Review and Favorite Lines: Elements of Power by Kate Stoessel

Happy Thursday! I’m delighted to be part of the Elements of Power blog tour today! This is a fabulous new series that I absolutely loved!! Magic, dynamic characters, powerful messages, and a fabulous love story – they’re all fantastic!! If you like YA fantasies/dystopias/romance, then this is the book for you!! Let’s check it out!

About the Book:

Title: Elements of Power

Author: Kate Stoessel

Series: Council of the Harvest Moon #1

Publication Date: April 5, 2021

Publisher: Rhodes & Co

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis: The Council of the Harvest Moon was established to maintain peace among the witches, fairies, vampires, and mermaids of the United States. However, old feuds die hard and as the powers of fairies wane with the destruction of natural environments, the witches rise with a rigid societal structure designed to assert their supremacy as the most powerful supernatural beings in the modern world.

As the descendant of two prominent New England witching families, Khlorie Lethestone’s life was destined to fit into the neat, color-coded boxes established by the American Continental Coven (ACC). When it is discovered that Khlorie has powers beyond that of a typical witch, she is sent to Spindlewick College, a secret institution designed to help witches develop non-conforming gifts into tools for the greater good of witching society. Once there, she meets the attractive, but distant Perry Prentice, who is assigned to help her understand her gifts. But becoming one of the most powerful witches in the world means that you are watched closely, and Khlorie learns that there are secrets she must keep hidden to survive.

LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon

About the Author:

Kate Stoessel is a Middle Grades and Young Adult author specializing in Fantasy. She wrote her first novel, Erine Pershings and the Golden Lyre, because she could not find interesting and informative historical fiction that explored the daily lives of women and children in Ancient Athens. The Council of the Harvest moon series represents Kate’s first foray into Young Adult Fantasy, her favorite genre as a reader. She knows how transportive a fantasy story can be, and hopes to give her readers the same experience of wonder and escape. Whether Middle Grades or YA, Kate is committed to creating characters that feel as authentic and real as the students she works with everyday as a classroom teacher.

She has a B.A. degree in Classical Civilizations from Colby College and a M.S.Ed in Museum Education and Childhood Education from the Bank Street School of Education. Kate lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband, Jack, son, Augie, and two dogs, Artemis and Apollo.

Author Links:

My Review:

Khlorie has special elemental powers and is sent to Spindlewick College to help master them. Enrolled with other magically gifted students, Khlorie learns more about her powerful and dangerous gifts and develops wonderful friendships with several other students. However, not everything is as it seems at Spindlewick College and in the witch world. As Khlorie masters her powers, she must also face bigger threats that could shatter everything she’s ever believed.

There are so many unique and cool types of magic, magical abilities, and magical classes throughout this story, and it is fantastic! Each magical person goes to college to train for a magic-related career, and they take classes specific to their powers. Magical Gardening, Non-Traditional Flying Methods, Spell Creation, and Shapeshifting: Theory and Ethics are just some of the options students have. As I read the book, I imagined which classes I would take and which careers most appealed to me. I don’t know how the characters narrowed their focuses. Everything sounds so interesting!

Like many dystopias, this story explores important issues like excessive government control, oppression, the taking away of freedoms slowly and almost unnoticeably, and the blind allegiance of the uninformed. Khlorie, for example, grew up in a strict home with a mother and aunt who work for the government. Her closest friends are also ingratiated in the government and follow the dictates of the law implicitly. It isn’t until Khlorie goes to Spindlewick that she sees the inequities of their society and how her family has contributed to it. This is also when she learns about the lies she’s been fed throughout her life, and she learns truths about her family and the world around her.

Khlorie growth throughout the story is immense. She learns so much about her magical abilities, herself, her family, and society and basically has to reevaluate all she knows. She is unsure who she should believe and who she should trust, and the more she learns, the more confused she becomes. Her time at Spindlewick, though fraught with tense moments, magical fiascos, and other conflicts proves worthwhile and instrumental in opening Khlorie’s eyes to the realities of her life. She sees how little control she has over her life, especially since the death of her father. Luckily, she develops a found family in Perry and some of the other students at Spindlewick.

I love the found family aspect of the book. The majority of the story takes place on Spindlewick’s campus, and when Khlorie first arrives, she know no one. Perry, Orpheus, Itzel, and the rest of their close-knit group quickly embrace Khlorie into their group and support her as she learns more about her powers. They train with her, commiserate with her, and accept her as no one else has. Plus, they know how to relax and let loose! Fun moments with Khlorie’s new friends add levity to the story (Especially Orpheus. I love him!!) and show how much friends can become like family,

The love story between Khlorie and Perry is angst-filled, lovely, romantic, and complicated. Many obstacles stand in Khlorie and Perry’s way, and there are definite trust issues happening. Both have secrets, and they often have differing opinions on social and political issues. Also, Khlorie has been lied to so many times by so many people that she starts to find it difficult to trust anyone. However, it is clear that this couple cares deeply for each other, and their bond is rare. I’m curious to see how they resolve their conflicts and hope that they will find their happy ending together.

A magical young adult fantasy with immersive world-building and dynamically developed characters, Elements of Power is a fantastic book for readers who like ya fantasy and romance. Plus, that shocking ending left me speechless! What a cliffhanger!!

Rating:

Favorite Parts:

The magic! There are so many fascinating powers and classes throughout the story!

The romance. I’m curious to see how their love story progresses, especially after that ending!!

The found family – one of my favorite tropes.

Favorite Lines:

I want to learn to control the abilities I have been granted. I just don’t want to be controlled as a result of them.

Just because something is your family’s legacy doesn’t mean that you can’t take a stand against it. In fact, it is more important that you take a stand against it.