Book Review: Chantress

Author: Amy Butler Greenfield
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Series: Chantress # 1

Lucy’s Chantress magic will make her the most powerful—and most hunted—girl in England.

“Sing, and the darkness will find you.” This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness.

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England.

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion...

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic.

Sing and the darkness will find you.

 

“It wasn’t me you heard,” I said. “It’s something else. A sort of singing sound in the wind. I don’t know what it is.”

 

But already the wind was rising. It swirled through the room, midnight black, and caught us both in its grasp. As the candle went out, the song rose to a shriek, and everything around us vanished.

 

The thief…where was he? In this blackness he could be standing five feet away, and I would not know it.

I expected to really love this book and while I didn’t hate it, it wasn’t one of my favorites either. Chantress just took so long to actually get to the “good stuff.” Some pages could have been cut off for sure, and while I enjoyed the world building and the added information about Chantress magic it could have been cut way down. Lucy is our main character and the story focuses, not primarily but mostly, on her magical abilities. I was very intrigued in the opening pages, and I even felt an eerie chill go up my spine when Greenfield described how Lucy was stranded and the idea that singing would call some type of dark magic upon them. I liked Lucy’s voice and her magical abilities were amazing and completely different from anything I have ever read before.

 

As I have already mentioned, the world building was phenomenal and the attention to detail was exquisite. I felt like the story had so many layers and I was impressed by this. I once had an English teacher to tell me that any good story should resemble an onion; peeling more and more away layer by layer. I can definitely say that Chantress is an onion; there is so much to unfold unfortunately it wasn’t all action-packed and fast-paced. Most of the book deals with Lucy’s training and while I understand that this is necessary for the upcoming books in the series, it got old and got old fast.

 

The fact that I am obsessed with any magical themed books won out with me here. Even though I hated the slow pace, I absolutely adored the premise behind Lucy’s story. Greenfield does have quite the imagination. Lucy was my favorite character, and really none of the rest of them stood out to me too much. Lucy was written so that she could grow as her training and knowledge of the magical world surrounding her progressed, and this was what kept me hooked the most!

 

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Margaret K. McElderry Books in exchange for my honest review***