The First of Her Kind: A Darkness and Light Novel by K.L. Schwengel Review

Title: The First of Her Kind: A Darkness and Light Novel
Author: K.L. Schwengel
Age Group: Teen/Young Adult
Genre: Medieval Fantasy
Series: Darkness and Light, book one
Star Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
The bottom line: The First of Her Kind is an authentic, romantic medieval novel that I absolutely loved, though there were some flaws.

I won First of Her Kind: A Darkness and Light Novel here on Goodreads. Thank you, K.L., for the nice note on the cover! Totally awesome! I was a little apprehensive when I started reading it--I thought it was going to be a sappy romance novel with no substance--and boy, am I glad that I was proven wrong! Ciara is a girl with a serious problem: She is gifted heavily with the Goddess's earth magic, which is used for healing, and the wilding, a destructive force that could tear her to shreds. When her aunt, Meriol, dies, Ciara sets out with Bolin, a mysterious warrior with secrets of his own, to a convent of sorts where Ciara can learn to control her magic. Once she sets out, Ciara and Bolin are thrust into a deadly battle of wills, in which they are both pawns to those with evil intent.

What I enjoyed:
-Ciara and her strong will and defiance
-Bolin, and his evolution throughout the novel
-Donovan
-Meriol
-The Crone
-The romance and how it wasn't too over the top
-The way it read like an authentic medieval fantasy novel to me
-The pacing
-The cliffhanger--can't wait for the sequel!

What I didn't enjoy:
-The way Bolin was tortured--it was too overtly sexual for me, personally, but then again, it was probably true to the time period

Thank you, K.L., and thank you, Goodreads! Next on deck: The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe!