"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 
                                1^st 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.

"Radiant" by Ashley Bustamante

About this book:

  “Secrets Come in Every Shade
    After the introduction of Yellow magic in a society accustomed to only Red and Blue magic, the world inside the barrier has become more complicated than anyone imagined. Ava, Elm, and the former students of Prism navigate life in hiding. They face discord, secrets, betrayal, and danger that looms ever closer as the Benefactors narrow in on their hideaway.
    Ava is determined to keep everyone protected, even at the cost of her own safety. She explores dangerous aspects of her new Mentalist abilities—against Elm’s dire warnings.
   Tensions escalate when a new visitor arrives claiming to know a way out of the barrier. While this may be the only way to escape the Benefactors, what awaits them on the outside? Will they gain allies or make an entirely new set of enemies?”


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


Spiritual Content- N/A; 
             *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); 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; It’s said that any magic can be dangerous and throughout the book, there’s those who use it for good and for evil (and for self-defense and priorly used in a war); Ava casts 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 or putting a suggestion in their mind to do something and create illusions; Ava goes into someone’s dreams & it has side effects (including seeing someone turn into “bloody nothingness”, barely-above-not-detailed on that and elsewise is up to semi-detailed); At one point, Ava struggles with the fact that those with Red magic (like her) could be the most powerful (*Spoiler* This is the side effect of going into someone’s dreams who has this opinion *End of Spoiler*); The school was indoctrinating and controlling the minds of their students; A few mentions of Elm liking to cook with a big black cauldron as it feels “mysterious”; A couple mentions of luck; A couple mentions of evil; A mention of someone’s devil-may-care attitude; A mention of the air in a place feeling magical. 
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dang it’, a ‘give a rip’, a ‘my word’, a ‘shoot’, two forms of ‘blast’, two forms of ‘heck’, two ‘idiot’s, two ‘shut up’s, four forms of ‘dumb’, nine ‘stupid’s, and ten ‘drat’s; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Some eye rolling; Being attacked, Fighting, Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Being locked in a prison; Seeing someone being attacked and injured by those with Yellow magic in a dream & that person injuring another in self-defense (recalling events that happened, up to semi-detailed); Ava and the group steal food to survive (she feels guilt about it, but as it’s the only option for them to get food other than to turn themselves in, she deals with the guilt and that maybe someday when everything is over, she will return to the story and repay what they took); Ava isn’t sure if betraying the bad guys “really counts as betrayal” but Elm says it does and is his favorite betrayal; Ava lies to keep secrets (a few times); Some of the group wants to kill the Benefactors for what they’ve done, but Ava struggles with that thought (*Spoiler* While at first she agrees, she changes her mind at the last minute because she can’t do that, even if it’s for the greater good because she doesn’t “want the weight of any lost life if [she] can help it”*End of Spoiler*); Going to a club & seeing others having fun (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of wars, rebellions, battles, people being captured, & murders/deaths; Mentions of others being held captive, tortured, murdered, & threatened (for their magic, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a body tearing spell & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of the possibility of someone getting seriously hurt or killed when messing with different magic; Mentions of fighting, pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of attacks & vandalism; Mentions of a prison; Mentions of people disappearing; Mentions of stealing & stolen items; Mentions of lies, lying, & deceit; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of a club, tattoos, piercings, & someone having a fizzy drink and looking relaxed; A handful of mentions of grief (for a mother, for a normal childhood, & parents for their child/children); A few mentions of abusive parents (including a mother making her daughter punish her brother for breaking something); A few mentions of criminals & crimes; A few mentions of an analogy about a sheep being taken down by a pack of wolves; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of how some places have tried to commit genocide towards those with Yellow magic; A mention of a nightmare; 
             *Note: Mentions of mental illnesses (it’s said that mental illnesses were treated before with medicines and therapies, but “those were genetic and situational issues” and that the doctors who work with magic haven’t been able to fix a person’s mind *Spoiler* But they are able to heal Ava’s mental distress which was a side effect for using her magic in someone’s dream *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of prejudice towards those with Yellow magic; A couple mentions of a place being like a haunted house; A mention of Elm’s parents taking his mother’s name as their family name. 
 
 
Sexual Content- A blown kiss, a forehead kiss, an almost (barely-above-not-detailed) kiss, five barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Jealousy; Seeing a couple embrace & kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of touches, embraces, dancing, & hand holding; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of crushes; Some love, being in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of a girl wearing a too-tight shirt; A mention of butting into a conversation. 
 
-Ava Locke, age 18
                                       1^st person P.O.V. of Ava 
                                                        304 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.}

Soooooo….when is the third book coming out? 

(Please don’t say next year, I beg you.)

Compared to the first book, this second book fell short, but by the end I enjoyed it. I think my enjoyment was affected mainly because Ava annoyed me a lot more, to be honest. The character development took a while and I’m not going to lie, it was painful until we finally got there. It definitely had more YA angst than the first book. Unlike how I was expecting, there was no love triangle in this book, though, so yay for that! 

As far as the magic and those elements, I do feel uncomfortable with Ava and the others using their powers to lie or get those on the villain’s side to do what they want (via their magic powers). Ava feels bad about it at times, but deems that it’s for the “greater good”. Which to be frankly honest, I don’t know how I would handle all of this if I was her, but I’m not a big fan of that phrase to begin with. 

The magic system isn’t perfect in my opinion—but it could be my non-fantasy brain’s fault—and there was a few times that it felt like “magic” was the answer to whatever question, which I felt during the first book as well. I wish it was a little more fleshed out and detailed to be able to easily understand it, but can you explain magic well? I’m not sure. Some events and plans were a bit too easy for our main characters, however this book is barely 300 pages, so that makes sense, I guess. 

All that said, it’s definitely an angsty YA book that some might like and others be annoyed at. But I’m curious to see what will happen next so I’m looking forward to the next book for sure!
 

 

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.

"Vivid" by Ashley Bustamante

About this book:

  “DANGER LURKS BEHIND EVERY COLOR
   When Ava Locke was five years old, she began a journey to join the Benefactors—the leaders of the magical continent of Magus. Twelve years later, she unwittingly started down the road to betray them.
   On Magus, where colors fuel magical abilities, yellow is banned in an effort to protect people from its mind-controlling capabilities. When a rogue Yellow magic-user named Elm escapes imprisonment, Ava becomes innocently fascinated with his story. Once this mysterious Elm shows up at her school, Ava pushes her interest to the next level by helping him evade the Benefactors. Ava grows increasingly conflicted as her intrigue leads her down a dark road of secrets about her world. As she learns more about Yellow magic’s potential to control its victims, Ava now must question whether her rash decisions are all her own or if someone else is pulling the strings.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Color Theory” series. 


Spiritual Content- A mention of praying that someone doesn’t notice something; 
             *Note: There are magic and spells in this book: 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; When all three color magics are used together, it creates 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 able to permanently destroy someone’s mind) and also do illusions; Because of Yellow magic users’ abilities they have been outlawed/banned; It’s said that any magic can be dangerous and throughout the book, there’s those who use it for good and for evil (and for self-defense and priorly used in a war); Ava casts spells for agility, strength, & healing (for herself and others, up to semi-detailed); A few mentions of Ava wondering if destiny or “the hand of a higher power” is leading her down a certain path (later she wonders if it’s fate, even though she’s never believed in it before, but there has to be “something stronger at work”); A few mentions of someone being called a demon or that a group of people were demonized or considered to be evil; A few mentions of a man being called a devil & evil; A couple mentions of magicians; A mention of Ava feeling “reborn” after healing an injury; A mention of Ava trying to find a “grain of enlightenment” in books about a topic; A mention of a devil-may-care attitude; A mention of playing the devil’s advocate; A mention of Mother Nature. 
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘hush up’, a ‘shoot’, two ‘blasted’s, two forms of ‘darn’, three ‘drat’s, three forms of ‘idiot’, and ten ‘stupid’s; Eye rolling; Being tortured, Being attacked, Being held hostage, Fighting (including in a test, for self-defense, and fighting against a bear), Injuries, Pain, & Passing out (all up to semi-detailed); Vandalism, Stealing, & Lying (Ava to authority figures and to a school, *Spoiler* It turns out the adults at the school are lying about many things, so this behavior is deemed for the good *End of Spoiler*); Throwing up; Ava and some of the other Red Magic students have to cut themselves in a class to be able to learn how to heal (one girl struggles with it and passes out after seeing the blood, it’s said that “only in a healing class would this sort of mutilation ever be condoned”, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Ava wonders if Elm is going to kill her (a few times including a fight scene of him forcing her to hold a knife to her chest and warning her about Yellow magic, up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* Elm causes a woman’s (who was torturing Ava) mind to be destroyed (he didn’t want to do it, but lost control seeing Ava hurt; border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of a war, deaths, violence, & slaughters (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of murders/executions & a body-tearing spell (and someone seeing it happen to loved ones, Ava is shocked to learn about such a spell, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of criminals, crimes, & attacks; Mentions of vandalism & a break-in; Mentions of fighting, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of someone being held hostage for years; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deceit; A few mentions of suicides (some believe they are caused by those with Yellow magic); A few mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of Red Magic users doing dangerous things and their bodies not being able to handle it (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of vomit; A couple mentions of hunting; A mention of a hanging; 
             *Note: Ava stays with a family on holiday break, but an adult at her school tells her that they’re only taking care of her because she asked (which hurts Ava and she thinks about it again later); It’s said in a book about Yellow magic that for “every good deception, there is an inkling of truth”; Mentions of prejudice towards those with Yellow magic & hatred. 
 
 
Sexual Content- About seven hand/finger kisses, a cheek kiss, two almost kisses, and two barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth/Heat, Nearness, Smelling, & Butterflies (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to touch (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Elm changes his shirt in front of Ava, so she turns around & contemplates taking a peek or not (she does not, but does blush over it happening); A handful of mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends & dating; A couple mentions of some girls finding Elm (who has Yellow magic) attractive and saying they would be fine if he put them under a spell; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of flirting; A mention of a married couple kissing; Some love, falling in love, & the emotions.
 
-Ava Locke, age 17-18
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Ava 
                                            304 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. Please do note our comment in the {} below on a possible trigger.}

I feel like I start off all of my YA Fantasy reviews with the word “interesting” in the first sentence, so I’ll try to avoid using it in this review. (Even though it fits perfectly.)

I love boarding school/academy books. I’m not sure what it is, but that instantly pulled me into this book and kept my attention. (The name Prism? As a school for learning about color magic? Brilliant. I loved it.)
There was some teen angst in this. That can be a positive or negative note for some. Some days I dislike it and other days I crave an angsty YA book. (Not sure why, actually. Hmm.) 

Ava didn’t bother me much, though, I wish she would have thought things and plans through a bit more before jumping in since she didn’t always make the wisest decisions, but she’s seventeen. And it’s a YA book. I kind of expected that and gave her grace in those moments. Though, this was definitely one of those books where I don’t recommend doing what she’s doing because some of it aren’t the best ideas (but they work out fine because it’s fiction), but it was entertaining to read about. 

There were a few parts where it felt like “magic” was the answer to how or why something happened, in the sense of things not being explained clearly. But I suppose that’s how it could be? It is magic after all. (The logical side of me wants real answers, though.)

I was a little disappointed that I was able to guess the twists I had heard other rave about, but I’ll chalk it up to reading a lot of dystopian books over the years. 

About 50% in, I sent a request for the second book in this series, so needless to say, I’m looking forward to reading the next book soon. I do appreciate that this first book didn’t end on a cliffhanger, but a “there’s more to come” style. 

 

{Trigger Note: There is one scene where those with Red magic have to cut themselves to be able to practice their healing magic. Ava has no problem cutting herself or healing the wound, but another girl struggles with it and Ava does the cutting for her. The girl passes out because of seeing blood and is treated by a Healer.}

 

 

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.