Actual rating: 3.5 stars This book was a surprise, mainly because I had no expectations for it. I found it on my Kindle and realized it's been sitting there for a couple of years, so I thought, 'why not?'. It's not the best fantasy book ever, the premise is very simple and the characters are typical teenagers from YA books, so it leads to a lot of clichés, but it was really entertaining and I found the writing very fluid and after a while, I was really engaged. I love me some magic, curses, and witches (ahem, 'alchemists'), so I was excited. I do think the idea of this magic, pulling energy from the environment, is interesting, but it was superficial and not explored as well as I would like, but since there is not a wide world-building and the story overall is pretty generic, I don't think it's a problem, per se. I liked Taylor, the female MC, she's very relatable and realistic - a very normal, studious girl who finds herself thrust into this dangerous, strange thing, with powers she didn't know she had and something that, for the first time, she can't control. She struggles, she's skeptic, but she's curious and genuinely good, and brave too, so she dives right in. I can't say I like her relationships much - either with her boyfriend or her best friend Georgie. They are set to fail from the go, and Georgie is selfish and shallow and uses Taylor for her smarts without giving anything back. These relationships, as well as the ones with her mother and sister, are not developed and are just put there in a really 'meh' way. I liked her friendship with Sacha, but honestly, the romance aspect is a bit too much for me - mainly because, though I feel for him, I find Sacha annoying with his recklessness and 'oh, I'm gonna die, so I can do what the hell I want' vibe. His relationships, though, with his mom and little sister and his auntie are better developed and you can see the care and love there. My favorite part was Louisa, though - I liked her mysterious past, her powers, how badass she is with her blue hair, combat boots, and short temper (yes, cliché, I know) and most of all her father-daughter relationship with Taylor's grandad and her unlikely friendship with Taylor herself. For book 2, I definitely want more of that. Although I enjoyed the book, I think it lacked a climax. Yes, it had lots of action-packed moments, revelations and all, but the ending was just so...lackluster. It didn't have a showdown, a big fight or anything. It felt like it was constantly preparing the grounds for something, but that something never came. I was surprised when it ended because I was expecting more. And my main issue...the villain. Who we have no idea who is it. Because he briefly appeared ONCE and we don't know his name, his motivation, his endgame...nothing. Yes, the Bringers were technically the antagonists here, but they are clearly minions and we know that from the start, so I kept expecting the reveal, the big bad with the end-of-the-world plan and a big boom of Dark Magic to make the lives of our heroes more difficult. But...there is no one, at least not yet. Thankfully, I have the next installment lined up already, because, though I enjoyed the read as I said, if I had to wait a year or so for the sequel, I don't think I would've continued on.