Grey Flynn has dedicated her life to her mage, Kier. She will be his blade on the battlefield, his healer and protector. The deep well of raw power inside her is Kier’s to use. Grey would do anything for Kier – be anything for him – if he would only ask.

When a quest to protect the child of an enemy kingdom pulls them into the dangerous heart of their nation’s war, Grey and Kier will need to decide what they are willing to sacrifice to protect their secret. 

For Grey is no ordinary magical well, but heir to the lost island of Locke – the root of all power. If she dies, all magic dies with her.

First published Sept 2025 | 448 pages | Adult Fantasy
 Storygraph | Buy from Bookshop UK

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4 + 1 Reasons to Read This Book

1. World: There is an interesting (if not hugely developed) world-building. I especially love the extracts from “canonical texts” that give a lot of insight into how the social norms of the world are conceptualised. That might be because they kind of remind me of some Chinese philosophical texts (in style, not necessarily content) which I study quite a lot and enjoy. I also feel like the world will get more developed in the sequels (which are set in the same world but are standalones).
2. Interesting social dynamics: One of my favourite aspects was the ‘well/hand’ and ‘mage’ categories(?). Essentially, some people can gather magic and some people can wield that magic but people can’t do both. This allowed for some really interesting exploration of something that approaches gender dynamics in our world without making it about gender. It also offered an extra level of a bond without resorting to ‘soulmate’ type narratives that I generally don’t particularly like as it adds a sort of inevitability to the relationship rather than work and effort.
3. Slowburn, believable romance: Kier (our main guy) is not an abusive or even toxic asshole and the slow burn is believable. A lot of it happens before the story even starts, which makes slow burn in a 400 page book actually possible whilst still being able to actually show relationship and character development on page (and not just calling a couple of weeks or months slow burn). But the fact that they’ve known each other for so long means you actually get quite a lot of good interactions before they’re officially together so it’s really enjoyable. Also, the concerns seem realistic and approached with maturity, so you don’t feel like yelling at the characters and ripping your hair out. Somewhat of a misunderstanding plot, but done in a way that is actually realistic and not just causing drama for the sake of drama. The romance also doesn’t eclipse the rest of the story – there’s a good balance.
4. Mature characters: On a similar note, the adult characters are in general written as mature adults with internal conflicts and growth to go through but not like they’re suffering from teenage angst and starting from point zero when it comes to character development. There is also a teenaged character who is written like a character – mature in some ways, not in others – but appropriately considered a child by the other adult characters. This should not be a high ask for an adult fantasy book, but… (Arcana Academy, looking at you – see my review here).

Warning: major spoilers ahead after the blank. If you don’t want to read any spoilers please quickly scroll past to where it says “Verdict”.

5. Ultimatums: I think most people who’ve read quite a bit of fantasy with a female protagonist are familiar with the ‘lose your powers and achieve the goal/save the world or keep your powers and someone else has to sacrifice/you lose’-type ultimatums. I won’t name any specifics because let’s keep the spoilers here limited to this book only, but I’m sure you can probably think of at least one. And if not, lucky you. It’s okay as a one-off and if established early on as a possibility, but it sucks when it a) becomes a pattern b) always happens to the women and c) comes out of nowhere. (And d) when the woman inevitably chooses to sacrifice her powers.) Not that sacrificing your power for something else is always a bad idea, but it often feels like a cheap way out or not thought through.
   
   This book could have very easily fallen into this trap. It also gives a sudden ultimatum, one of the options of which is our main character. But it doesn’t. I’ll keep the spoilers to this level (no point completely giving it away) but let’s say I was happy about that.

Verdict

Somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars! I was hooked from about page 30, stayed up all night to finish it, shed a bit of a tear and recommended it to lots of people, but I don’t think it quite had the depth of emotional impact that I gave 5 stars for, so we’re sticking with a really high 4 stars. Maybe the best fantasy book I’ve read this year so far, but don’t quote me on that until I do my end-of-year posts.

Question Time

Have you read this book? Did you enjoy it? Or, do you think you might like to read it?

Keira x

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