Review: Kingdom of Essence by Holly Karlsson

Synopsis:

Elitsa Serlov only cares about two things — earning enough money to start a new life and finding the rogue mage who murdered her mother. But years without leads have left her jaded, and she won’t let anyone — friend or foe — get in her way.

In Casekraia, anyone can use magic if they’re desperate enough to rent relics from the Tower, a corrupt guild of mages more concerned with their own wealth than the welfare of the people. Elitsa has spent the last three years as a reclamation agent for the Guild, hunting down her own people for precious coin and the hope of uncovering what happened to her mother.

Just one week before her contract with the Tower is set to expire, Elitsa is coerced into a dangerous conspiracy by a gang of rebellious thieves. With her loyalty to the Tower in question, Elitsa must decide between her quest for revenge and charting a new course for her life.

With captivating characters, daring heists, and dangerous magic, this enchanting fantasy adventure spins a tale about the power of hope and friendship and our connection to the world around us.

MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow! Where do I even start with this review? There are so many aspects to this story that worked for me. I’ll admit that I originally requested to be on the book tour based on the cover alone. No shame in my cover loving game! It has led me towards some fantastic reads in the past, especially within the indie fantasy realm. However, Kingdom of Essence is way more than just a pretty cover. It’s fresh, unique, and an incredibly strong start to a very promising fantasy series.

At the beginning of the book, I felt like the main conflict was predictable and easy to follow. Not in a bad way. It was just cut and dry. You could tell where the story was heading and the antagonist(s) were fairly obvious. But booooooooy, was I wrong. Before I knew it, the plot was branching off in multiple directions, more characters were brought into play, and new mysteries were discovered. It’s like Karlsson closes one door to the plot and then opens three more. While the story doesn’t end with a cliffhanger, there are certainly plenty of questions left unanswered that will no doubt be explored heavily in the next book. I feel like Charlie Day in that meme with strings making connections, trying to explain a conspiracy, but only suceeding in sounding crazy. I can only imagine what the next book will resolve and reveal.

I loved the emphasis on embroidery detail when describing clothing. For some, this could be a unnecessary descriptor, but I loved how it added an extra flair to the story. It gave the clothing such a simple yet lavish feel, and I wanted to be there in person to run my hands along the stitches. Also, the use of high collars and slit skirts with trousers… and relics as jewelry?! It was perfect. I loved every bit of it. Honestly, the worldbuilding in this book is top tier. Casekraia, where the story takes place, is so immersive because it feels like Karlsson has been there herself.

The magic system was fascinating. The relics that I mentioned above are used to harvest and store “essence” from things that can then be released as magic. Air, water, fire, and earth are among the most common forms. Relics are not legal to use by just anyone and are heavily regulated through contracts. Elitsa, the main charcter, is a reclamation agent who specializes in reclaiming relics from expired or unfufilled contracts. It sounds easy enough, but few are keen to reliquish the one thing that guarentees their livelihood. The history of the magic system and political climate of Casekraia go hand and hand, influencing the plot heavily. There is so much more I could say, but I don’t want to give anything away.

In short, I loved this book. Indie fantasy has been KILLING it lately, and if you’re still among the crowd that thinks self-pub’d work is somehow lacking in anything, then you are severely mistaken.

I highly recommend this book for fans of: adventurous coming-of-age stories, unique magic systems, politically driven plots, conspiracies, assassins, heists, mysterious characters, non-cliffhanger endings (but plenty of questions left unanswered), fierce yet compassionate female MCs, supportive characters that you’d want in your corner, and less romance with more adventure.