Book: Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox
Reviewed by Anonymous
Rating: 4/5
After years of grappling with the grief of losing the man she loved to the Arcane Crucible former fae hero, Elyria Lightbreaker must face her trauma head on to protect his sister from meeting the same end. The orphaned Cedric Throne has lived with hate in his heart for the famed Elyria, with whom he credits for the death of his parents. Cedric has devoted his life to training to win the Crucible for the humans. Thrust together during the trials of the Crucible they must grapple with the fragile truce and growing feelings between them.
Tropes
deadly trials
elemental magic
found family
she saves him
slow burn (no spice in book 1)
fae x human
shadow mommy
Final Thoughts
I absolutely ate up Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox. I did listen to this one on audio narrated by Stephanie Németh-Parker and Dan Calley and I enjoyed their narration. As someone who doesn't always love slow burns I felt like the slow burn here was fantastic. Elyria is an absolute bad ass of an FMC, I mean SHE is the one who has shadow magic here after all, and I am always dow for an FMC who is a baddie. I also loved the themes of grief and loss that were explored through Elyria and Cedric, the writing was just beautiful. Smoke and Scar gives us adventure, angst, tension, and a delicious slow burn.