The Rise of Magicks by Nora Roberts

GoodReads Summary:
After the sickness known as the Doom destroyed civilization, magick has become commonplace, and Fallon Swift has spent her young years learning its ways. Fallon cannot live in peace until she frees those who have been preyed upon by the government or the fanatical Purity Warriors, endlessly hunted or locked up in laboratories, brutalized for years on end. She is determined to save even those who have been complicit with this evil out of fear or weakness—if, indeed, they can be saved.
Strengthened by the bond she shares with her fellow warrior, Duncan, Fallon has already succeeded in rescuing countless shifters and elves and ordinary humans. Now she must help them heal—and rediscover the light and faith within themselves. For although from the time of her birth, she has been The One, she is still only one. And as she faces down an old nemesis, sets her sights on the enemy’s stronghold, and pursues her destiny—to finally restore the mystical shield that once protected them all—she will need an army behind her…
Review:
The final book in the Chronicles of The One series is one that I was eagerly anticipating to be released and then to be delivered to me. I was so excited when it came. I wanted to start it right away, but school work had to be done first. When I did finally start it, I flew through it.
In the first book, we follow a cast of characters escaping the end of the world. We still get to see these characters in the second and third books but the story is more focus on their children in book three. Specifically, ‘The One’ also named Fallon. I didn’t love this in book two, but in this finale, I came to really enjoy it. I really adored the planning and then the action that this book had. It was full of good overcoming the evil that was plaguing the world.
These characters that we met as fetuses and then follow as they grow into the adults the are in The Rise of Magicks. I thought this was really great considering that I felt the first book lacked a bit of character development. It was certainly made up for in this aspect.
But the best part of this book was the action. There were several battle scenes as those on the side of the light fought to regain control of Washington, D.C., New York City, and then the Shield where all of this madness started. There were significant losses on both sides and Nora really tore my heart out a few times.
I also really loved the magical ideas behind the end of the world as we know it today. I thought this was compelling, the idea that the Doom that killed most of the population also somehow brought out magical abilities or attributes.
All in all, Nora did an incredible job with this series. It’s different from most of the other things she’s written and I just genuinely enjoyed it. I can’t wait to see what other kinds of fantastical stories Nora might come up with next.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Year One by Nora Roberts

GoodReads Summary:
It began on New Year’s Eve.
The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed–and more than half of the world’s population was decimated.
Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magic rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practicing in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river–or in the ones you know and love the most.
As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travelers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive.
In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.
The end has come. The beginning comes next.
Review:
Year One was…different from Nora’s other books. I still enjoyed it, but it definitely wasn’t her usual mystery or romance. This book follows a cast of characters as the world as we know it ends. They struggle to find safety and truth in this new world.
I really liked all of the characters we follow. They each brought something different to the story. I’m not going to go into each of them because there are just too many. I really liked all the various abilities that surfaced after The Doom. They were creative and interesting abilities.
I thought this story brought really interesting conversations about good versus bad kinds of people. After people gain abilities, just like regular people, there turn out to be good Uncannys and bad. The characters talk about how, regardless of any supernatural abilities, some people are inherently good and some are just bad.
I liked that this was s dystopian with magic. There are tons of books out there where the world ends scientifically, so the magical twist was something I enjoyed.
I really didn’t love the direction the end of this book went in. A certain character has something happen and things just went so far into left field. I felt like it kind of invalidated everything that happened previously. Though I am interested to see where things go in the next book.
I didn’t love this book as much as I thought I was going to. I enjoyed it and will definitely be continuing the series. I’m interested to see what exactly the magic is that kick-started the end of the world.

Quotes:

“You have to think of the positive, of the light, or the dark takes over.”

“Major, monumental crises bring out the best or the worst in us—sometimes both. And sometimes those major, monumental crises have no effect on certain types. Which means, no matter what the circumstances, assholes remain assholes.”

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.