Descensionby B.C. BurgessWebsite | Facebook | TwitterSeries: Mystic { 1 }Format: eBook, 354 pagesPublished: April 4, 2012Genre: ParanormalAge Group: Young AdultGet It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
The Angel~synopsis provided by Goodreads
After three years caring for her dying mother, Layla Callaway learns she was adopted under unusual circumstances. Following a cryptic message to seek her birth family in Oregon, Layla uproots her lonely life, quickly finding she descends from witches and wizards. Magic is in her blood, and a handsome family friend is eager to prove it. Through a ring imprinted with her birth parents’ memories, Layla’s enigmatic past comes to light, presenting possibilities and trials more chimerical than her wildest dreams.
The Guardian
Quin’s natural charisma yields plenty of witches, but he longs for the lost witch – the mysterious Layla. He's dreamed about her his entire life, envisioning the day he would lay eyes on her face and aura. When that day arrives, not only is he breathless, he’s confronted with the challenge of a lifetime – an innate need to keep her safe and forever by his side.
The HunterEmploying fiendish manipulation and manpower, Agro uses the arcane force of others to elevate his supremacy and wealth. Nothing pleases him more than latching on to a mystical vein, and never has there been a more enticing source. The divine witch will be his.
Descension started off pretty good. I was intrigued the by the beginning chapters and the mystery that surrounded Layla’s birth family and the “clues” her birth father left behind so she would be able to find them. I thought it was very interesting the Layla had no idea of her adoption, told to her through a letter written by her recently deceased mother, which lead to an every greater mystery effect. Once she got there, however, I just couldn’t get into the story. She immediately finds family – though she doesn’t know it, we as readers do – and is thrust into the “Hey, you’re a witch!”
Apparently there are magical families everywhere and Layla’s family is one of two that live in this small town in Oregon. She unknowingly meets some of them before hand, but once she finds out she’s a witch, she has zero interaction with any of them for the remainder of the novel.
The love story reminds me of the beginning of a high school romance. There is an immediate attraction between Quin and Layla, followed by “I can’t believe how awesome/beautiful/talented you are.” Really?
The entirety of the second half of the novel is the relationship between here parents through memories her father imprinted onto this ring. I have a few issues with this: some of the memories are sexual in nature (ew!) and how did the ring/box get to Layla’s grandparents after her parents died (this is not a spoiler, we find out in chapter 1)/how did the memory of her father’s death get to the ring if he had already given it to his parents for safe keeping. (I’m not writing this review right away, so I can’t remember which scenario played out – if he had the ring with him when he died or if he gave it to his parents before hand.)
In general, I thought the story of her parents was interesting, but why did it take us 17 chapters to get there? And why did it take up almost the entirety of the second half of the novel? Personally, I think the story of her parents was a lot more interesting than Layla’s story and these two could have been separated into their own standalone novels.
Aside from the beginning of the novel, we only see the “big bad” Argo in the memories. I get he is this evil wizard who is power-hungry, but…meh. He just didn’t do it for me in the villain-y sense.
I will say that the last chapter was a nicely done cliffhanger. We know there is another big bad – more so than Argo – who wants Layla, but we don’t know who he is or why and he doesn’t appear until the end of the book. It’s mysterious and keeps readers interesting in finding out what happens.
I, however, will not be reading on. No, I didn’t care much for the plot/characters, but B.C. has a very vivid, descriptive, and imaginative writing style. Her descriptive writing is very well done and I know that people have rated this book very highly; it just wasn’t to my liking.
I rarely give out .5s for rating, but I really think that a "2" would be too low, but it wasn't quite a 3 either. So I'm meeting myself in the middle with a 2.5.
Bottom Line B.C. is a very talented author and I found the story to be slightly intriguing, but I’m not going to continue the series. I felt like she tried to cram too much into one novel: Layla finding out about her heritage, then reliving her parents’ memories, Argo, and the mysteries villain.
