I really liked this story because of the insight Lily gets in her mother. The theoretical stuff about spirit was a bit much for me, but that was the only thing I didn't like about this book. ( )

3.5 stars

Not one of my faves from the series, but there were still several things I liked. The plot line with Julia Yu was interesting, and I’m always glad when Drummond pops in. Of course, I loved the last scene of the book.
I’ve been wanting to see the gang up against a different enemy, so I guess I got my wish, sort of, but that aspect of the plot was probably what I liked least about the book.
Oh, well. They can’t all be my favorite book ever. I’m still into the series and looking forward to reading more. ( )

96 points/100 (5 stars/5).

After finding out her mother doesn't remember anything past the age of 12, Lily Yu has to find out why. More and more people are coming down with amnesia, and while they may think they know who is behind it, they do not know for certain, nor do they know what is causing it, but they know it is something big.

Wow.

Just.. Wow. I really enjoyed this one and I did not want to put it down. This book continues being on target with the plot. There were a lot of movie parts in this book, lots of little pieces that all came together at the end, and Wilks managed these parts marvelously. I was really impressed with how Wilks was able to keep each part moving at once without forgetting anything, or leaping to do something before all the pieces are in place. The plot was really rather believable and had a good progression while staying consistent. The plot was didn't really repeat anything we had seen before in the series or in other series either.

I really, really love the characters in this book, too. The amount of stress they are all under actually shows in their interactions and their actions. They act like normal people would be under the amount of stress they are in in this book. Characters play to their parts much better, characters aren't just there because they can be or because they're needed for something at the scene that no one but the author could possibly know of. The characters have grown as people yet again, and I love it.

I really liked Julia, Lily's mother, in this book, it showed another side to a character we've come to expect to be a bit annoying. I also love her father, and the role he plays in this book. I love how Toby is in this book more than he was in the last one, and how he played the part of a kid so marvelously, but also he played his part, too. We are seeing him grow up in a dangerous world and how he responds to the danger he is in being the son of Rule and Lily. Sam is still way too overpowered with a magic ability to fix everything always.

The one complaint I do have is that Wilks is able to take the most boring explanation the characters always complain about, and really make it into the most boring explanation you have ever heard in your life. My eyes glazed over a few times when people are trying to explain certain things, I felt exactly like Lily.

This is the best book in the series so far. With it, we move ever closer to what is assuredly going to be a big battle at the end. A typically very character-driven series, this book is driven by both the plot and the characters. I really did not want to put it down, even when the need for sleep caught up with me. ( )

Lily Yu is having a pre-wedding dinner with her family when the next strike in the ongoing battle against the Lupis’ ancient enemy strikes

And the victim is her mother – her memory is wiped out, she thinks she is still a child again. And she is not the only victim.

And while the loss eats at Lily’s heart, reality itself is under threat and she tries to find the truth behind this bizarre and incomprehensible attack

I mentioned in the last book how much I absolutely loved Lily because of her professionalism, her logic, her intelligence; her careful way of addressing the problems. I mention her actual investigative skills and how absolutely awesome she is. Well I want to add another layer to that – I touched on her ethics last book but I really need to praise her integrity. There’s an awesome element of her not wanting to lead this investigation because it touches so close to her family – but she’s actually trusted to lead it, especially the shadow unit which has absolutely no accountability – because she is so concerned about the lack of oversight and bias that she can be trusted to be fair. Her personally acknowledged bias keeps her honest because her ethics, her integrity is so reliable that she is the one who can be most relied upon to second guess herself; that’s her integrity.

This is so special because of the genre; after all we have no shortage of protagonists who simply have to shoot people in the head or have to torture people. Usually with lots of angst about how terrible it is they have to murder people but they totally have to do it. This is not Lily – and not because she isn’t capable of murder. She knows she is – but that’s why she has such an iron hard moral integrity

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Lily is an awesome protagonist with some awesome conflicts (including her difficulties with faith and her history as to why).

And this book lets us look more at her family, especially her mother. Like so many protagonists in this genre (I say this a lot about this series because they’re really good at subverting a surprising amount), Lily doesn’t have a great relationship with her mother. Even her larger family is something of a wider burden for Lily (except for Madame Yu who is, of course, absolutely awesome in every word). So to see more of her family, to see her have a full family, no-one tragically dead, no-one terrible or abusive. Just a genuine family who aren’t perfect, but do care for each other. Characters who can get really angry with each other but continue to move on and love

Through that we continue to see Lily’s relationship with Rule – again with difficulties, not always understanding each other, often being angry with each other but always loving each other, being patient and trying to understand each other. No random misunderstanding causing a book long loathing of each other – no, any difficulties are followed with understanding always with underlying love. They work so excellently together – and it’s just part of her ongoing complex and powerful relationships whether with Rule or Cynna or Sam.

I’ve mentioned repeatedly how I like the world building of this story now it has focused down more – and I really like that this book is more willing to countenance that there are other forces out there: there isn’t just the Lupis’ own war no matter how epic and all encompassing that is. There are other forces, the influx of magic into the world has woke other powers – while still keeping the focus overall still on that great battle and how it is continuing to play out

This battle continues to be both intensely personal (especially with Lily this book with it hitting so close to her family) and widely epic which is such a wonderful balance to strike – and so hard to do well. The plot is well paced, fascinating and shows off all this world and characters to an excellent degree.

Lily is a WoC and with her family is all Asian. This is never hidden or minor, never downplayed and definitely informs Lily’s and her mother’s past in ways that are seen in their characterisation without overwhelming stereotypes. We have a number of other POC through the book – police and Lupi both include Black and Latino characters albeit not in any major presence. We do have Hardy, a Black character. On the one hand he is honoured because he is ultimately put on an incredibly high pedestal. But, at the same time, he is sacrificed, he is there for his random woo-woo and there’s no real characterisation or even meaningful development of him. We also have Benedict and Nettie Two-Horses both of which are extremely meaningful characters in the greater series

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This was a fun and fast paced read that immediately jumped into the action. Lily and Rule are preparing for their upcoming wedding when Julia Yu, Lily's mother is attacked by some unknown magic. Forty five years worth of memories are stolen, leaving her as a twelve-year-old girl in the body of a 57 year-old woman, wife, and mother. You didn't really expect the days of before the big event to go smoothly, did you? There are a few surprises in this book, which made it even more of a page turner for me.

I really enjoyed this installment. Everyone of the characters had a part to play and we're introduced to a knew magical artifact. The battle scenes were amazing, as usual, and the plot was much easier to follow without the drawn out explanations that have plagued a few of the previous books. Seeing Toby interact with "twelve-year-old" Julia was a favorite scene of mine. The author does a great job with her character's personalities by keeping them true to their ages (and species). I missed seeing the brownies in the episode, so I hope they'll be back in a future installment, but Sam (our local dragon) was amazing as always. Obviously, I'm continuing on to the next book! ( )