Marina Rosewood has grown up raised by her aunt and uncles in an artists’ enclave in Cornwall. While she knows of her parents and their estate, she had no memories of them as she was sent away as a baby. Still, she’s happy with her life immersed in art and the study of magic. What Marina doesn’t know is that as a baby her Aunt Arachne laid a curse on her that was intended to kill her. Thanks to her godparents, the curse was drained at the time and if it isn’t reactivated by Marina’s eighteenth birthday, it will rebound on Arachne and kill her. However, Arachne hasn’t given up, and when tragedy strikes, Marina finds herself whisked off to the family estate under her aunt’s guardianship. Forging allies with Dr. Andrew Pike, a local Earth Master, Marina quickly finds that there is more at stake than just her removal from the only home she’s ever known, and that the evil they face will take every ounce of her cleverness and courage to defeat.
Marina worked very well as a main character, and I liked the fact that we really got to know her before the crisis really hit. The supporting cast was great in this one as well. It was a little difficult to figure out the historical time period (probably late Victorian or early Edwardian England), but that didn’t detract from the story. The little mentions of figures from The Serpent’s Shadow were neat and also made the world feel that much more complete. The antagonists were also fantastic; the kind of villains you love to hate.
The biggest flaw to this book is that the romance between Marina and Andrew really doesn’t get a chance to develop. It feels very tacked on to the ending of the book, and I would have liked to see their courtship played out a little more. Both Andrew and Marina are more focused on the issues at hand rather than romance, but a little more yearning and realization of their feelings earlier on would have made the ending much more satisfying. Still it was an enjoyable read and a good adaptation of the tale. Three out of five stars.
Bingo – Steal – Arachne is trying to steal both Marina’s inheritance and her life, mostly her life.
