I am very partial to books about Faeries, Vampires, Shifters, witches etc etc. This one had them all over the place. Cicely a magic born witch, had been a drifter since her childhood, due to her bloodwhore junkie mother. A call home brings Cicely back to New Forest, back to her home, her family, and her lover Grieve. But when she gets there she doesn't know that magic born folk are disappearing all over the place, but then soon learns that the Queen of the Indigo Court Myst, the first Vampiric Fae, has made her home in New Forest, and has transformed most of the Fae living in the forest into her legion of Vampiric Fae, including Grieve. Cicely and her cousin Rhianna, and Rhianna's boyfriend Lee, and a Dreamwalker called Kaylin. Gather together to form a small band of magic users on the side of good, to help stop Myst taking over New Forest. Along with the sly backhanded help of the Vampires, and the Fae Queen of the Rushes and Rivers, she gets into deeper waters than she ever intended. SO while, trying to rescue her friends and family, and her lover, helping out the vampires and the rest of the fae not transformed, Cicely also has to learn about her own background. Man, if you ever think you got it rough, imagine what its like for Cicely. This book was intriguing, and a new world to explore. It reminded me of a modern day version of the 80's movie "Legend" except without Darkness and just add more Faeries into the mix. This is a series I will continue to read, and from how this book ended I will continue to enjoy. I hope if you read this book you will enjoy it too. :) ( )

Starting with the first chapter, I was hooked. This book had a great pace that never slowed, along with a solid plot, good character development, and a believable world. I try not to give too much away, but have marked this review for spoilers.

Characters: The main character, Cicely Waters, is smart, yet humble. She has spunk, and is very likable. Only one time, somewhere in the middle of the book, did she get a little wimpy and annoying. But she pulled back nicely and her character development shows great promise. I like that the author didn't reveal all of Cicely's story yet. In fact, Cicely doesn't quite know her entire story yet either, so the reader learns as Cicely learns. Cicely also has bonded with a wind elemental, Ulean, which adds a nice dimension to Cicely's character. Kind of a protector, teacher, mentor character, but there seems to be a deeper story with Ulean too. Overall, a great nice start with the main character.

Cicely's primary tribe are her cousin Rhiannon, Rhiannon's fiancé and fellow witch Leo, and Kaylin, a century old dream-walker. Each bring good qualities and add to the story. In my opinion, Rhia and Kaylin have the most interesting stories and greatest potential for story development as is alluded to in this book. Leo was a bit bland for me. He's a witch, but also employed as a day runner by the vampires. The reader really learns the least about him. Overall, he was a bit flat for me, but he really didn't have a large role, so maybe in the next book? I also look forward to learning more about Peyton, the half-werepuma. She was introduced and we learn a brief bit about her. I hope Ms. Galenorn intends to use her more in the next book, as I see her becoming part of Cicely's tribe.

Other characters who appear include: Peyton's mother Anadey, Cicely's aunt/Rhia's mother Heather, the Crimson Court Emissary Regina and her brother Lannon, the regional vampire regent Geoffrey, Indigo Court's Queen Myst, and the fae Queen of Rivers and Rushes Lainule.

The World: For me, world introduction seems to be the trickiest thing for urban fantasy/fantasy/paranorm writers. If the author gives too much info in the first book, then the author can be greatly constricted in the latter books. Conversely, if the author does not give enough information, the reader can be confused, and not understanding the dynamics of the world can create problems understanding character interaction and even the plot.

Here, Ms. Galenorn does a fabulous job. The world is primarily set in New Forest, Washington state, and magic clearly exists. We learn of witches, fae - seelie and unseelie, shifters/weres, vampires, elementals, and potentially more. Obviously, if you read the blurb, you've already learned of a new species to the paranorms - vampiric fae, created when vampires attempted to turn the dark fae. Of course, there's a prophecy, which we learn a little about because it involves Cicely. One thing the reader does not learn to what extent the humans know about the magic is not clear. In New Forest, there was a "town witch" and a kind of school for magic children (magic to mean all species), so seemingly the humans have some knowledge. However, this is really not important in this book because humans are in the periphery - they're there, but more like scenery.

What I really like is how Ms. Galenorn introduces the world. She doesn't dump it on the reader all at once, but in pieces, to the point the reader knows just enough to keep confusion at bay. The reader learns more as Cicely and her friends learn more or interact with each other and the other characters. I thought Ms. Galenorn did a great job creating the world and giving the reader enough knowledge to understand what's going on, as well as keep us wanting to learn more.

Plot: a war is brewing between two factions - vampires and their creation, the vampiric fae. Except instead of good v. evil, it's more evil v. eviler, and Cicely joins forces with what she believes is the lesser of the two evils. But then a kind of twist is added when a third faction is added, who at least appears to be siding with one of the evils. The war is based on the vampiric fae intending to take over the entire world from their vampire sires, and the vampires seeking to destroy their Frankensteinian creation. However, other reasons are alluded to, particularly at the end of the book. I liked that Ms. Galenorn chose not to go with a straight them = bad, us = good plot, but instead chose the more intriguing and more realistic, everyone has an agenda and there's no clear good side.

A solid 4 star book and I look forward to reading the second book in the Indigo Court series.


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New series from Yasmine. Still set in Western Washington, not in Seattle, but near. Strong female characters, Fae, and vampires. Pretty good start with the series, but will have to see how it goes. ( )

i so loved this book can't wait to read the other ones in the series...5 Star from me!!! ( )

I just finished reading Night Myst. It is a paranormal written by Yasmine Galenorn. Cicely Waters is a witch with an affinity for the wind element. She’s been on the run with her mother for all her life. When the wind tells her that her aunt and cousin are in danger, she rushes back home. What she goes home to shocks her in more than one way.

I really loved this book. I have to be honest. I have read this book once about three or four years ago. I re-read it because I have finally tracked down the rest of the series. I also re-read it because I wanted to give my review for it. I was hooked on this book the first time I read it and this time wasn’t any different. I loved how all the characters are relatable. I love how I felt what the characters were feeling.

There wasn’t really anything that I didn’t like about this book. There were some parts that I wish had been explained more, but it was understandable with the explanation that was laid down. That’s all I can really think of that was wrong with the book. I have a feeling that this will become one of my favorite series.

I fully recommend this book. I especially recommend it to those who like paranormals. Especially paranormals that focus on magic. I was hooked on this book. I’ve already started on the second book! I hope everybody who reads it enjoys it as much as I do. I’m so glad that I got a chance to read this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the series! ( )