Review – Cast in Secret by Michelle Sagara (4/5 stars)

This is the third book in the Chronicles of Elantra series by Michelle Sagara. It has been getting mixed reviews but I have to say I really enjoyed it. I mean you couldn’t barely pry me away from the book, so that should say something about it.

In this book Kaylin and Severn are trying to track down a couple young girls that have been kidnapped. There is some nice character development between Kaylin and Lord Nightshade. You learn a lot more about the race of the Tha’alani, which is pretty interesting. In fact a lot of the book focuses on the Tha’alani. Kaylin learns, much to her dismay, more about her magic.

Overall I really liked this book. It was interesting to learn about the Tha’alani and you get to learn some more about the history of Elantra. I really don’t like Kaylin as a character too much, she has kind of grown on me like a fungus, but I love the supporting cast. I think the different races in the book are very interesting. I also really like the elemental magic in this book; it was a neat idea and fun to read about.

There are a couple of things that did irritate me about this book. We all know that Kaylin has a weak spot for children, we get it. I really don’t need that beat into me anymore than it already has been. It also kind of bothers me that this book is never quit sure about Kaylin’s relationship to the men around her. For some reason all the guys are very protective of her yet, you can’t figure out if there is any romance there; they all treat here like she is a young teenager or something. Maybe this ambiguity in Kaylin’s relationships with the men around her is part of the charm of the book.

I am interested to see how all of the story arcs tie together; the overall series sometimes seems like it doesn’t know where it is going. Still I really enjoyed this book, even though I am not really sure why. I will definitely read the next book in the series.