Magic, gods, a dash of sex
Unbent
by Courtney Shepard
Calgary: Champagne Book Group, 2025
$31.00 / 9781957228471
Reviewed by Myshara McMyn
*
Four sisters with elemental powers are born each generation, and each time their lives are ended swiftly by the beings who hunt them. This time, things have changed. Asha, Mere, Ivy, and Avia are fire, water, earth, and air, respectively. They were split up at birth, raised separately, and allowed to mature in their magic and training. Four brothers have been born with the same abilities this generation, making their future even more unpredictable.
Throughout the first novel in the series of this Salt Spring Island author, Unbalanced, our eight protagonists are hunted by The Order and the dark gods they serve. Unbent is a direct sequel, leading us around the world as our heroes split up in order to not be tracked by these gods. Asha has gone with Clay, Mere with Aidan, Ivy with Cole, and Avia with Rio. As evidenced by the first book, these pairs seem fated to continually fall together. It’s hard not to make this look like convenience, but Courtney Shepard does well to make it believable that these pairs would need to become close and trust each other completely in order to achieve their goal of defeating the Order.
The sex included caught me off-guard. I didn’t expect this series to include descriptive sex scenes, and I spent a long time trying to decide if they seemed necessary to the development of the character relationships. The sisters all began distrusting their male counterparts—with good reason, as the brothers were raised by and worked with their enemies—and then once their isolation turned into desire, the sister would give in and suddenly trust the brother. It happened to Asha in the first novel and Mere in the second. I was half of a mind to think that sex was a shortcut to get these characters to trust each other and give them a more solid reason to defend each other.
Whether or not sex is the best way to do that, I don’t believe the descriptive nature of the sex was necessary. Having fade-to-black or a suggestive scene would be just as effective, while opening up the age demographic of this series to a younger audience. The parallels between Asha and Clay’s relationship and Mere and Aiden’s felt strangely similar as well. It felt like they followed the same beats, even so far as giving me a feeling of déjà vu in the lead up to the sex scenes.
The point of view could have been a lot clearer. There were moments that I was completely lost as to who was talking, especially when all of the characters are together since some of the names are visually similar. At times, it’s murky who was supposed to be the point of view character in some scenes. Even when it seems one character—say, Asha—opens up the scene, the reader still gets the thoughts of Clay in the same scene. My best guess is that omniscience was the goal.
There are a couple of reveals in Unbent that truly shocked me. They are cleverly planned, executed seamlessly, and have what I believe to be the intended effect on both myself as the reader and the characters. No one sees them coming and they cause a significant rise in tension.
The magic itself can feel convoluted, though. All the protagonists already have a significant amount of mastery over their magic before the beginning of the series, so there’s no easy way to explain their magic without having a large expository chunk that threatens to bore the reader. They all seem to run out of magic very quickly, yet in a single moment they can be refilled and become even more powerful. It would be nice to have a better scale to visualize their abilities. Especially when they seem to have limitless power but still are unable to defeat their enemies. I wanted to know more about the rules of the world.
Overall, the Unbalanced series is wonderful. I love elemental magic, and the concept of being hunted by unknown dark entities makes for a page-turning thriller of a read. Don’t mistake my criticisms of this book for my full opinion: there are reasons that I read both Unbalanced and Unbent in very quick succession. The plot kept me enthralled and even when certain moments pushed me out of the story, I was able to quickly jump back in and follow the sisters toward another danger. Formatting, sentence structure, and diction: all put together stunningly. It was easy to read, and the story had a steady pace. The plot itself was incredible and world intrigued me.
*
Myshara McMyn is a marketing coordinator, social media manager, and aspiring writer living in the Shuswap. She runs the blog Lit&Leta. She spends her time teaching Dungeons and Dragons, reading as much as she can, and helping out on her family’s farm. She holds a BA in English and Creative Writing. [Editor’s note: Myshara McMyn has reviewed books by Kate Gateley, Elle Tesch, Jae Waller, Kate Gateley, S.M. Freedman, Tiana Warner, Brooke Carter, Becky Parisotto, Sara Desai, Tara Moss, and Sonya Lalli for BCR.]
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The British Columbia Review
Interim Editors, 2023-26: Trevor Marc Hughes (non-fiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction and poetry)
Publisher: Richard Mackie
Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an online book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.
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