Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Problematic. I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the writing is sharp and professional. I enjoyed the prose. On the other hand, the narrative was problematic. I don't really have an issue with the plot itself. The idea that mages are "tethered" to a handler who controls them is an interesting concept to explore. It's morally conflicted, but hey... so is life. It's okay to explore ideas that are morally conflicted. I just didn't think the conflict was well-managed here. The entire novel is told from the point-of-view of Lady Amalia Cornaro, a wealthy heiress to a politically connected family. Lady Amalia enjoys an extremely privileged social position due to her wealth and expected inheritance. One day, on the way home from a clandestine excursion to purchase books on magic, Lady Amalia accidently encounters a Fire-Mage who is in the process of burning down the city. To save the city, Lady Amalia "tethers" the mage by binding a magic bracelet around the Mage's wrist. The bracelet gives Lady Amalia control of the Mage's magic. The Fire-Mage is an orphaned waif named Zaira, who isn't thrilled about being tethered. In fact, Zaira has spent her life trying to avoid such a fate. But regardless of Zaira's feelings on the matter, now Lady Amalia is not only the most privileged Lady in the Empire, she is also in command of a Fire Mage who can burn a city to ashes. Politics and intrigue ensues. So my big problem with this story isn't the aspect of slavery. My problem is the point of view. There's a lot of ink devoted to the morality of tethering mages, and justifying the necessity for it (Zaira was going to burn down the city, after all). But that's all discussed from Lady Amalia's point of view. The justification is convenient. For this story to work for me, I really needed to read it (or at least part of it) through Zaira's eyes. I had to experience being "tethered" from her point of view. I needed access to Zaira's internal dialog. Instead, I get Zaira's thoughts and opinions filtered through Lady Amalia's point of view. So this doesn't work for me. It isn't impactful. It's just a story about a rich girl from a powerful family becoming even more powerful by means of slavery (as if that's never happened in human history). The token protestations of Zaira don't really mean much if I don't get to experience Zaira's internal conflict. You know what would have made this book fantastic? If the roles had been reversed. If Lady Amalia had been the mage who lost control of her power, and the orphan-waif Zaira had been the one to tether her. THAT would be an interesting story.... a rich and powerful heiress is now tethered to a homeless, destitute, street-urchin, and has to negotiate the loss of her autonomy. The same plot with all the same political shenanigans... but a more intimate exploration of what being "tethered" really means. THAT is a story I would enjoy. I perused the free sample of the second book in the series. The only way I would read the second book is if it was from Zaira's point of view. Nope. It's still written from the viewpoint of Lady Amalia. Since Lady Amalia doesn't have anything interesting to tell me, I'll pass on book two.