Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus Identity (The Lily Singer Adventures, #6)

I received a free copy of this book from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Identity is the sixth book in this series. I really like this series and after the cliffhanger ending of book 5 I was curious to see how book 6 would continue the series. I have to say I was quite surprised by how the author handled things in this book, some of it really worked for me and other things less so, but all in all it was another solid and enjoyable book.

Let’s start with the different point of view, where most books in the series are told from Lily’s point of view with the interlude from Sebastian’s point of view. This book switches those things, with Sebastian being the main character and only the interlude and last epilogue from Lily’s point of view. Due to what happens in the series this totally makes sense and I liked following Sebastian’s point of view. He’s a great character to read about. Although I did miss Lily’s point of a view a bit as she’s a great character too and there’s so little of her in this book.

I did feel that this book was a bit slower paced than the previous books, but maybe it’s not so much the actual pace, but more feels that way with what happens in the story. It’s hard to say, but it felt like a large book with most of the big events happening toward the end. There’s this main big question this book has to happen, but you have to for quite far in this book to figure out what the answer is. Maybe it’s also because this goes against what I am used in books as most books resolve a cliffhanger like that quite quickly in the next book. And due to the feel to know what happens to that main plot line, most of the book feels like a preparation for a certain event at the end. The vibe of this book is also a bit tense with the clear danger and uncertainty whether they can make it quick enough. It isn’t as fun or relaxing of a read than previous books in the series. And with Sebastian and Lily being separated I also missed that banter and the fun scenes where they are together. Nevertheless the vibe also isn’t as dark or depressing as I had expected based on what’s going on. There are still plenty of fun scenes and uplifting parts as well.

All in all this is a solid book, even with the few issues I had it kept my attention and the story was engaging to follow. I liked following Sebastian as he tries to figure out his next steps and there are some big things about himself that he realizes or learns, the title is quite fitting there. And Sir Kipling accompanies him and there are some awesome Sir Kipling scenes in this book. There are some new side characters too. Malory and Chief both made for some great scenes. And then there is Aunt B and Mrs Singer and Jamie who are part of the book as well.

There are some great reveals and twists and turns in this book. I also liked how there is some action and trouble spread out throughout the book and then the big action packed scene at the end really packed a punch. It was filled with action, sadness and hope. There are twists and things move into directions I hadn’t expected and some lose plot lines all get tied together better and things make more sense. It was well done.

Also this sounds strange but I liked how the characters were actually quite smart about the planning and got some rest as well in this book. There was a lot of emotion and the urge to do things faster, but I also liked that they actually took time to prepare well and sleep. It felt realistic and wise and I liked that they went in well prepared and rested instead of working through the night and tackling this all on too little sleep.

Where book 5 ended on a cliffhanger and a clear direction on what would happen next, this book ends on a pretty good place. Some things are settled and resolved and still plenty of things are open and up in the air and it will be interesting to see in which direction the next book goes after this.

To summarize: This was another solid read in this series. I liked how this book switched things up and followed Sebastian for most of the story, although I kinda missed Lily’s point of view. The pacing felt a bit slow, or maybe it’s more due to other factors than the actual pacing. There is a big question that this book has to answer and it takes a large part of the book to build up to it, as I wanted to know how the big event would play out it felt a bit like waiting for most of the book to get there. It also is a bit of a tense situation so it wasn’t as fun or relaxing as previous books due to the ongoing situation. I was happy that there was plenty of Sir Kipling in this book, there are some great Sir Kipling scenes and I liked seeing him work with Sebastian. There are also some interesting new side characters like Malory and Chief. And plenty of obstacles to overcome before they can go after their main goal. I liked how the characters were smart in their preparation and planning and got enough rest too. The end is an action packed and intense part where it all comes together and it was exciting to see how it all got resolved. There are some sad parts, but also hope and some interesting twists and reveals. Some things get resolved and some things are left open. I am looking forward to see where the series goes next!