Hello, everyone! Today, I’m reviewing a book that has been out for a while, The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso. I’ve had this one on my shelf ever since Orbit Books was kind enough to send me the entire trilogy back in 2022. It has taken me a minute to get to this trilogy because I wanted to read Caruso’s other books first, which I did last year. So, now the time has finally come to dive into the Rooks and Ruin books, and I am so excited to see what happens next in this world Caruso has built!

The mage-marked granddaughter of a ruler of Vaskandar, Ryx was destined for power and prestige at the top of Vaskandran society. But her magic is broken; all she can do is uncontrollably drain the life from everything she touches, and Vaskandar has no place for a mage with unusable powers.

Then, one night, two terrible accidents befall her: Ryx accidentally kills a visiting dignitary in self-defense, activating a mysterious magical artifact sealed in an ancient tower in the heart of her family’s castle.

Ryx flees, seeking a solution to her deadly magic. She falls in with a group of unlikely magical experts investigating the disturbance in Vaskandar—and Ryx realizes that her family is in danger and her domain is at stake. She and her new colleagues must return to the family stronghold to take control of the artifact that everyone wants to claim—before it destroys the world.

***Thank you to Orbit Books for providing a copy of The Obsidian Tower. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

Have you ever experienced a day where it feels like everything that could go wrong does go wrong? That’s exactly the plot and vibes of The Obsidian Tower. lol. Just throw in some dangerous magical artifacts, a heaping helping of political negotiations, and possibly the end of the world. No pressure, right? I felt so sorry for the main character, Ryx. She was doing everything she could to hold things together, but it seemed like all she managed was digging herself an even bigger hole to climb out of. That being said, I enjoyed the steady pacing and all of the frequent disasters. I never knew what was coming next, which made this a fun read.

I definitely think Caruso’s previous trilogy set in this world should be read before The Obsidian Tower. The world-building is fascinating, but it is a lot to digest. There’s a lot of politics in this book, and I’m not sure I would’ve been as invested if I didn’t know the background of the societies from the other books. I still really loved this world, though, and I was happy that the story was set in such an interesting part of Vaskandar. Things mostly took place in a single castle, but it had so many strange sections that each one felt like a different locale. I’m hoping we get more new and familiar locations in the rest of the books, though.

There was only one POV in The Obsidian Tower, but it had a lot of characters. I liked them all and want to know them better. However, the large number of characters made it difficult to get any depth from them, with the exception of Ryx. I liked Ryx and thought her point of view was unique. She was largely isolated from everyone for all of her life because close proximity to others would kill them. In this story, she learned to navigate working in a team and getting close to people, all while attempting to keep her home and family safe. She made some dumb, but relatable, choices at times, but she was likeable and strong-willed despite her flaws.

All in all, I had a great time with The Obsidian Tower. It built on the world-building from the previous trilogy in intriguing ways and introduced some great characters. The story was also a great mix of political intrigue, murder mystery, and magical mayhem. It had so many elements I enjoyed and somehow managed to juggle them all into an entertaining and cohesive narrative. I look forward to seeing what future adventures Ryx and the Rookery get up to next! Therefore, I give The Obsidian Tower a rating of 4.25 out of 5 stars.

Have you read The Obsidian Tower or any of Melissa Caruso’s other books? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!