Monday, September 16, 2024

"Chromatic" by Ashley Bustamante

About this book:

  “Light is Found in Every Hue
    Magus is dying from the inside out, and only the destruction of the barrier can save it. Even color magic can't defend against earthquakes, strange weather patterns, and erratic wildlife behavior.
    After discovering hundreds of captive Yellow magic-users, Ava and Elm fight to set them free. However, new dangers and unexpected enemies await at every turn, forcing them to face their greatest challenges yet. The calamities inside the barrier slowly manifest in the outside world as well, pulling citizens from both sides of the battle into the fray. In this new war, they may not all make it out alive.
    Elm and Ava must confront the growing darkness and create a future in a world that has been all but stripped of hope. Can Magus be restored, or is it already too late?”


Series: Book #3 in “The Color Theory” trilogy. Review of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- Elm hands his feelings over to a “higher power” at one point when upset; *Major Spoilers* After wasting away to nothing in the villain’s tank, Ava hears “the core of Magus. The heart of Maugus and the Creator of all its magic” talk to her, guide her to save everyone, and she realizes that evil was never going to win; When her task is done, she is told the choice is hers to either stay in the peaceful place she is in (called Magus’s core) or go back and shift people’s hearts *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of the Creator (in the last few chapters); A mention of a Holy Bible; A mention of meeting someone again who has passed; A mention of being blessed; A mention of people in this world being “created with three magic types” (later said by that they were created by the Creator of Magus); 
             *Note: There are magic and spells in this book and those words are used frequently: Everyone is classified into a type of color magic (Red, Blue, & Yellow) and have a special stone they wear to be able to draw from it’s power (they can also draw from items around them in their color and also have “colorsticks” to use); When all three color magics are used together, it can summon White Magic; Those with Yellow magic are able to get into someone’s head and plant suggestions to do something (similar to mind control and are also able to permanently destroy someone’s mind), do illusions (including to deceive others), & go into someone’s dreams; Yellow magic users’ abilities have been outlawed/banned because of the possible mind control & some are trying to genetically remove it from people; Ava and others cast spells for agility, strength, & healing (for herself and others, up to semi-detailed); Ava and other Yellow magic users are able to control someone’s mind, put suggestions in others’ minds to do something (also called manipulation), put some to sleep, & create illusions (this also happens to Ava with someone planting suggestions in her mind, up to semi-detailed); Ava and Elm goes into each other’s dreams and other people’s dreams (said to be entering the “dreamscape” and everyone has a “portal” to their dreams); Elm uses his Yellow magic to control others in a battle to have his enemies fight between themselves; Elm is able to create a fireball from his hands; Ava and the others use invisibility cloaks; Mentions of those using Yellow magic on someone and losing control to where the person goes insane; A few mentions of evil people & someone being “dark at the core”; A few mentions of a little girl calling Ava a “fairy” and using a magic wand; A couple mentions of luck; A mention of ghost story books.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘darn’, a ‘dumb’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘why the heck’, three ‘blasted’s, and eight ‘stupid’s; Mentions of curses (said, not written); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Quite a lot of Being attacked/hit, Fighting, Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Being attacked by giant creatures in a dream (up to semi-detailed); Being locked in a prison and a tank (*Major Spoilers* Ava is captured, chained up, and then put into a life-sucking tank that eventually makes her waste away to nothing and says her goodbyes to everyone in her mind; Elm nearly loses control and thinks that it would be so simple to destroy the villains, but thinks about Ava believing the best about him and stops; Elm thinks that he could justify killing someone who has caused been harm for years, but does not and feels peace about it; Elm doesn’t believe that she’s died though everyone else does and eventually Ava returns after talking to the Creator of Magus *End of Spoilers*, all up to semi-detailed); Seeing deceased loved ones, thinking a loved one has died, & grief (no details on the bodies but up to semi-detailed on the grief); Seeing others killed, die, & take their final breaths (up to semi-detailed); Seeing others attacked, injured, in pain, blood/bleeding, & forced to attack others because of Yellow magic suggestions/controlling (up to semi-detailed); Earthquakes (up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler, but Suicidal Thought note* When being used by the villains, Ava wonders if she should kill herself to stop their plans and while it’s not something she’s “ever wanted”, she would be willing if it saves everyone else; There is nothing for her to hurt herself with, however, and does not do anything *End of Spoiler*; Villains use children as shields & are controlled to listen to them and do their bidding (Ava and the others refuse to fight or hurt the children); Villains easily kill others who are standing in their way & suck the magic power from others (up to semi-detailed); A main villain is genetically experimenting on people and using human test subjects (which make them look unhuman and disfigured while being in major pain, up to semi-detailed); *Major Spoilers* At the end, Ava is able to use White magic to cleanse them and return them to their original appearance; Another villain injects himself with a vial (semi-detailed) and when Ava offers to save him because it’s not up to her to decide who matters and who doesn’t, he decides to jump off a cliff and die instead *End of Spoilers*; Elm uses his Yellow magic to control others in a battle to have his enemies fight between themselves; Ava uses someone’s blood (with the person’s permission) to fight with her Red magic power; Elm uses intimidation/threats on someone to get answers; Many mentions of others being held captive, tortured, murdered, & threatened (for their magic, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of wars, battles, attacks, people being captured, & murders/deaths; Mentions of earthquakes, fires, floods, injuries, & deaths (including murders to look connected to natural disasters); Mentions of human test subjects for a villain’s genetic experimentation & their pain (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of grief & deaths of loved ones (including deceased parents and grandparents & a mother for her missing son, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of child labor (that the villains doing in order to gather the children’s magic, though the children are mostly well-taken care of, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of fighting, pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of prisoners & jails; Mentions of people disappearing & children being taken away from their families; Mentions of ailments, pain, & implanted devices causing harm; Mentions of crimes & criminals; Mentions of thieves, stealing, & robberies; Mentions of hatred & deceit; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A few mentions of possible executions; A few mentions of someone going insane because of Elm losing control when messing with her mind; A few mentions of possible drownings & being concerned for others drowning (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of a dog being mind-controlled and attacking his owner badly (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A couple mentions of finding a dead body; A couple mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of bullying; 
             *Note: A villain wants to erase history & get rid of anything yellow (including Yellow magic users); Mentions of hatred & prejudice towards those with Yellow magic (a couple on-page insults as well); Mentions of book titles & authors (classics); A mention of a brand name (Jell-O).
 
 
Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, a nose nuzzle, two hand kisses, a cheek kiss, a head kiss, an almost (unwanted) kiss, three not-detailed kisses, and four barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Cuddling, Dancing, & Hand holding (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Blushes; Ava is uncomfortable with two different guys trying to be too touchy with her (Elm stops one from kissing her and she bites another one when he grabs her, barely-above-not-detailed); Ava goes into a teenage boy’s dream for a test and feels a bit of guilt when he fawns over her (because she’s already with Elm); Elm thinks that he could smile at a young woman to persuade her, but does not; Mentions of crushes & blushes; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of handsome guys; A few mentions of winks; A mention of a couple being very close & touching; A mention of a woman’s feelings for a man; Love, being in love, & the emotions.
 
-Ava Locke, around age 18/19
-Elm 
                                1st person P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        320 pages


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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{Ratings are based on content, not the magic elements as every family has different views on magic in books.}

It took me a bit to get into this book despite being curious to see how this series would wrap up. I think it was mainly because of trying to remember all the names and how everything was connected. That said, I was really glad it started right where the second book left off! I wish I would have to read these back to back though as very little is explained or people reintroduced. Good for binge reading, bad for those who had to wait in between releases. I feel like I should have reread at least the last few chapters of the prior book before starting this one. 

 

This series a different kind of fantasy because it feels very normal, contemporary with mentions of personal devices (cell phones) and fried foods, but then there’s magic. It’s interesting because this feels like such a light fantasy world because it, so the plot feels light, but then you have the villains murdering and easily killing people because of and for their powers—including genetic experimenting on people—so there’s a bit of a heaviness to it. 

 

Elm is, in all regards, an odd duck. He’s been tortured and held captive for years, but when he escapes he is a proper gentleman down to his cane and top hat. Most male leads in that situation would be the rough, gruff type even towards the main girl. Elm is completely the opposite so it’s a little strange (and perhaps unbelievable at times) but I have to admit that I do like that he isn’t the solemn type and has a sense of humor. 

 

The faith content there at the end was interesting. I wish there would be been a little more of a build-up prior to that scene and explanation. 

 

Overall, this might not be a new favorite fantasy series for me, but I did like a lot of parts about it. Definitely a binge-able trilogy and one best enjoyed back-to-back, but the last chapter and epilogue of this book made it better for me. Perhaps it was all wrapped up in a nice little bow, but I like bows so that’s a-okay with me. 😉

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 




*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

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