A Door in the Dark
by Scott Reintgen
Fantasy
* * * * Stars (Great!)
Ren is a promising student of magic at Balmerick University, but she fails to attract the attention of any wealthy magical houses. On the way home for the holidays, Ren and 5 other students attempt to travel using the public waxway portal when somehow the magic goes wrong, wraps them all up, and casts them far away from their intended destinations. They find themselves beyond the lands they know and with a long journey ahead of them and very little magic saved up between them to return safely. Terrible things befall the group as one by one they perish. In the end, Ren has regrets, but also opportunities. (She loses her best friend, Timmons, but ends up bonded to Theo Brood and in her position will be able to take down his family if she so chooses. It’s not completely clear if she has developed actual feelings tor Theo – which may mitigate her actions somewhat – or if she intends to use him to avenge her father and the wrongs they have been done. And, surprise, surprise, it was Ren’s magic that caused the portal mishap. She meant to thwart them, though, not in the way that things played out.) Dark and twisty! For high school teens who enjoy dark, magical, boarding school adventures.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
