Steadfast (Spellcaster #2) by Claudia Gray

Steadfast by Claudia Gray
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Series: Spellcaster #2
Published by HarperCollins
Published on 4 March 2014
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, United States, Young Adult
Format: Audiobook
Source: my local library
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Nadia, Mateo, and Verlaine have saved Captive's Sound from the dark Sorceress Elizabeth...or so they thought. Despite their best efforts, a crack opened and a new, greater evil seeped through. With Mateo as her Steadfast, Nadia's magic is magnified and she is more powerful than ever. But there is still so much she doesn't know about the craft, leaving her open and vulnerable to a darker magic...which has begun to call Nadia's name.

I’ve been really sick – as in bedbound sick – and I don’t really feel like writing a lengthy review for this audiobook, so I’ll keep it brief:

For a sequel, it didn’t feel like filler. I felt like every character moved forward, and the plot was original and engaging.

I loved watching the relationships between the characters advancing.

The worldbuilding was really good. I feel like I got a good grasp of the world, and I can imagine Captive Sound in my head.

There were some twists I didn’t see coming.

The audiobook narrator was really good. I didn’t find any POV hopping with the audiobook narration. It was always perfectly clear whose POV we were reading from. The voices changes were phenomenal. Khristine Hvam is really very talented.

The downside is that Nadia’s not the most interesting or engaging character. I wanted to spend time with anyone but her. Mostly Verlaine, because she was awesome.

Also, we find out why Nadia’s mother left, and the whole thing made me really angry – but probably not for the reason you think I might be. I was angry at Nadia for being angry towards her mother. Nadia’s father worked long hours and left all of the emotional labour, and domestic labour, as well as child-rearing, to Nadia’s mother. Nadia’s father doesn’t even know how to cook! No wonder she left. Yet Nadia still harbours a lot of resentment and hate towards her and thinks her dad is completely innocent. She doesn’t see at all that this marriage was breaking down before Nadia’s mother left.

Also, where are the other witches? Is Nadia really the only one in the entire world who can stop Elizabeth? Why does no one else figure out what is going on and try to join the fight?

OK that’s all for now. I did enjoy it overall and was happy to continue with the third book in the series on audiobook.

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