Sometimes a first book leaves you with almost as many questions about the storytelling as it does about the actual mystery, yet you still find yourself wanting the next one. There were things here I wanted more of, things I wanted slowed down, and a few things that had me wondering whether I’d missed something. Somehow, underneath all of that, there was also a world and a mystery that kept pulling me forward.
Lavender and Steel by J.P. Feather
Series: Shards Of Time Chronicles #1
Genres: Romantasy
About the Book:

In a world where magic is feared and tightly controlled, twenty-seven-year-old Maela Malorry’s life shatters when she takes the fall for her brother’s crime committed with magic.

After encountering death in Obsidian Prison, nightmares claw at her mind, so vivid and merciless they blur the line between dream and reality, leaving her to wonder if something far darker has followed her back from the brink.

Her chains are broken, yet her fate is sealed at War Nova Academy, where magic spirits rule life and death. Maela must survive brutal trials that crush body and will, face cadets thirsting for vengeance, and endure a final exam where survival itself becomes a cruel gamble.

As the secrets of war claw into the light, loyalties shatter, truth becomes a weapon, and lies a shield.

Maela slips. Her grip on reality blurs as her nightmares begin to bleed into the waking world.

Tropes:❤️‍🔥Forbidden Romance 🫂Found Family ⭐️Chosen One 🏰Magic War Academy 🧝‍♂️Fae Kingdoms 🐾Magic Spirits 🔮Elemental And Royal Magic 🔥The Devil 🐦‍🔥 Relics And Quests

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I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Lavender and Steel was my first book by J. P. Feather, and this is one of those four-star reads where I can see so much potential in the story. There were definitely things that didn’t quite work for me, particularly with the pacing and how quickly some of the relationships developed, but there was enough happening that I kept reading because I genuinely wanted answers.

And now I want the next book.

We meet Maela under some pretty terrible circumstances because fate has apparently decided that prison and a war academy are going to be part of her immediate future.

Welcome to Nova War Academy!

The premise was one of the things that initially hooked me. There are mysterious dreams, questions about the past, secrets surrounding the academy, and the growing realization that the version of history everyone has been taught might not be the entire story.

I love that kind of setup.

History is written by the winners, and I became increasingly curious about what had actually happened versus what Maela and everyone around her had been told happened. There are half-truths and missing pieces scattered throughout the story, and some of those questions kept me reading through the parts that weren’t working quite as well for me.

I especially enjoyed Maela’s friendship with fellow inmate Delilah. Actually, I wanted more of it.

That’s something I found myself thinking about several relationships in the book. I liked the connections that were forming, but sometimes I felt like I was being shown the result of a relationship before I’d had enough time to watch the relationship develop.

That was particularly noticeable with Maela and Luan.

I like these two together, which somehow made my problem with their relationship more frustrating. They go from basically not knowing each other to flirting when he picks her up from prison, and then we’re moving toward them wanting one another very quickly.

Wait. What happened in between?

I would have loved a slower burn here. Give me the uncertainty. Give me the little moments when they start noticing each other. Let me wonder whether that attraction is mutual. Make me wait for it a little.

There may also be a reason they’re so immediately drawn to each other, and I already have theories about that. If I’m right, I’ll probably look back at some of these early interactions differently. For now, though, their relationship moved faster than I would have preferred.

The pacing created similar problems elsewhere.

There are some really interesting twists and turns in this story, but several of them needed more room. At times, the plot seemed to jump ahead before I’d completely processed what had just happened. I occasionally found myself trying to figure out how we’d gotten from one point to another instead of simply being carried along by the story.

A little more time spent developing some of those moments would have made a huge difference for me.

I also had questions about Maela herself. Considering who her father is and the circumstances surrounding her family, I expected her to have at least some basic ability to defend herself. Instead, she can seem surprisingly helpless in physical situations. She certainly doesn’t need to arrive at Nova War Academy as an expert fighter, but I would have liked some explanation for why she hadn’t learned more basic skills before everything happened.

Then there’s the relationship between her brother and father.

There is clearly anger there, particularly after what happens early in the book, but I wanted that explored more. It felt important enough that I expected to understand the brother’s feelings better as the story continued, and instead I was left with questions.

That’s really where I landed with much of this book.

I wanted more.

More time with the friendships. More development between Maela and Luan. More explanation surrounding the family relationships. More connective tissue between some of the plot developments. More time inside this world before we rushed toward the next revelation.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy what was already there.

The mysterious dreams caught my attention early. The questions surrounding the academy and its history kept me curious. I liked Delilah, I liked Maela and Luan together despite wanting their romance slowed down, and there were several parts of the larger mystery that I genuinely wanted to unravel.

Then the ending made me cry a little, which I was absolutely not expecting.

Rude.

For me, this is a four-star read because I enjoyed the story that is here while also seeing places where another round of development and editing could have made it much stronger. I don’t want to rate a book based on the book I wish it had been, though. I have to look at what is actually on the page, and what is here gave me enough mystery, emotion, and unanswered questions that I’m curious about where J. P. Feather takes the series next.

Apparently Nova War Academy isn’t getting rid of me quite yet.