Not my usual speed in some regards, but fun. ( )

Post Apoc, mage tries to save town and seraphim, and vanquishing evil. Keeps getting better
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Well, there aren't really "witches" per-say. They're mages. Close enough.

In a way I liked it better than book one, I always do though. I get more attached to the characters.

I'm still not sure about the Seraphs, good? or bad? Angelic beings from scripture, or aliens who have taken over the planet pretending to be angelic beings from scripture. Hopefully Host will tells us, as it is the last book!

The author has a REALLY annoying habit of using two phrases often enough to make me not only notice but grow irritated. Excessive repetition is always annoying, but on top of that they're really cheesy sounding:

...really sucks Habiel's pearly toes... Sometimes augmented to ...really sucks Habiel's pearly scabrous toes... Equally irritating either way.

and

Ducky as in, "That's just ducky!" Sometimes the full phrase, sometimes just the word.

*sigh*

I like it, but she keeps me from loving it with crap like that. ( )

Thorn is backed by some very close friends, a fiercely loyal family. But as a newly revealed Neo-Mage in an aggressively hostile small town she’s on thin ice. Even when her powers may be the very thing keeping them safe from the monsters underground

But are those powers also responsible for drawing them?

She had sworn she wouldn’t return to face the darkness under the mountain… but it’s waiting and gathering its forces and it certainly hasn’t forgotten Thorn

This huge, complicated world contains so many wonderful conflicts. A post-apocalypse world, nearly wiped out by angelic and divine wrath, nearly consumed by demonic rage, living in equal terror of both angel from on high and demon from beneath. A deeply religious society, desperately and faithfully following proper sacred rules - but without any clear indication of what those sacred rules actually are, which religion is right and in a world where one certainty they actually have is that religious conflict will get you killed.

And these are just the stories the Seraphs tell… what is the real truth?

And into that complex world we have Thorn continuing her story - only this time revealed to be a Neomage, much to the hatred and prejudice of her neighbours. There’s so many wonderful levels to this whole conflict: there’s Thorn gloriously owning who she is, wearing it like a cape and waving it like a flag. There’s her closest friends and loved ones standing shoulder to shoulder with her ready to cut anyone who looks at her twice. There’s the good people who are pushing for honesty and fairness (and the Jewish and Cherokee communities arming and stepping up in the face of clear religious oppression was a nice, though in need of development, moment). The outright bigots willing to do anything to bring Thorn down. The hypocrites who want Thorn’s magic - but not in public, not where people could see, oh no! And, of course, Thorn makes a convenient scapegoat whenever things go wrong.

Throw in a lot of intrigue about her past and her mentor, lots of questions about whether the whole narrative that is being sold about the Seraphs arrival is actually true and a neat little romance sub plot with some nice twists in that it’s not happily ever after, by any stretch.

I like the people around Thorn, they’re not flawless: the fact that Audric, a Black man is in a subservient position because of his species, the fact that he and Rupert, as gay men, are similarly rendered sexless are both questionable to say the least and Rupert has a bad case of Gay Shark going on with heavily laden stereotypes. All are fiercely loyal to Thorn and along with Jessie make an excellent team around her. She has strong, good relationships.

The town itself is also very racially diverse, though not with major characters, Many important characters - like the chief elder of the town - are POC

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Honestly, I thought there would be more to this book. I found myself loosing interest within the first half. I found Thorn to be a bit bland. I liked that she kept a low profile, tried to fit in- but I just wasn't interested in her story.