Web of Lies by Thomas K Carpenter – Review

Summary:

Whoever controls the Hundred Halls, controls the world.

Aurelia “Aurie” Silverthorne has high hopes for her second year in the Hundred Halls, the world’s only magical university, but her expectations are destroyed when she accidentally unleashes a plague of faez-eating thralls and spends week after week getting killed in the Grand Contest.

But none of this matters when Aurie learns that the Cabal searches for a powerful magic that will help them get control of the Hundred Halls. If Aurie can’t stop them, then passing her classes will be the least of her worries.

Review: 3.5 Stars

I have wanted to read this book ever since I finished Trials of Magic, the first book in The Hundred Halls series. Thomas K Carpenter created a fantasy world and a pair of sisters that I found extremely compelling. This book is about Pi and Aurie’s second year in The Hundred Halls and is full of many adventures and magical escapades. I will admit that I liked the first book better, but I did really enjoy the continuation of the girls’ story.

In the first book I found that I related to Pi the most, but in this installment I felt myself drawn to Aurie a lot as well. While Pi took more risks and was a bit more reckless, Aurie tended to be more reserved, but in this book Aurie had some more interesting adventures. She started to learn lying magic and had a romance with a new character, Zayn. I really liked Zayn as an addition to the story and luckily he has his own spin off series that I want to check out.

The plot of this book wasn’t as compelling as the fist was. The second year students all compete in a contest which was the focus of most of the novel. I was hoping for some exciting things to happen, but I found the contest to be a bit repetitive as they spent their whole second year trying to solve the same issue. The other thing I didn’t like about the plot is that it didn’t flow very well. The chapters jumped from one event to the next, making the reading feel a bit choppy.

Although the plot of this installment was not my favorite, I love this world and the characters. I will definitely read the next book, but I also want to check out the spin off series. If you want to read the first book it is available for free on Bookfunnel. Check out my review and see if it’s something you would enjoy.