Madly by Amy Alward - ESSENTIAL

Alward, Amy Madly, 384 pages.  Simon & Schuster, 2015.  $18.  

Language: PG (5 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

Samantha Kemi and her alchemist grandfather follow the old-school methods of compounding cures using natural magical ingredients, but they have been struggling in recent years because of the boom of chemists using synthetic cures created by the Aster family.  When Princess Evelyn is poisoned by her own illegal potion, Samantha Kemi is pitted against Zain Aster and the Aster fortune in a race to find the cure, as they have both been called to the Wylde Hunt.  Not only are the Asters trying to take out their competition, but Emilia, the banished sister of the current king, is also using magic and might to take out all of the competitors by any means necessary.

Alward has crafted a book of roaring high fantasy that grabbed me from the very beginning.  I am so sad that it has taken me so long to read and to share this awesome book.  While the title and the cover make it seem that this is a girly romance book, it really is much, much more, with any romance being little more than a side note.

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher