Review: The Elemental Trial by J.A. Armitage and Claire Luana

The Elemental Trial by J.A. Armitage and Claire Luana 
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This picks up right where The Sorcery Trial left off. Jacq and Orin have successfully made it through the first trial of The Faerie Race and they are on to the second trial only a few days later. This is just as action packed as the first book, but the trial is quite different. This time the teams have to work together to make it through.

First they must attend a ball and answer trivia questions or they will be eliminated. Next they must work together to navigate a goblin cavern and decipher a code to find their way out. Last they must transform and negotiate with mermaids or their lives may be at stake. Each step of The Elemental Trial proves to be more dangerous. In addition to the race, Jacq is still looking for her missing sister, and she thinks she may have uncovered a secret society. As Jacq and Orin continue forward in the race they find themselves facing more and more dangerous situations as sabotage, creatures, cheating, magic, and greed play into the game they are playing.

I really enjoyed this second installment. Much like the first one this is a really fun fast paced action, fantasy story with a really creative version of the fae world and the creatures within. This trial was a bit more focused on critical thinking and didn't have as much magic, but that was explained to the contestants. I'm looking forward to book 3 because of that cliffhanger ending and I really want to find out more about this secret society. I'm anxious to find out what the 3rd trial entails and how the ending all comes together.

While I suspected there would be a budding romance between Orin and Jacq, it was a bit insta-lovey for my taste. I do like them as a couple, but their relationship barely moved into friendship before they were in love. I like a bit more relationship development in my romance. They could have just kissed and acknowledged that they had feelings for each other, that would have been preferable and realistic given the circumstances. The one thing I liked about book 1 is that romance was not a plot driver, it was quite a heavy driver of the plot in book 2.

I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchanged for an honest review.  This will be out on July 15, 2019.

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