The Council (The Witch’s Ambitions Trilogy Book 1)

A fantasy tale about a young crippled woman named Lilith Lace, who had been lead to believe throughout her life, she had no magical powers, until just before the districts Acrane Ceremony; she started to notice something strange about herself.
As for the Acrane Ceremony, it acknowledges each person if they have magical powers or not and if they do, which land they will be required to go and live in.
Only for Lilith to discover she does not just have one magical skill, but all of them.
Lilith does not know what to believe any more, her life has been a constant lie and as for her parents – they are not her birth parents. Lilith is determined to discover the truth, even when the people she once cared for are killed.
I enjoyed the characters and storyline, and cannot wait to continue with the next book in the series by this talented author.

In a genre that is highly competitive and very well populated, it is crucial that an author finds a way to make their work stand out from the crowd.

Kayla Krantz has achieved this bu creating a vibrant, talented and engaging protagonist who has a disability, and crafting complications and one of the mysteries of the story around the origins of Lilith’s injury.

As a reader with mobility issues of my own, this gave me a point of connection with Lilith and created instant empathy for her. Her disability is presented in a genuine and realistic way, as is the mental and emotional “conversation” she has with herself because of it. Importantly, the author demonstrates very clearly and powerfully that a disability does not define a person, nor does a physical impairment limit one’s talent, character or potential for success. Lilith is clearly a witch who happens to have a disability, not a disabled witch.

The story is well crafted, with plenty of interest and mystery in the subplots as well as the main story. The characters are varied and complex, many with intriguing backgrounds and individual motivations that contribute to the mysterious tone of the story.

Having greatly enjoyed this first book, this is certainly a series I want to read more of.

Audiobook review: The Council: book 1 in the Witch’s Ambition Trilogy is a fast paced story of a young witch. Lilith is a strong willed, dominant, & disabled witch. Lies are at every turn and knowing who to trust and what actually caused her disability is a mystery. The story was interesting and entertaining. The characters are complex. The story ends on a cliffhanger. The narrator did a good job! I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this review.

Magic and Mystery

Lilith is a young up-and-coming witch who lives in a world where a Council rules over five covens whose members possess different types of powers – pyrokinesis, telekinesis, mind-reading, and abilities to control air or water. Lilith is hampered by an injured leg that was mysteriously burned during childhood and struggles with recognizing her special powers and learning how to use them. She’s also confused about who she really is, who her parents are, and which coven she comes from, and actively pursues answers to these burning questions. When she courageously rescues her fellow witches from an attack by a powerful rogue witch, she’s thrust into a perilous situation where she must face life-threatening battles, betrayal, and possibly execution.

This book, the first of a trilogy, has an intriguing premise and the world-building is handled skillfully. The characters are interesting and appealing, especially the main character Lilith. An entertaining tale filled with witches, fairies, magic and mystery that many readers will enjoy.

Welcome to the land of where you are split up by your abilities as a witch, and The Council governs all and keeps everything in check. Except now, there is a shake-up coming and it’s in the form of one girl who believed that she was powerless. Lilith has suddenly come into powers that she didn’t think she had. She lives in the area of Ignis, so you can imagine her surprise when she develops telekinesis powers. She doesn’t know what to make of it, but she’s glad to at least have some powers and no longer be one of the UnEquipped, like her friend Helena. Lilith is reluctant to tell those around her of her newfound abilities but it won’t be long before her secret is out. Something is coming though. During the ceremony for the Equipped to go before the Goblets her moment is slightly interrupted when an attack ensues. Lilith is given hints that secrets are being kept from her. She’s confused and upset by this revelation. The Council, of course, takes an immediate interest in her and decides to take her in. They say that they see great things in her. But do they really see more? Lilith is about to discover many things as the days and weeks progress. Her life will never be the same as the truth is revealed.
The Council by Kayla Krantz is book one in her The Witch’s Ambition Trilogy. The author, overall, does a good job setting the stage for this book. We are introduced to Lilith from the beginning, and we begin to read her story. This book is told in the first person so we get to experience the moments from her perspective. Lilith has believed that since she comes from two UnEquipped parents that the odds of her developing her powers are slim to none. But when she develops the powers suddenly she’s surprised but keeps it a secret. She’s worried about the reaction her parents will have. As we read this story we learn that something bad happened to Lilith at a young age. She was hurt badly by magic and so she has a physical disability because of this. She makes the best of it, but she resents the fact that people will tend to take pity on her and try to help her out. Lilith is an overall interesting character. I can understand her frustrations at times, but then there are moments of where I think that she’s overreacting and just being petulant. The author weaves a lot of mystery into this story. Lilith’s story, Willow’s story, Iris’s story, and so many others. There are so many questions that are raised to pique the readers’ interest in the book. Believe me, it works. You’ll pursue the story in search of these answers, but the author loves to give just teasing bits and pieces here and there. Normally I’d have a fit and say give me something other than tidbits, but you’ll have to thing of the author as The Sage…she’ll give you pieces when she’s ready.
Overall I enjoyed this book’s storyline. I will say that there are quite a few editorial/proofreading issues of misspelled words, but none of them are major distractions. I feel that at times Lilith’s attitude is bad, and that she definitely says the wrong thing at the wrong times. I applaud the author for just having this as a character flaw at times and not a dominating part of her character. I say this because the author has Lilith quickly see that she has made a mistake when she wrongfully comes at someone for no reason. I will say that I find the make-up of The Council to be curious. I would expect The Council to be made up of older characters who are more stable in their powers, and to only bring in new members to train them to be replacements. But how the author has orchestrated it overall is curious to me. I say this, but it does not detract from my enjoyment of the story. I would like some clarification about their world though. The author throws in Lilith learning about the ill-fated witch trials years ago. So I wonder is this a different world or is this a world of where magic became the norm and everything else faded away.
Overall, I’m rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series. The author has raised a lot of questions and I’m eager to learn the answers behind them. This is a pretty good start to an interesting series. I look forward to reading the next book when the author has it ready.