Book Review: ‘The Book of Gems’

Fran Wilde has a knack for pulling readers under the skin of her well-crafted characters, where we intimately ride out their hopes and fears as they experience horrifyingly beautiful situations.

This would explain why my tea repeatedly grew cold as I gobbled up chapter after chapter of The Book of Gems. I just kept forgetting to come up for air.

If you haven’t read the first two books in the Gem Universe series, The Jewel and Her Lapidary and The Fire Opal Mechanism, you will still be able to sympathize with the plight of our protagonist, Dr. Devina Brunai. But, keep in mind that you’ll need to figure out what makes gems so special in this world along the way. You’ll be given enough information to figure it all out, though. And if you enjoy this adventure, you may want to read the first two books in the series.

In this adventure, “Dev” discovers that she has put her faith in the wrong person, the man who’s been acting as her mentor. When he mysteriously vanishes, the Society for Scientific Endeavors of the Six Republics denies her the right to journey to the Jeweled Valley to search for him. However, she is compelled to either find him, or finish the research he started, thus earning her standing in the scientific community. Without backing or proper credentials, “Dev” sneaks into the Jeweled Valley. From the moment she arrives in the valley and checks in at the Deaf King Inn, it’s clear that this trip isn’t going to be anything like what Dev expected it to be.

Want to come along? Steep a cup of tea to neglect and crack in to chapter one.

My thanks to author Fran Wilde, Tor Publishing Group, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital review copy of this book.

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Lori Alden Holuta

Lori Alden Holuta lives between the cornfields in Michigan, where she grows herbs and vegetables when she’s not playing games with a cat named Chives. She’s fond of crafting, reading in the dark, literary worldbuilding, and pulling up dandelions. Visit Lori at brassbrightcity.com and ceejaywriter.com.