Magic Lost, Trouble Found

Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin



I read this because I had heard that it was quite good; similar to the Heart of Stone series by C. E. Murphy.

Like the C.E. Murphy novels Raine is a fully formed character that already has had quite a bit of life rush past her and so she starts off (almost immediately) into a whole heap of trouble.

That might be helpful for some people to get them sunk into the story, but I tend to prefer a little more backstory before a full mental plunge into a character's life and story.

Raine comes into possession of a magical amulet that an employee (and friend) of hers had been hired to steal. This amulet while looking like a plain piece of ugly jewelry is really a powerful beacon to a much more dangerous magical item called the "Soul Thief." Once Raine has the amulet in her possession it won't let her go and so poor Raine goes the whole book trying to avoid all the bad guys who want the amulet and "Soul Thief." With the possession of the amulet Raine also gains all kinds of fun and interesting powers which she definitely needs to be able to survive all the bad guys that don't care if she lives or dies.

I had such a hard time getting into this book, especially at first... However about half-way through the book (once Raine has gotten herself thoroughly steeped in trouble) we really start to get to know and work with this Conclave Guardian named Mychael whose job it is to protect the amulet (and "Soul Thief"). And it was MUCH easier for me to read the back half of the book because of him.