“The Secret Library was a fun sequel that made me even hungrier for the next book and the continuation of Samara and Baz’s story!”

Review by Rayleigh Setser

When a surly pirate and a treasure-hunting nun fall into a cursed jungle with the Order captain tasked with their capture—what else could possibly go wrong?

Seraphina Davalos left her seminary and inserted herself into Captain Mari Adlam’s pirate crew to gain passage to a mysterious isle said to hide a secret library. In this library is the knowledge her twin sister—the one chosen by the gods to wield Macario’s Scepter—needs to defeat the awakening monsters and stop the end of the world.

No big deal, right? Unfortunately, Captain Luis Fozo is much less concerned with taboo myths and impending doom. He’s determined to exact revenge on the pirates responsible for his brother’s death.

His plan goes sideways, however, when he falls through an ancient portal and is forced to work together with Seraphina and Mari to survive sirens, harpies, diabolical traps, and whatever else the cursed jungle conjures on their path to the library—and escape.

Their alliance is only temporary, though. He doesn’t believe their conspiracy theories about the world ending in the slightest. And he certainly, most definitely—without question—is not falling for a brave, naive nun who’s as intelligent as she is beautiful.

It’s only a few days, a few monsters, and a few curses. How bad could it be?

A funny, page-turning adventure great for fans of Indiana Jones with a dash of Pirates of the Caribbean.

I received this book from the author/publisher for free via BookSirens. All comments and opinions are entirely my own and this review is voluntary.

When I first read Macario's Scepter, book one in the Magian series, I couldn't put it down. I fell in love with Baz Blackwater and Samara on their quest and the dash of piracy made the book a top read of 2020. It took me longer than anticipated to make my way to this sequel, but it was exciting and well worth the read!

The Secret Library has a completely different mood than Macario's Scepter does. Where Macario's Scepter was every bit the pirate fantasy I expected, The Secret Library is more of a fast-paced Adventure that often made me think of a video game plot or treasure-hunting movies like Indiana Jones (or for current movies Red Notice or The Lost City--both of which are great!). It's humorous, fun, and more of a light-hearted vibe than the dark, brooding fantasies I've come to expect from "pirate fantasy".

The writing is both quick and descriptive, moving the story along at a perfect speed. Mari, Seraphina, and Luis were all entertaining to tag along with on their quest! There is a lot of "divine wisdom / pre-ordained path" plot to their stories, which I'm not a huge fan of since it feels like the main character could literally be a cat with three eyes if the prophecy said so and I feel like those types of plots take the individualism out of the characters. It also felt incredibly convenient and easy when something would glow to point them on their path. Because of that, I can't say that this type of fantasy is necessarily "for me" though I did enjoy it a lot more toward the end once the monsters started to make their appearances.

{This paragraph may contain small spoilers} Another thing that kept me from fully loving it, as I did the first book, is that Baz and Samara aren't in this book. The Secret Library is about Samara's twin sister, Seraphina, who was in Macario's Scepter but as a side character. I expected Seraphina to take the main character role based on the blurb, and Samara to take the sidelines, so I was very surprised (and even disappointed) that Samara never made an appearance... especially after that cliffhanger in book one. Even as I was 70% into this book, I was still hoping for Baz and Samara to show up and get a POV chapter, so when it never happened, I was just a bit sad.

Overall, The Secret Library was a fun sequel that made me even hungrier for the next book and the continuation of Samara and Baz's story!

Content warnings: Mari struggles with overcoming her traumatic past of being forced to work in a brothel and has occasional flashbacks. Cursing never rises above a PG-13 level, but it is definitely commonplace with the smaller curse words. Gore is minimal, and not present hardly at all.

Content Ratings:

4. Some action (mildly detailed battle sequences and/or fights).

1. Very mild content (feel-good vibes but nothing physical--not even kissing).

4. Frequent mild cursing (commonplace "h*lls" etc. includes British words "Bloody" etc.)

Other Trigger Warnings:

Content warnings: Mari struggles with overcoming her traumatic past of being forced to work in a brothel and has occasional flashbacks. Cursing never rises above a PG-13 level, but it is definitely commonplace with the smaller curse words. Gore is minimal, and not present hardly at all.

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