(Cover and blurb taken from Goodreads)
Official blurb:
Music runs in Sofi’s blood.
Her father is a Musik, one of only five musicians in the country licensed to compose and perform original songs. In the kingdom of Aell, where winter is endless and magic is accessible to all, there are strict anti-magic laws ensuring music remains the last untouched art.
Sofi has spent her entire life training to inherit her father’s title. But on the day of the auditions, she is presented with unexpected competition in the form of Lara, a girl who has never before played the lute. Yet somehow, to Sofi’s horror, Lara puts on a performance that thoroughly enchants the judges.
Almost like magic.
The same day Lara wins the title of Musik, Sofi’s father dies, and a grieving Sofi sets out to prove Lara is using illegal magic in her performances. But the more time she spends with Lara, the more Sofi begins to doubt everything she knows about her family, her music, and the girl she thought was her enemy.
As Sofi works to reclaim her rightful place as a Musik, she is forced to face the dark secrets of her past and the magic she was trained to avoid—all while trying not to fall for the girl who stole her future.
My rating: five stars out of five
This book was so much more than I expected!
Music was clearly going to be a large theme, but the way it was described and fit into the plot so perfectly made the story much like an enchanting song itself.
While the music itself was magical, there were also witches involved, which brought the story up to another level. The land under a curse of eternal winter, the witches having gone into hiding after a mess caused by magic—great worldbuilding!
Sofi as a character was a tad unlikeable at times. I mean, the deal is she agrees to travel with Lara and write her songs anonymously if Lara will agree to take her on as an apprentice, though she plans to sabotage Lara along the way. But Sofi’s flaws are pointed out to her by the other characters throughout the book, and she learns to overcome them so well, really blossoming into a different person.
Lara as a character is like a breath of fresh air, and her romance with Sofi melted my heart.
The plot was a lot more sophisticated than I was expecting. The way Sofi’s “ritual days” were worked into the story was clever. And I didn’t see the twists coming!
This is a standalone, and the ending is so satisfying, but it’s one of those books that I want to read over again. Immediately.
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