Book Review: Waxways #1

A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen

Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Summary from Goodreads:

Ren Monroe has spent four years proving she’s one of the best wizards in her generation. But top marks at Balmerick University will mean nothing if she fails to get recruited into one of the major houses. Enter Theo Brood. If being rich were a sin, he’d already be halfway to hell. After a failed and disastrous party trick, fate has the two of them crossing paths at the public waxway portal the day before holidays—Theo’s punishment is to travel home with the scholarship kids. Which doesn’t sit well with any of them.

A fight breaks out. In the chaos, the portal spell malfunctions. All six students are snatched from the safety of the school’s campus and set down in the middle of nowhere. And one of them is dead on arrival.

If anyone can get them through the punishing wilderness with limited magical reserves it’s Ren. She’s been in survival mode her entire life. But no magic could prepare her for the tangled secrets the rest of the group is harboring, or for what’s following them through the dark woods…

Confession:

This ended up being a lot darker than I was expecting! But it was still a really good read, although a little bit slow moving at times.

The story is told completely from Ren’s point of view. I initially liked her, she was full of determination, a loyal friend, and a bit on the snarky side. But she does have a tendency to let everyone know that she is the smartest person in the room, which doesn’t always help her. Her talent with magic is the best of the group, and she is always willing to help better the others spells. As the book progresses you do start to see her darker side, and that side comes out more as they make their way back home.

The other characters were not as well developed, but you get enough sense of who they are. It is a rather eclectic group, each having their strengths and weaknesses. I like Ren’s best friend Timmons. She was an interesting character and I am sorry we didn’t get to know her better. Cora was also a character that it would have been nice to see more of. She was training to be a doctor and was very useful for their survival. The only other character we got to know somewhat well is Theo, who at times was very difficult to deal with, but also has a softer side that I really liked.

The magical world the author has created was the most interesting part of this world. Magic is something that needs to be stored in your ‘wand’ and needs to be replenished often. You can run out of magic also. There are a lot of rules to this magic and the spell casting is very intricate and involves using many spells together to get a desired effect. There was a lot of time explaining the magic, but it was interesting so it won’t bore you.

There are many layers to this plot, it is not a simple survival story as you might think. All of the characters are carrying secrets which get revealed along the way, some more devastating than others. Cora’s secret actually proves to be helpful, but at a tremendous cost. There are lots of twists, especially involving the creature that is following them through the forest. The world building is revealed throughout the story as well, you learn something new about the world as they encounter the inhabitants of the wilderness they must cross through. The ending is a bit of a cliff hanger, so I am very glad that I don’t have to wait long for the next book.

Overall I enjoyed this YA survival story with magic. It has a very interesting magical system, and an intriguing world plus lots of characters that are not what they first appear. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.