I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Gleaning by Heidi R. Kling Series: The Spellspinners of Melas County #2
Published by Colliloquy on November 12, 2014
Genres: Paranormal YA, Witches, Young Adult
Pages: 200
Format: eARC
Also in this series: Witch's Brew
Also by this author: Witch's Brew
Source: the publisher
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
In the second installment of the Spellspinners saga, Lily’s worldview is rocked by fear, mistrust, and heartbreak, as she deals with the fallout from the night of her enchantment.
Someone powerful is determined to keep her and Logan apart. But who? And why?
As the covens prepare to do battle in the Solstice Stones, the lines between good and evil, dark and light, begin to blur. Allegiances are called into question. Trust is broken. And all Lily knows may just be an illusion.
Will the star-crossed lovers unearth the seeds of betrayal before it’s too late? Or will the witches and warlocks of Melas County be forced to say goodbye to their magic—and any chance of reconciliation between the covens—for good?
In The Gleaning, nothing is as it seems. And Lily and Logan will have to tread carefully if they hope to uncover the truth in time to save their love and break the curse.
THE GLEANING by Heidi R. Kling is the second book in the Spellspinners of Melas County, a pretty awesome e-book series that is choose-you-own-adventure. Yeah, I KNOW. It’s full of witchy goodness, with witches and warlocks basically hating on each other and a prophecy about a chosen one who is supposed to bring the two groups back from the depths of their fear and loathing of each other. THE GLEANING is literally about the Gleaning, a gathering/event whereby a witch and a warlock battle each other to steal the other’s magic and life force. (Read book number 1, WITCH’S BREW, to get the full picture, friends!) And wouldn’t you know it: our two main characters–the star-crossed lovahs, Lily and Logan–are chosen to do battle against one another. But wouldn’t you know it TWICE that all is not as it seems.
Maybe I’ll give you guys a little background first: Lily is a witch. Logan is a warlock. They aren’t supposed to associate with each other. Warlocks in Heidi R. Kling’s series think that witches are evil, conniving vixens bent on stealing the warlocks’ magic. The witches think the warlocks are…well, basically ditto. Lily and Logan are kind of exceptional in their own ways, and the witches believe that Logan might be this chosen one everyone is all gaga over. There’s all kinds of witchy shenanigans going on, power plays by both the ladies and gents, and hanging over the whole thing is the relationship between Lily and Logan. Fraught, sexy, dangerous, and full of secrets. Woot!
THE GLEANING picks up with Lily and Logan a little bit at odds over some pot-stirring that took place at the end of WITCH’S BREW courtesy of Lily’s doppelganger. (Yeah. She has one of those, and she likes to cause trouble.) This doesn’t do anyone any favors, because the Gleaning itself is just around the corner, and both the witches and warlocks look at is as a display of power, of one group being better and stronger than the other. The action in THE GLEANING is pretty good, although I thought the stuff that went down in WITCH’S BREW was a bit more…MORE. That’s not to say that big things don’t happen, because they do. But something about book 1 seemed a little more gripping.
Further complicating things is the beginnings of a triangle. Jude, another warlock who is basically a big jerkface (so far), starts playing mind games with Lily and trying to worm his way into her thoughts, not only causing her to be confused about her feelings for Logan, but also question Logan’s being the chosen one. I’m interested in him for sure, and I’m feeling a little bit like I could get burnt out by Logan and Lily’s meant-to-be-ness, and Jude certainly brings the smoldery, douchey, danger.
Overall, I felt like THE GLEANING was good, but not great. The biggest problem for me? It was…short. I felt like there was hardly much time for things to happen. Part of me wishes that this series, instead of being 10 books long was something more like 3 or 4, cramming more juicy stuff into fewer books. It would be a little easier for me to keep track of what’s going on and would keep things from being so spread out. Sometimes things seem a little too stretched out or something. And choosing the different paths in this book wasn’t as satisfying in terms of plot. It’s still fun, but wasn’t as obviously different paths.
All that being said, I’m still invested in the story, and intrigued by the prophecy and the mythology and Lily and Logan. There’s 8 books left! The only way things can go from here is straight to crazytown, which I LIVE there, so I like the sound of that very much.
