The Council by Kayla Krantz
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I had high hopes for this book. Perhaps that’s where I went wrong.
The Council is about Lilith (nicknamed “Li” and I’m not exactly sure where that came from. I never really understand nicknames that are just shortened versions of your name with a different vowel sound unless she’s literally just called “Lih”) who lives in a place called “the 5 realms”, one for each type of witch: mind powers, water, air, fire, and healing. She lives in the fire realm and is just finishing up her schooling, where she will be “sorted” into a coven and given her job. Unfortunately! Our protagonist was born to “UnEquipped” parents, which means they don’t have powers, so she won’t have them either. Or it’s highly unlikely that she will get them. Or there’s a small chance. Depends on the page you’re reading in the book. It’s all over the place. Lilith and her similarly UnEquipped friend Helena along with their friend Clio who is the class leader (despite the fact that Lilith is suuper smart and has no powers, she thinks she ought to be the class leader… I don’t get that one) all talk about the UnEquippeds’ chances of getting powers in vastly different ways. One moment it seems totally possible! You just have to study! Next minute, Lilith is SUPER SPECIAL for being born to UnEquipped parents and getting powers. Then! During her ceremony that reveals the telekinetic powers that she has been hiding from everyone (it’s okay, she did a couple of dramatic reveals before the ceremony) she is actually revealed to hold powers from EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE REALMS. IT’S AMAZING. Chaos ensues.
“it’s okay…” I whisper to myself. Lots of books have super speshul characters. “It’ll be okay”. Reader, it was certainly not okay.
To summarize the spoiler free version of this review, Lilith continues to be super special, but like her chances of developing powers, her degree of super specialness seems to vary page to page. One minute she’s incredibly rare and powerful. The next minute, all of her abilities seem to be a totally possible thing to happen. Maybe this was the author’s way of tempering the “oh my god she’s the chosen one! She has all the powers! She’s so SPESHUL.” It wasn’t very successful.
Lilith is also disabled from a magical related accident that seriously injured her leg as a child. This causes her constant pain and difficulty moving around. From her POV, it’s a life ending injury that causes literally everyone around her to doubt her ability to do literally anything. If she was destined to a non-magical job anyways (if all/most magical jobs are protecting the coven) are there NO jobs were she could just sit down? Besides, this injury didn’t happen yesterday and she seems to function basically fine and is stubborn and accomplished. Why is this still such a major factor? Why is everyone handing her new pain medicine all the time? They’re just like leaves. Is everyone discovering new leaves constantly? I need to know!!
Wholesale, I don’t think this book is terrible, but it needs a lot of work and a very, very good editor. There’s still typos and awkward sentences, not to mention a lot of the inconsistencies I mentioned earlier. The overall idea, I would rate as good. The book could definitely be marketable and a whole lot better if it was heavily revised and edited. Despite my own stubbornness, I just can’t push through to the second book because I know my likelihood of DNFing is like 85%.
SPOILERS BELOW. DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED.
Spoilers (and general complaints) ahead!!
Okay, why is Lilith so obsessed with how “chunky” Rayna is? She delights in the fact that she is not the only “slow walking” person because Rayna is fat???? I had to read this line like 5 times before I even comprehended it. She goes on to mention several other times how her robe is larger than the other Council members or that she’s chunky. Seriously, the other Council members, even if you don’t like them or they made you join against your will, are supposed to be accomplished in their skill. Lilith doesn’t even seem mean spirited in general. She doesn’t even just flat out refuse to get to know any of these people. She just wants to fat shame this one girl???
Please… it’s “oughta” not “outta”.
Lilith suspects that her parents are not her real parents after the ceremony is interrupted and she learns things from the first Elemental woman. Then when someone else mentions that it could be true (Lavina the healer), she faints from the surprise? You already had this thought! You have been suspicious of them! Why are you so freaking shocked now?
There are several scenes where Lilith freaks out (sometimes even understandably) and she runs off to seek solace in someone’s company. Here’s how it goes:
Lilith’s friend: Hey, how’s it going? Why are you here?
Lilith: Oh, you know, I’m just here on business. Thought I’d stop in.
Lilith’s friend: Oh neat, have you been by to see your parents? (or any other reference to something tied to why she was upset literally five seconds before)
Lilith: Oh right! I was super upset! LIFE SUCKS. *cries*
She literally had to be on the brink of being mauled by a bear to use some fire powers. Now when called upon as a surprise during an execution, she can just light the fire to burn the witch and she spends .5 seconds thinking about it?????
If their world is comprised of 5 realms and Lilith goes to visit them all, why does she not ride a horse (or whatever applicable technology exists) to save her bad leg and WHY does it seem like it takes them like a day to walk to each one? Is their world the size of Rhode Island?
Last thought, I swear. Size of the world aside although that does really bother me, where are the Elementals hiding and why is this never mentioned? If someone came out of the woodwork and interrupted my magic ceremony, claimed I was one of them and attacked my coven, why am I not speculating where they are hiding? Is there some wasteland outside of Magic Rhode Island? Is there another realm? Are there whole other cities/towns/etc outside of this place? Can they not just leave if they want to?
So. Many. Questions.
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Index
This is a complete list of all my posts. They are divided into separate categories to make it easier to find a specific post, and the names of the texts are listed in alphabetical order. This list will be updated as soon as I publish a new post that I have written myself. It will be easy to find this list by going on my blog and click on ’’index’’ under my navigation section.
Murders
63 Youths Dead In Fire At A Disco
A Cannibalistic Urge: He Murdered His Foster Sisters And Consumed Their Flesh And Blood
Elderly Woman Was Harassed And Burned Alive By Teens
Jack The Ripper: Part 1
Jack The Ripper: Part 2
Jack The Ripper: Part 3
Mass-Murderer John List
Murderer Carina Frödin
Murderer Christina Johansdotter
Murderer Colin Pitchfork
Murderer David Fuller
Murderer Dena Laettner Schlosser
Murderer Dmitry Milovanov
Murderer Gary Heidnik
Murderer Janne Tuomela (The Smiling Killer)
Murderer Johanna Möller
Murderer Martina Kveldstad
Murderer Mikael Kittilä
Murderer Molly Jane Roe
Murderer Natalia Pshenkina
Murderers Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme
Murderer Pelle Hardrup
Murderer Ronald O’Bryen
Murderer Susan Smith
Serial Killer Ahmad Suradji
Serial Killer Amarjeet Sada
Serial Killer Amelia Dyer
Serial Killer Anthony Sowell
Serial Killer Belle Gunness
Serial Killer Beverely Allitt
Serial Killer Dennis Nilsen
Serial Killer Eugene Weidmann
Serial Killer Gilles de Rais
Serial Killer Giulia Tofana
Serial Killer Javed Iqbal
Serial Killer Jean-Claude Romand
Serial Killer John Christie
Serial Killer Joseph Kallinger
Serial Killer Lizzie Halliday
Serial Killer Marc Dutroux
Serial Killer Michel Fourniret
Serial Killer Moses Sithole
Serial Killer Nannie Doss
Serial Killer Leonarda Cianciulli
Serial Killer Leonard Fraser
Serial Killer Richard Cottingham
Serial Killer Ronald Dominique
Serial Killer Pedro Rodrigues
Serial Killer Sergey Golovkin
Serial Killer Tillie Klimek
Serial Rapist Reynhard Sinaga
The Abuse And Death of Sweetheart
The Alphabet Murders
The Assassination of Olof Palme
The Babes In The Woods Murders
The Cannibalistic Book-Thief
The Case of Johanna Möller
The Case of Ulf
The Child-Killer Mary Bell
The Death of Lydia Schatz
The Dentist Murder
The Sauna Murder
Guðmundur and Geirfinnur case
The Ice Box Murders
The Keillers Park Murder
The Kunz Family Massacre
The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run
The Acid Bath Murderer
The Murder of Abbas Rezai
The Murder of Abraham Shakespeare
The Murder of Adrian Jones
The Murder of Albin Einarsen
The Murder of Amy Burridge
The Murder of Andrew Bagby and Zachary Turner
The Murder of Andrew Gardner
The Murder of Arlis Perry
The Lady of Ampato
The Landlord From Hell
The Murder of Betsy Aardasma
The Murder of Birgitte Tengs
The Murder of Bobby Äikiä
The Murder of Buckskin Girl/Marcia Lenore King
The Murder of Candace Newmaker
The Murder of Carolin Stenvall
The Murder of Charles Bravo
The Murder of Christian Larsson
The Murder of Dorothy Jane Scott
The Murder of Edna Phillips
The Murder of Einár
The Murder of El Dorado Jane Doe
The Murder of Elna Eriksson
The Murder of Elin Klinteberg
The Murder of Elin Krantz
The Murder of Elisa Izquierdo
The Murder of Elyse Pahler
The Murder of Emma Walker
The Murder of Engla Höglund
The Murder of Fadime Şahindal
The Murder of Gabriel Kisch
The Murder of Helén Nilsson
The Murder of Helle Crafts
The Murder of Hilda Feste
The Murder of Ida Fässberg
The Murder of Jennifer Daughtery
The Murder of Jessica Lunsford
The Murder of Johanna Gurgu
The Murder of John Hron
The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey
The Murder of Josefine Boo
The Murder of Julia Olteanu
The Murder of Kajsa Selinder
The Murder of Karina Holmer
The Murder of Kayla Rolland
The Murder of Kelly Anne Bates
The Murder of Ken McElroy
The Murder of Kim Wall
The Murder of Kitty Genovese
The Murder of Lady of the Dunes
The Murder of Lena Wesström
The Murder of Linda Chen
The Murder of Lisa Holm
The Murder of Malin Lindström
The Murder of Malin Kristiansen
The Murder of Malin Olsson
The Murder of Maria Ridulph
The Murder of Mary-Ann Leneghan
The Murder of Marvin Gaye
The Murder of Mikael Petersson
The Murder of Missy Avila
The Murder of Nella Olander
The Murder of Nicole van den Hurk
The Murder of Pernilla Hellgren
The Murder of Polly Klaas
The Murder of Princess Doe
The Murder of Richard Kelvin
The Murder of Samantha Koenig
The Murder of Shanda Sharer
The Murder of Sian Kingi
The Murder of Therese Johansson Rojo
The Murder of Tia Rigg
The Murder of Tia Sharp
The Murder of Tina Jørgensen
The Murder of Tova Moberg
The Murder of Tristan Brübach
The Murder of Silje Redergård
The Murder of Stephanie Neiman And The Failed Execution of Clayton Darrell Lockett
The Murder of Stephanie Roper
The Murder of the Bocksten Man
The Murder of Ulla Höglund
The Murders at Malmö Östra Hospital
The Murder of Vatchareeya Bangsuan
The Murder of Wilma Andersson
The Rode Hill House Murder
The Murder of Ulla Höglund
The Psychic Killer
The Scissor Sisters
The Skara Cannibal
The Starvation Doctor
The Stolen Heart of a Prince
The Yogurt Shop Murders
Thomas Quick
Two Children Beaten To Death By Jealous Ex-Girlfriend
Unrequited Love Ending In Murder And Dismemberment
Who Put Bella in the Witch Elm?
Yngsjömordet
Kidnappings
The Kidnapping of Alicia Kozakiewicz
The Kidnapping of Colleen Stan
The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Fritzl [PART 1]
The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Fritzl [PART 2]
The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Fritzl [PART 3]
The Kidnapping of Lisa Hoodless and Charlene Lunnon
The Lindbergh Kidnapping
The Kidnapping of Madeleine McCann
Under The Microscope
Did Christer Pettersson Murder Prime Minister Olof Palme?
Jeffrey Dahmer’s Mental Disorders
The Abuse of Mary Bell
Other
A Dahmer Victim That Got Away
Carita Löf
Carl Tanzler: The Man Who Lived With A Corpse For Seven Years
Did Jeffrey Dahmer have Borderline Personality Disorder?
Essay About Cannibalism [PART 1]
Essay About Cannibalism [PART 2]
Gemma Watts
Lasse-Maja: The Life of A Criminal Who Was Living As A Man and Woman
Pedophile Carita Löf
Plastination
Pyromaniac Ulf Borgström
Sadistic Pedophile Forced Girls To Degrade Themselves And Send Pictures
Strangulation
The Most Infamous Serial-Rapist In Sweden
The Robbery at Norrmalmstorg And The Origins of Stockholm Syndrome
Uroko Onoja: Raped To Death By His Wives
Woman Found In Mining Hole
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