Review: Dark Fuel + Giveaway

Info:

Title: Dark Fuel
Author: Liz Maverick
Series: Arcania #2
Publisher: Coliloquy
Publication Date: October 2012

Blurb:

Adia is finally coming into her newfound arcanic spellcasting powers. She passed her first test at the academy with a dazzling, yet inconsistent, performance, proving that, while she has potential, she still has a lot of work to do before she’s considered an equal. Never mind that she has to be ready to battle the Synelv, the Arcanae’s deadly enemy.
Luckily, Adia is partnered with an elite team of fighters: the raw and muscular shield Grey, the dashing but deadly rogue Seger, and the trusty healer Finola. Precisely the support she needs to get up to speed with her magic. Good thing, because Adia has a lot on her plate besides learning to fight the enemy. There’s the mystery of Lara’s death to solve, Delphine the mean mage to outwit, and the academy competition to win. Not to mention that her friendship with Grey might be more than just that—if they can only keep from killing each other.

The war is escalating quickly and Match Game is drawing nearer by the day. There’s no such thing as practice anymore—the Arcanae have begun sending less experienced teams into battle, and the annual competition among the students comes with a twist that will make the stakes higher than ever.

It’s going to take a lot to keep Adia and her team focused on their battlefield mission. Will family secrets and romantic complications derail her and her teammates?

What’s Cool from Coliloquy
Dark Fuel is the second installment of a new Active Fiction series from Coliloquy. Throughout the series, author Liz Maverick uses a unique interactive format to augment the typical reading experience. Hunt for clues alongside Adia, unlock secret scenes, and read carefully, as Liz reveals some ereader magic of her own.

My Thoughts:

 I found Dark Fuel to be an improvement over the first Arcania novel, both in the story and in the interactive elements. I'll start with the interactive elements. The book starts off with a quiz hat allows you to find out which class you would belong to (I was a healer). Then there were a couple of hidden scenes that you would get to see depending on which class you ended up as. I thought that was very good. Once again though, I wish there was even more interactive elements, since I think it's a very cool idea.

On the the story. I found Dark Fuel to be much more pleasant overall, despite the fact they are in a war, because Adia finally had friends to share her highs and lows with. I felt so bad for her in the first book since she was so lonely, so I was happy that she had a supportive team behind her. However, don't get the idea that everything is rainbows and unicorns; there's a ton of action in this one.

My favourite part was watching Adia interact with her team. I loved how they all worked together and fed off of each other. I love Finola, she is so secretly kick-ass. And I'm also a fan of Seger, since I have a soft spot for sneaky, rogue types. And Grey. What can I say, other than I'm looking forward to seeing more of him.

And the ending! I love the cliff-hanger-y-ness of it. I want to talk about it, but it's a major spoiler, so you'll just have to read it to see what I mean!

Overall, I found Dark Fuel to be an improvement on Arcania #1, with a more fleshed out cast of a characters and improved interactive features.

On the Cover:

I like the style of the covers in this series, although I wish it was just Adia in the mirror.

Rating: 3.5 Hearts

Source: I received an ecopy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Coliloquy

Find the Author: Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

Giveaway:
 a Rafflecopter giveaway