Arkspire by Jamie Littler

The city of Arkspire has been protected by five Arcanists from the mysterious Betrayers for what seems like forever.  Juniper and Elodie Bell grew up in awe of these all powerful magicians and Elodie made it her life’s mission to become an Arcanist one day.  But one night, everything changes.  A stolen relic explodes and Juniper becomes bonded to an altogether dangerous creature, Cinder.  Needing to hide her newfound powers, Juniper fakes that she is a sixth Arcanist and must complete a series of trials to prove herself, whilst working out whether everything the city has been told was a lie all along…

Jamie Littler is incredibly good at creating magical worlds that seem so vivid and so real (see Frostheart!) and the city of Arkspire is fantastically exciting.  The historical lore of the city and the Arcanists fighting Betrayers immediately pulls the reader in and I absolutely raced through this book, quickly wanting to know more and more about the mysterious powers.  This is a tale of magic, friendship, family and all in all it’s filled with some serious excitement!  Children will snap this book up and good news because there was a definite cliffhanger at the end of the first, suggesting that there must be more to come – I sincerely hope so and look forward to it.

Juniper and Elodie are very different from one another.  Whilst Elodie holds the lofty ideals of the Arcanists dear, Juniper is much more down to earth, understanding the place in the world that she’s been given and trying to make the most of a bad situation.  She and her sister frustrate one another clearly.  As well as the two sisters, Everard (who is sent to look trail Juni) shows an opposite view of the world – born in privilege and completely not understanding of the Dregs, his view gives the reader a look at how life could have been different depending on where you’re born in Arkspire.  Mischievous Cinder is a fun addition – I love an animal type sidekick in stories like this.  I think the most mystery comes from the Arcanists with their titles and their magical powers – looking forward to hopefully learning more soon!

As a lover of fantasy worlds, Arkspire is truly creative and exciting.  I can’t wait to read more.  5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Puffin books for a review copy.  Arkspire by Jamie Littler is out now and you can buy a copy here.