Maja (The Nocturnal Library)'s Reviews > Chantress Fury

Chantress Fury, the final book in Amy Butler Greenfield’s YA historical fantasy trilogy, continues in the same vein as its two predecessors. It’s beautifully written, gorgeously detailed, deeply emotional and romantic. Greenfield’s writing is elegant and perfectly polished. It’s something I always admired about her – her style is graceful and flawless without being flashy or disruptive. She also does a lot of research, so even though her story is filled with magic, it is loosely based in reality. King Henry in Lucy’s story is Henry Seymour, an actual historical figure and a distant relative to King Charles I.

Chantress Fury takes place in the early 1670’s and the world Greenfield paints for us is gorgeous: a dash of court politics, a formidable enemy, considerable magic and a romance to remember. Lucy truly discovers her powers in this book, but with such powers come solitude and isolation. People either fear her or want to use her in some way, and besides, King Henry leaves her very little time to socialize. Lucy’s loneliness was heartbreaking in this book and the amount of emotion that came through made me admire Greenfield even more.

I mentioned the romance, which I loved from the start, but oddly enough it was Fury’s weakest point. I wanted to see a united front from Lucy and Nat, but instead I saw stubbornness and a whole lot of misunderstandings. Truly these two needed to talk things through and face their enemies together, instead of fretting over silly things and being pigheaded and proud.

Mary Jane Wells narrates the story beautifully, just like the previous two. She has a soft British accent and a really pleasant voice, which is just right for our Lucy. She was able to convey and even amplify the feeling of loneliness and isolation. She mostly narrates stories I’m not really interested in (some historical romances, for example), but I hope she’ll get a chance to read more YA. She is truly wonderful.

Minor grievances with romance aside, the Chantress trilogy is everything you could ever hope to read. The writing is smooth and just wonderful, the world is gorgeous, and Lucy is a character you’ll never forget.