#Alex Cordova | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

letsbenditlikebennett · 10 months

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TIMING: Just after the July full moon when they were both still sleepy, sore werewolves. LOCATION: UMWR, Chemistry Building PARTIES: @lithium-argon-wo-l-f & @letsbenditlikebennett SUMMARY: Alex was feeling a little foggy on that week's material, so she went to see Gael during office hours only to pick up on their shared nature.

The days that followed the full moon had always felt especially long. Though her body wasn’t filled with the same muscles and aches she’d grown familiar with when she was younger, Alex had a busy schedule that didn’t allow for a day of sleep after a sleepless night of devouring whatever forest critters Andy put in the bunker with her. She did her best to counteract the lethargy with cold brew coffees. They helped a little bit, but even the caffeine couldn’t counteract that she chose to listen for Kaden’s breathing rather than taking her usual morning nap. So it didn’t come as a huge surprise when she still found her mind was somewhat in a haze during her last chemistry lecture and now the homework looked like it may as well have been in Greek.

While Alex did make a point to visit her professors during office hours, she usually likes to show up with more abstract questions about application— questions that made her look smart and left the professor with a good impression of her. She desperately craved the approval in the form of external validation that only a parent-aged adult could provide. Her own parents never seemed impressed no matter how hard she tried and the pleased look from instructors would never change that, but they sure as hell softened the blow— gave her something more achievable to strive towards.

So, Alex wasn’t too happy about having her first trip to Professor Cordova be filled with questions that just made it look like she wasn’t paying attention in class. If she wanted to understand the material and pass the class, it was a necessity, especially considering she was exploring other science to potentially minor in. As she weaved through the brick buildings of the campus, she rehearsed what she was going to say in her mind. When she reached the chemistry building, she was finally feeling better about the prospect of asking seemingly basic questions he had already answered in class. When she reached his office, she lightly rapped on the door. With confirmation she could enter, she peeked her head in through the crack in the door and waved, “Hi, Professor Cordova.”

The office smelled strange as she entered it. Not bad, but familiar. Various chemicals were present in the air, so she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. As curious as she was, she wasn’t trying to look like a lunatic sniffing about the professor’s office like some sort of bloodhound. “I had some questions about some stuff on this week’s homework assignment,” she started. Damn, that was not how she had rehearsed it in her head. Stupid super nose. “Sorry,” she blurted, “I’m not asking for answers to the homework. I have my actual notes on the concepts I’m struggling with. I just wasn’t feeling great last class so most of it went over my head.”

— He just wanted to sleep. The past weekend had been uncharacteristically rough for Gael, between the visit with Monty, whatever the hell happened with Leticia and even the… he wasn’t even sure what it was called with Elias. His body was sore, that wasn’t new, but the nightmare and the lingering feeling of nausea certainly was. What else was new was that for the first time in a long time, he fell asleep during his lunch break. Fortunately, there were fewer classes in the summer so he was afforded more time to spend by himself. With his thoughts. So that’s what he was doing right now, having completely and accidentally fallen forward on his desk, still holding a pen as it drooped in his hand with its loosening grip. Gael hadn’t reached REM yet, fortunately, and he was cognizant enough to hear someone knocking on his door where he jerked awake, the pen gently flinging out of his hand. “Yes?” He managed to call coherently as he blinked blearily, trying to wake up quickly as he heard a voice accompanied with a small wave out of his peripheral vision. Reaching up to adjust his hair really quick as it’d since flopped onto his forehead messily, Gael turned his gaze to the young, fiery-haired girl that entered his office and he offered a warm smile that easily reached his eyes. “Of course.” He replied lightly, slowly getting to his feet and placing a hand on his back as he did so, doing his best not to let the brief pained grimace paint his face. “Between you and me, I should’ve worded some of the lecture better; I’ve been a little out of sorts, too, so I apologize for not being more coherent.” He examined her face for a moment, tilting his head slightly. “You’re… Alex Bennett, right?” He asked, motioning for her to take a seat if she preferred.

There was some sense of ease to be found in the fact the professor had seemed like her presence had shaken him awake. Maybe it didn’t bolster her with the kind of confidence that would make her stop scavenging for scraps of validation, but it was something. Alex felt the nervous tension in her shoulders dissipate as she offered an easy smile. “Guess we both are having a bit of a week, then.”

A small sense of solidarity that she could easily mirror. It helped when it wasn’t entirely forced, though Alex wasn’t about to tread any deeper than that. She put on a good show— so good that it made adults feel inclined to check in on her as if she wasn’t the monster that she knew she was. Relaxed was the way to play this, which was much easier now that she didn’t feel quite as self conscious.

“Yep, I’m Alex,” she smiled. She’d always preferred the nickname to Alexandra. Somewhere in the mix of her grief, it felt like a small victory that legally her name was just Alex now. Not that she’d ever let herself say or even realize as much. Instead, she was caught by something in the air, something familiar. She froze in her place, not wanting to obviously sniff the office, but it was becoming increasingly overwhelming. It was animalistic like her— like Alan. Her heart was going rapidfire in her chest and she had to remind herself, Alan was okay. This werewolf could be okay, too. He was just her chemistry professor for crying out loud. Still, she studied him with a worried gaze. She’d put off getting to know others like her for so long and now that she was opening herself up to the idea, it felt like trying to slip on a pair of boots that didn’t quite fit. Because she didn’t fit.

“Are you picking up on that,” Alex asked with an arched brow, hoping to not have to elaborate further because she wasn’t sure if she could.

She seemed to relax slightly at first which was good for Gael - he could try all he wanted but he didn’t think he had the mental fortitude or required eloquence to have a functional conversation with a student who was going to be strictly professional and uptight. Not that he minded those kids, of course, but there was something unifying he felt when she confirmed that it wasn’t the day insomuch as it was the week. And he wasn’t sure what her reasoning was, though he also remembered being a college kid once and he often lost track of the days when he was out partying and still managing to find time to study and do well in school. He looked back on those days and started to wonder how he did it when the answer came to him a second or two later and he no longer wondered. He was here today though and he needed to stop thinking about the past. Normally he didn’t but he was still waking up, he figured. “It’s nice to meet you outside of class, Alex.” Gael nodded his head, leaning against his desk in that way teachers and professors did as he kept his dark eyes on her. …And then Gael noticed that she was giving him an expression, one that he didn’t think was entirely positive. Her body language was incredibly stiff and now that he was paying attention, his own gaze dropped, lidding his eyes as he heard something. It sounded like… her heartbeat, pulsing in her chest and much too high for it to be normal. His own expression grew with concern though it was partially hidden behind his mop of hair and the beard he’d grown in a shockingly small amount of time. “Picking up on what?” Gael asked before licking his lower lip. “Is everything okay?”

“You too, Professor Córdova,” Alex responded with a practiced easy smile. Even if she had opened herself up to the idea of letting Alan be part of her life, there was still hesitation there. She didn’t like that he killed hunters– or anyone for that. Still, some small part of her longed for his approval despite that. Opening herself up to the idea of getting to know other werewolves, or even other supernatural beings, was still new to her. It still didn’t feel entirely natural yet and having a werewolf as a chemistry professor hadn’t been something she was anticipating. It wasn’t bad. If she could try to find a mentor of sorts in Alan, she could work with her instructor being a werewolf.

That was, until Alex noticed the puzzled expression on his face and the way he studied her. The way his answer to her question had essentially been more questions. The can of vienna sausages she had eaten for lunch was no longer sitting quite so well. He was a werewolf who didn’t realize he was a werewolf, which made him a danger to others. But how was she supposed to fix that? How was she even supposed to broach the subject without her professor thinking she was absolutely insane?

“The…,” Alex trailed off, at a complete loss of how to answer that question. Her eyes scanned the books on his shelves, repeating the titles in her mind until she felt the rapid pace of her heart begin to slow. “The full moon just passed. You’re not feeling good after it, right? Maybe don’t fully even remember it?”

It was hardly the smoothest line of questioning, but Alex needed to gauge how much he knew before she dove into her questions on chemistry, which suddenly seemed largely unimportant if her teacher didn’t realize what he was and the danger he was putting others in by simply existing without that knowledge. “Sorry, maybe not the most appropriate thing to ask.”

Gael wasn’t sure what line was crossed without him knowing it as her demeanor changed a little more to reflect that previous anxiety that she seemed to have when she first walked in. His eyes followed her as she looked at the full shelves instead of at him and he wondered if that was what she did to cope with stress, which he still wasn’t sure what he’d done to work her up. Then she brought up the full moon, the feelings, the memory loss and Gael felt something knot unpleasantly in his throat for a moment. Did word get out that he was a chronic sleepwalker? He’d gotten very lucky with the schools administration and dean, allowing him accommodations for the problem and while he had assumed that it was something to do with the pressure in the air caused by the lunar cycle, he didn’t think much more on it than that. Or perhaps it didn’t get out that he was a sleepwalker; should Gael place his burdens on this young girl? She was asking him, true, but he didn’t feel like it was his place to overshare his personal life with her. “No no, you’re fine.” He cleared his throat, trying to recover from the thoughts that got away from him for a moment. “I, uh…” He faltered; perhaps… Was she similar to him? Is that why she was asking. “Is that how you feel right now?” He decided to ask her first, gauge her reaction to see how much information he felt appropriate to indulge to her. “Would you like to take a seat?”

Sometimes, Alex wished she had been born knowing nothing about the supernatural and that she could just exist without having that awareness always above her head. All she had wanted to do was get some clarity on some concepts that were coming up in the homework that she wasn’t feeling so confident on. Maybe have some easy conversation about science and stuff going on around campus as a nice little exchange of pleasantries like a normal fucking student. But she knew better, knew what they were both capable of if they weren’t careful. Yet here he was right in front of her with kind eyes, that despite the dark circles that lingered under them, were laced with a hint of worry. How was she supposed to reconcile that? How was she supposed to force this world on him when she herself wanted so desperately to be anything other than what she was?

And this was on her. This couldn’t be yet another problem that Andy had to take care of. Alex knew she had her plate full with whatever this other hunter was up to. Which made her being anywhere near her professor dangerous. She placed a hand down on her knee, heavily, forcing the turmoil that was brewing to keep a more stagnant outward appearance. She looked back to her professor. “Thanks,” she offered, half-heartedly. He was still confused, but in some of that confusion, maybe he was connecting some dots. She really hoped she was connecting even a singular fucking dot.

“Yeah,” Alex answered, “Have been most of my life. Can kind of tell when others…” How did she put it? Hey prof, not to sound like I have absolutely zero grip on reality, but you smell like a canine. Not exactly the most flattering thing in the world to say. There had to be another way to frame it, some other aspect of lycanthropy she could use to clue him in, let him know that there’s help. She had to make sure he was somewhere safe before the next full moon.

It clicked. Alex stood up and squared her shoulders to give some illusion of confidence. “Close your eyes and listen,” she explained, “It sounds weird and I know you don’t actually know me, but just– please try it?” There was a certain hint of desperation in her voice. If she couldn’t even help protect people when there wasn’t the threat of a fight, what good was she? She did a quick round of jumping jacks to get her heart racing at a pace more rapid than Professor Córdova’s. She stopped her movement completely when she could hear clearly the asynchronicity in their heartbeats. “Listen closely,” she whispered, backing towards the opposite side of the office with light footsteps, “You can hear it, right? Your heartbeat and mine— perfectly even though we’re not in close enough proximity for that to be possible?”

Gael wasn’t sure what was going on. Was Alex sent there to keep tabs on him? Was she someone that Emilio sent because of some conversation they had online? Or maybe Alan sent her - he had found another sleepwalker and was pushing for this unity in what they were? …What were they? Why was Gael thinking about this now? He needed to keep himself calm despite his soreness and the questions and other things Alex was now telling him; something was clearly riling her up, adding to the exhaustion on her young features but he wasn’t sure what he could do. He thought she was here to talk about chemistry but instead she was stressing out about something. There was something that gave him pause when the student said that she’d been dealing with it for most of her life and his heart hurt for her - he’d only been dealing with it for about a year now… he couldn’t imagine the stress it must’ve placed on her. They didn’t know each other but Gael wanted to already offer her a hand in a comforting gesture, perhaps a cup of tea and some words of assurance but he he didn’t want to come off too strongly so instead, he just stood there and started to hold up his hand in an attempt to maybe calm them both down when she suddenly had a different idea, one that seemed to shift her demeanor. He looked at her earnestly and though there was some hesitation behind her asking him to close his eyes, he heard the pleading in her voice and he gave her a small nod. “Okay.” So he did. Gael closed his eyes and they darted under their eyelids as he wondered what her impromptu exercise was, both figuratively and literally as it sounded like she was doing something not online jumping jacks. The longer his eyes stayed closed, however, the more he could feel something else, something different - his other senses were compensating for his lack of sight whether he asked them to or not. She told him to listen closely but he didn’t get to choose that as he could hear his heartbeat, but also… the professor tilted his head in the direction she had quietly stepped as he did hear it. Her heartbeat. Gael gulped, his eyes still closed. She whispered to him, something else he shouldn’t have been able to hear. Alan was the same way when they sat on the bench, the things Monty would say under his breath, the things Elias would say under his when they thought other people couldn’t hear. The way Gael could hear a heartbeat or a lack thereof. Recognizing a scent before his vision could. “Are you… like me?” He asked just as quietly. “Are you a sleepwalker too?” It was a bold question and he was putting himself out there, not sure if that was the purpose of the exercise but if she wasn’t, she could just dismiss him as crazy. He figured he had to have been nowadays between the things he’d been told and the brain injury he’d sustained, the defect in his mind that gave him strange abilities yet stripped agency and control from him every now and then as compensation.

Even if he didn’t understand, Gael was kind enough to go along with her request. Part of her was embarrassed. Alex knew she must have looked sleep-deprived and somewhat crazed to her professor, someone she desperately wanted to like her, but this was too important to ignore. It wasn’t just the human lives on the line— it was his. This was the only class she was taking this summer and with this hunter recognizing Andy, it was only a matter of time before he found her. Or some other hunter catching him because he wasn’t taking the necessary precautions. There was too much at risk and this little exercise was a desperate attempt to mitigate some of it.

There was a certain relief when he asked if she was like him. Even if he didn’t know what like him meant, it was a start. An important one. Alex nodded as she tried to figure out the right words to say. Correcting him on the sleepwalker thing with werewolf probably wasn’t the move, even if it was the truth. If he thought it was sleepwalking, this must still be fairly new to him, that he hadn’t start to remember what he did in the nights just yet. Or maybe he thought they were simply dreams, but did he not wake up covered in blood? Seemed unlikely.

“I am,” Alex answered, “I’m a sleepwalker, it… lines up with the lunar cycle. Heightens our senses.” If she could explain it like a sickness, maybe it would be easier for him to understand. She wasn’t quite sure how that would work for getting him to lock himself up during the full moon go… especially not in a bunker with her and a bunch of small critters, but she’d talk to Alan, Andy, and Kaden. She’d figure something out. She had to. “That’s how you could hear me… and how I can smell that we’re the same.”

She wished she could simply take this off his plate. Alex had a hard enough time with reckoning with what she was and she grew up knowing werewolves existed. Her professor had no knowledge of this stuff, he could have gone the rest of his life without having the burden of supernatural sitting on his shoulders, but that had been taken from him. It made her sad for him. “It gets easier,” she finally said, “Doesn’t hurt as much after a while and you start to remember more.” Not that she was sure remembering was all it cracked up to be. Even if it was only forest critters, Alex didn’t love remembering the ways she ferociously ripped them apart or how their blood felt as it coated her skin the following morning.

“I can help,” she explained, “My sister has gotten really good at taking care of me through all of it… and I know someone else like us, too. It can be dangerous if you don’t— It’s more dangerous than normal sleepwalking. Will you please let me help?”

Gael opened his eyes again slowly as Alex explained some of the things that his mind had been trying to rationalize for months now, things that he was very recently coming around to. Smelling things that might not’ve been there… or who had been there before, recalling that he could tell where Elias had lingered in the house the longest, been able to hear an argument down the street or the heartbeat of a student who was stressed about something even though it was impossible. He attributed these strange new sensations to something in his head getting screwed up during that animal attack. His expression shifted and Gael couldn’t keep it from subtly morphing from kind, if somewhat confused curiosity into further concern and more empathy for the girl’s plight, how she’d dealt with this for most of her life and when she said it got easier, that it would hurt less and he’d remember more, his breath caught in his throat without him even realizing it. It was his turn for his heartbeat to accelerate, though he didn’t know why as an animal part of his brain activated for a moment. While he would’ve loved the pain to subside, wishing that his back could go back to before the accident, he felt something tugging on his brain. He… wasn’t sure if he wanted to remember. There was a beautiful ignorance to Gael right now, a simple explanation that he’d grown accustomed to using ever since. He didn’t remember whatever it was, he just wake up. Sometimes he was out in the middle of nowhere covered in animal blood as though he were part of some ritualistic sacrifice that he wasn’t privy to, sometimes he was in his bathroom that was torn up beyond recognition, his towel ripped to shreds, blood from an unidentified source smeared on the wall. Sometimes with fur that he attributed to his bath mat that was made of similar material and every single time with an implacable, yet overwhelming vice grip of pain that made him feel like he’d been completely torn apart and shoddily rearranged. A plaything for whatever compelled him on those nights where he was agitated and disoriented, buzzing with energy that came from nowhere. At least, that’s how it was until a few nights ago. Gael didn’t want to think of the nightmare he had, the shadowed figure that stood on two legs. He didn’t want to think about the animals he killed, the people he couldn’t explain why he did the things he did aside from “it’s a brain injury” and to apologize profusely for what he did. He was thankful that he didn’t have enough shame to be lastingly embarrassed for being woken up completely au naturale in places that he should’ve been, along with being thankful that he never got put on any lists or sent to jail for being bloody. Then Alex said she wanted to help. The professor looked at her, his eyes partially lidded and brow knitted in the middle, his dark-ringed eyes meeting her own and Gael didn’t understand why, but he could tell that whatever this affliction was, she didn’t know him and yet felt so strongly about this that it managed to pierce through his reservations. “...Okay.” He relinquished it with a small nod to reinforce what he said. “Yes– yes, of course you can help.” He inhaled and licked his lower lip, looking down at his desk as he affirmed his answer, now feeling his heart beating anxiously in his chest cavity.

For as long as she could remember, Alex had been observant. It was a learned defense mechanism that stuck with her through the years and it was in full swing as she watched Gael process what she had proposed. Her eyes, while kind and offering sympathy, were discerning. She listened to every beat of his heart and noted the way the pace picked up. It was an indication that he knew something serious was wrong even if he didn’t quite understand it. This was overwhelming for him and she couldn’t fault him for that. It had been thirteen years and she still grappled with the reality of what she was despite the fact she’d grown up knowing about werewolves. The supernatural had always been a reality for her and that made it easier in some ways.

Her professor didn’t have that same background and was going into this whole experience blind. Alex wasn’t sure the best way to help him, but she would find a way. He seemed… caring and so normal. The word monster was starting to carry less weight than it used to, but it still sat like a weight on her shoulders. It was a weight that demanded she do what she could to mitigate any potential harm and she needed to make it work.

“Thank you,” she said softly, “I’ll figure out some ideas before the next full moon.” Getting her professor to agree to nights locked in a bunker seemed less than likely, but maybe deep woods camping with Alan? She’d figure something out. She had to. “I’ll come back tomorrow about the chemistry questions,” she started, “With coffee. Think we’ll both have a clearer head then anyway.” And maybe by then she’d have some ideas to run by him.

#wickedswriting #wr gael #threads; with gael; office hours #(never been a natural all i do is try try try) ;; writing #(the moonlight's blinding) ;; season 1 writing

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melanielocke · 1 year

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Book recommendations: witches

Everyone loves witches, right? They're certainly one of my favorites and somehow keep showing up in most of the books I write. So I picked out a couple of witch books that I loved and will tell you a little more about them.

I'm starting with These Witches Don't Burn and This Coven Won't Break by Isabel Sterling

This is a complete duology set in modern day Salem, following Hannah, an elemental witch, with as you guessed, power over the elements. She has to keep her magic a secret from everyone non magical, including her best friend Gemma. When Hannah starts discovering signs of dark magic in her town, she suspects a blood witch, but her coven doesn't believe her, so she's forced to team up with her ex girlfriend Veronica, another elemental, to figure out who's responsible.

This book is really the kind that balances contemporary teen life and romance with magic and action, and you do have to like that, but generally the book is fast paced and easy to get through. There's a romance built up inbetween the action between Hannah and a new girl in town called Morgan, and a lot of tension comes from the old fashioned YA magic girl who has to keep her powers secret from best friends and potential girlfriends.

Other books from this author: The Coldest Touch, which is a sapphic vampire book

Next I'll talk about Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova, which is first in a complete series but the books are more companions than direct sequels. I realize now that I never actually bought or read the third book, so maybe I'll put that on my wishlist.

The series is about a latine family of brujas, which each book focusing on a different sister and the first one follows Alex. Alex is an Encantrix, the most powerful bruja in her generation, but she struggles to control her magic and would much rather be rid of it. On her Deathday celebration she tries a spell to get rid of it, but instead she accidently makes her family disappear. To get them back, she has to travel to Los Lagos, a mysterious alternate world she has to traverse to find them. She has the help of Nova, a brujo she doesn't trust, and her best friend Rishi.

There's somewhat of (bisexual) love triangle, but Alex makes a pretty clear choice pretty soon so it's not dragged out or in the way of the story.

The second book is about the oldest sister Lula, whose boyfriend dies and she tries to use her healing power to bring him back, only to accidently start a zombie apocalypse. It's been a while since I read these books so I don't remember it well but I loved the first one in particular.

Cemetery Boys is the first novel by Aiden Thomas (I have talked about his newest book the Sunbearer Trials before, which is also amazing)

Cemetery Boys is a contemporary fantasy set in California, where a local latine community has magic powers. Their magic is gendered, and while it does mention the potential of non binary witches, this is not further explore. Brujas have the power to heal while brujos have power over the dead. Yadriel is a trans boy, and while his family seems to accept that he's trans, they don't accept him as a brujo and won't let him prove himself. So he decides to do the ritual himself to prove he is a brujo, and he ends up accidently summoning Julian Diaz, a boy from his school who was recently murdered, and Julian wants nothing more than to find out what happened to him. Yadriel decides to help him, but the longer Julian spends around him, the more Yadriel doesn't want him to leave.

This book has a lot of mystery and intrigue, with Yadriel and Julian following clues to figure out what happened to him, but there's also a lot of relationship building. I also really liked the inclusion of Maritza, Yadriel's best friend and another bruja. Her bruja powers require animal blood to work, but she's vegan and therefore doesn't use her powers, which I think was an interesting choice.

Sweet and Bitter Magic is the first book by Adrienne Tooley

Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation, but after committing a terrible magical sin she's exiled from the coven and cursed so she can't feel love. The only way to get the ability back temporarily is by taking love from others. She lives in a village in the human lands where she sells her magic abilities in exchange for people's love.

Wren is a source, a much rarer being than a witch. She's made of magic but can't use it herself. Instead, she can see magic and allow a witch to take power from her. Wren has hidden this ability all her life, because she would be taken away to train with the Coven and she has to take care of her sick father.

When a plague ravages the land, caused by a witch using dark magic somewhere, Wren's father becomes one of its victims, and Wren makes a deal with Tamsin to save her father in exchange for her love for her father. Together, they'll set off on a journey to find out what caused the plague and put an end to it.

This is a very character driven book, with a lot of emphasis on Tamsin's past and what caused her to be exiled and cursed. It's also good to remember that in the story Tamsin is still a teenager, meaning she was twelve or so when she was exiled and cursed. Meanwhile, Wren has always put her father before anyone else, including herself, and has to learn to stop letting her life revolve around him. This is a sapphic book, with the main relationship between Tamsin and Wren, and I guess you could classify it as enemies to lovers? Or at the very least, dislike each other to lovers.

The last book on this list is Sofi and the Bone Song, Adrienne Tooley's second book

Like Sweet and Bitter Magic, this is a stand alone, and while there are also witches in here, this book is in the first place about music, and takes on and challenges the idea that suffering creates the best art.

In the land of Aell, winter is eternal and magic is easily available through paper spells made by witches that can be bought. Music is the last artform that has been untouched by this magic, and to ensure it stays this way there are only five Musiks, each playing a different instrument, who are allowed to compose and perform music. Other people can learn to play from these Musiks, but only as amateurs. Sofi is the daughter of one of the Musiks, and she wants nothing more than to become his successor. She's been practicing music all her life and has quite a brutal routine for herself to ensure she is the best, a routine that her father taught her.

On the day of the auditions for her father's successor, Sofi meets unexpected competition. Lara has never played the lute before, all her musical experience is with singing, but somehow she plays so well that the judges choose her over Sofi.

When her father dies on the same day, Lara immediately inherits the Musik title and has to go on a tour through the kingdom to play her own music, something she has no experience with whatsoever. Sofi doesn't believe Lara's talent is genuine, after all, who plays the lute perfectly when they've never played before? She offers to help Lara with the intent of finding proof Lara used illegal magic to enhance her performance, so she can win the Musik title back.

But the more time Sofi spends around Lara, the more she starts to question what she knew about her family, her practice routine, and if her father was truly as great as she thought he was.

Sofi can be described as an unlikeable main character, especially at first. She only really cares about becoming Musik at first, and offers to help Lara with the idea of exposing her, but despite that I found her easy to root for and I loved seeing her grow and challenging the ideas she was brought up with. I think this is a very underrated book and I hope more people buy it

Next up by Adrienne Tooley is the Third Daughter, a first book in a duology

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @bottomdelioncourt @ikissedsmithparker

#book recommendations #witch books #witches #these witches don't burn #this coven won't break #isabel sterling #cemetery boys #aiden thomas #labyrinth lost #zoraida cordova #sweet and bitter magic #sofi and the bone song #adrienne tooley

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