—team up to escape the underworld warlord. As Kira’s feelings for Alex grow, she fears he will be caught in the crossfire. To settle this debt, someone will have to die.

Thoughts:

This is book 4 in a series, and I wish I had read the other books first. Having said that, I still was able to understand the world well enough and many reviews say each book in this series could be read as a stand alone. I love the idea behind of intermixing a bit of science in the magic. Kira's gift is water, and she can manipulate water and even turn oxygen and hydrogen molecules in the air into water. Even with such a strong power, she is considered a defect.

This was a very much a cat and mouse type of book. Kira is being chased by the Russian Witch Mofia and her childhood friend and former betrothed Rurik. Rurik tracks her and hopes to use her for his own political gain. There are lots of tense moments and the story is well paced. I wish the relationships had been given more depth. We learn why Rurik despises Kira, and there's a secondary romance story between Alex and Kira that I just couldn't get into. It almost felt like instant love and I didn't see any thing that would make them attracted to each other beyond physical looks and proximity. This lack of connection between what I think is supposed to be a fantasy romance book is what brought my score down for this one. Even with a lower than normal score I felt it was a good book overall.

Rating: 3.5 stars

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Disclaimer: I received an advanced e-copy of this book free for review.  This however does not affect my opinions, as I do not leave a review for each book I receive. There are links to Amazon, clicking these links won't cost you anything but any purchase helps support this blog.  Thanks!