Half witch. Half light elf. Welcome by neither. Alice is alone and desperate to fit in at her aunt’s coven when she embarks on a dubious quest for cave nettle. Dark Elf. Decker is a leader running out of time. Isolated from the main cave system due to a hex making the water in his cave toxic, even the war his clan demands won’t save them. The two must put aside centuries-old survival instincts … survival instincts and work together to save lives and preserve the fragile treaty between the coven and clan.
more
An interesting fantasy concerning light elves, dark elves and witches. I didn’t know there were such differences but these species can’t get along any better than humans. Good character complexity and enough twists in the story line to make it a page turner. A very strong 4 star read.
New to her coven and having yet to learn about her powers, Alice is sent out on a quest to find nettle which grows deep inside a dark cave. The nettle proves elusive, and instead Alice finds dark elves, creatures she did not know existed. They aren’t kind to witches and they threaten her. However, their oracle has a vision in which Alice helps them break the spell cast upon their water. For Alice there is only one chance of survival and so she agrees to help the dark elves, a feat she isn’t sure she can achieve. Why had her coven sent her to such a dangerous place? Will she be able to fix the elves water with the little magic she knows? And more importantly, will the elves let her go?
Elves, witches, and other magical creatures abound in Tainted Waters, Book 1 of the Paranormal Peacekeepers.
Lucretia Stanhope does a great job keeping the reader engaged in this paranormal fantasy. Well-paced and with few typos, it is an enjoyable read. On first introduction some characters seem nasty but I found them endearing while others are just plain evil.
I look forward to the next book in this series.
I loved this book! Once I started reading it, I didn’t want to stop. I was wrapped up in the story from the very beginning. Besides the great characters, well-written prose, and well-thought-out story line, what I enjoyed most were the subtle references to Alice in Wonderland. They are intricately woven into the story–from the Cheshire Cat grin to Alice growing tall and small to “off with her head, and many more that I probably missed. Plus, the way good and evil, light and dark are portrayed will make you rethink what you know about angels and demons.
These are all signs of a great writer. I;m looking forward to reading book two.
This one has been on my TBR list for a while and why the heck did I leave it this long before reading it?
I fancied a stand alone read and this one just blew me away. It’s been a while since I felt truly excited about a book, as in: I just wanted to keep reading and was forced to myself to make it last longer! Original and exciting – it’s such a page turner.
In fact, to me this is paranormal fantasy at it’s best. Pleased don’t let the cover fool you! This is masterfully written, dark and gritty as they come. If you like another take on witches, elves and other supernaturals – like what you would REALLY imagine they’d be like – this is a book for you. Trust me: this story means business, with strangely compelling morally grey characters who jump from the pages alive with intent and magic, and without the customary soppy romance that would have spoiled the vibes. Please go get this book! It’s well worth it!!
Tainted Waters takes place in a world where witches, light elves, and dark elves are in perpetual conflict. A cold war between the group simmers and it won’t take much to spark a hot war. Despite the inherent animosity, strange allegiances form between witches and elves. But can anyone really trust anyone else? Trusting your natural enemy for benefit and survival is the theme at the heart of Stanhope’s novel.
A coven of witches and a clan of dark elves share a forest, both want access to its resources. Their forays into the woods bring them in deadly contact and conflict with one another. Alice–half light elf and half witch–is a new member of the coven. As many of the characters point out, Alice shouldn’t exist. A union between a light elf and witch shouldn’t happen, but she does exist and her mixed blood gives her unique abilities which makes her dangerous to everyone. Alice is young and still in training, hardly aware of her strengths.
Someone in the coven sends her to a cave to search for nettles. The cave is the home of the dark elves that share the forest. Alice is captured and questioned. She would have been killed straight away and cut up for her bloody bits but the dark elves are intrigued by her lineage. They also have a problem. They believe a witch has poisoned their water supply and the leader of the clan decides to use Alice to remove the hex. Alice realizes she was sent to the cave to die. Someone in her coven wants to be rid of her and maybe start a war. Alice decides to help the dark elves with their water. She doesn’t have a lot of choices. Complications abound as Alice discovers her worst enemies might be her best friends.
If you enjoy stories about magic and twisted allegiances where it’s not clear anyone can be trusted, you’ll love Tainted Waters.
At the beginning of Lucretia Stanhope’s dark paranormal novel “Tainted Waters,” main character, Alice, faces a lousy situation. She’s been dumped on the doorstep of her mother’s home-coven only to find herself despised due to her mixed elf-witch parentage. Her lovely coven-mates have sent her on a fools errand to the cave of a witch-dissecting dark-elf king.
The book was hard-going in the first few chapters thanks to the cruel and creepy supporting characters and Alice’s cringing ineptitude. In addition, a wearisome atmosphere of distrust pervades all relationships. When I met the truly rotten “light elf” and his equally rotten girlfriend, I wondered if I was experiencing genre-shock and checked tvtropes.org, asking the question: what exactly is “dark fantasy?”
Turns out dark fantasy can be summed up as “standard fantasy setting meets crapsack world,” which about sums up Alice’s situation. Genre also explains the amorality or alien morality of the elves (both light and dark) in this novel. Which makes sense; they’re not human, so why expect human morality? And if you’re looking for the black and white/good versus evil morality of standard fantasy, you need to avoid dark fantasy.
So with that data in hand, I continued to read. Various events ensue that strengthen Alice and bring her tentative allies. And in my final analysis, I decided themes of belonging tie the story together. With some touch ups, this book would probably be an excellent read for lovers of this genre.
Some stories can get too bogged down with detail, detracting from the pace of the plot, but the author keeps the two balanced nicely in this gripping fantasy adventure. Interesting takes on overcoming discrimination and segregation are intermingled throughout, with our plucky half-breed heroine in the middle of it all. Book Two here I come!
It is often said that light drives out darkness and that loves drives away fear. Such proverbs may be mostly true most of the time, but not without exception.
‘Tainted Waters’ is a book full of such exceptions. It is a story of shadows and illusions, doubts and deceptions, and of clouded thoughts and emotions. In her youth, Alice desires security, truth and a sense of belonging, but enjoys none of these. Trusting nobody and belonging nowhere, her world is one where, time and time again, she has to choose the least terrible option and learn to make the best of it.
Stanhope has woven a tale in which conflict, distrust and obscured truths come into sharp contrast as the powers of light and darkness battle with one another for supremacy. As Alice discovers who and what she is, and how to make use of the resources available to her, the reader sees those same contrasts in her character: naïveté and inherited knowledge, vulnerability and power, weakness and strength.
This is a fantastic read that keeps the reader wondering and guessing from start to finish. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and found it hard to put down.
Normally, I shy away from books about elves, this time I’m glad I didn’t…
Spells, witches, and elves, this world is beautifully complicated and easily understood the more you read and immerse yourself in the story. This book contains a lot of twists and turns to leave you unsure whom to trust and who is aligned with Alice. It’s a great start to a series, which I assume will follow Alice.
We accompany Alice, a lost and misinformed witch, on her journey of growth. We learn about Alice and her origins right along with her. Along the way, we meet those she names Jasper and Decker, dark elves, who are in a predicament with the water and to save herself, Alice offers to help. Can she trust them? Can we trust Chester, the one who had been hazing her until her return to the coven? What about her “aunt” Davina?
The author leaves us wondering about the motives of those around Alice through to the end. The ending has me wanting more and I look forward to reading the next installment.
I read… a lot! I am also an author. To me an exceptional book is only half story and half the writing voice. Stanhope gets a 100% in both categories from me. Her plot, characters and flow are fantastic and her writing quality is amazing. I could not put this book down. To be honest, I am not usually a fan of witch books but I fell in love with the genuine quality in Alice. I hate reviews that give another blurb of the book so I wont leave one. However, I will highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a novel that you think about when you are not reading it!
Absolutely excellent!!!
My review
Half witch/Half light elf Alice has been placed between a deadly Dark Elf Decker and the truth of who she really is, on a quest orchestrated by her new coven lead by her aunt.
After discovering her light elf magic, Alice decides to help Decker, will she live long enough to regret it? With death placed at her feet, of one of her coven witches, Alice has to survive long enough to prove her innocence. But then as she is slowly finding out, being half witch and light elf, might be her down fall and the end of her life anyway.
Will Decker end up being her executioner or her saviour?
I enjoyed the first book of this new series. I cannot wait for the next book. A must to have in your TBR pile.
Highly recommended.
I guess I read these out of order, starting with the second book but that didn’t detract in the slightest from this book. Now I have the reasons behind Alice’s circumstances and it makes for a magnificent read. I particularly like how the different creatures do not adhere to the standard conception of them, which makes for a very refreshing change. In this book, Alice is holding on to her life by a faint thread and who is threatening is part of the awesome mystery. The characters are well developed and come over as very real. Here was another book that kept me reading into the small hours of the morning. I just could not put this one down. I am now waiting for the series to continue as it is every bit as good as Stanhope’s Elemental Witches series.