Amber and I are BACK this September for a fun new readalong! We're about to start our monthly discussion for our August YA book, Omen Of Ice by Jus Accardo!
As a reminder, from now on, our monthly discussions will be both here on the OwlCrate blog AND on The Nest! Go check out Amber's discussion that will be full of fun extras like bookish charades, shelf scavenger hunts and coloring pages!
On each day we'll read a section of Omen Of Ice, both on the blog and in The Nest's group, and then discuss in the comments our theories and predictions. This means there will be spoilers for each section! Beware!
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for chapters 6-10 of Omen Of Ice, so make sure you read or are finished this section before continuing.
Oh how I love fae enemies to lovers...
Chapter Six (Valen):
Valen leaves to attend his magic lesson with Buri, a fae born before magic was drained from them, telling Kel he'd wait for her...but he doesn't.
Valen goes to meet Bur but Kel finds him while he and Buri are conversing about her. Buri pretends to ignore Kel until Kel draws her sword and threatens her, leaving Valen amused.
The lesson ends after an hour and Buri asks Valen if she'll see him there tomorrow. As Valen answers yes, Kel steps in and tells Buri no, but that she will be contacted with a different time and training place tomorrow, leaving Buri seething.
Valen considers his safety and tells Kel the real reason why so many fae are out to harm him. He reveals that he's a bastard and that his people believe his magic ties into a prophecy of doom for the fae. The Omen Of Ice.
He and Kel walk further into the Winter Lands. Kel asks him what he usually does after training and he responds that he runs. After a moment, Valen decides that he needs to share his true nature with Kel and turns into a giant wolf.
Later when Valen returns to the estate he goes to his wing to look for Kel. He doesn't find her and turns to leave but the door has been locked. He immediately feels trapped and bangs, his magic causing a snowstorm as he tries to get out. Kel is there and she notices that he's panicked. He calms slightly and she asks what happened to his last Aphelian guard and he just tells her that her heart stopped. 
Chapter Seven (Keltania):
Valen refuses to tell Keltania anymore about his last guard. She shadows Valen for the rest of the day as he looks around to see if objects or people have been frozen by his outburst, a common side effect of his magic.
She and Valen speak about his wolf and she swears as a druid that she won't tell anyone of it. They speak about the prophecy and Valen asks her for her real name. She will not tell him and continues to tell him simply, Aphelian.
Finally, they both retire, tired, to their separate quarters. 
Chapter Eight (Valen):
Valen greets the Aphelian in the hall the next morning and suggests that they go to the market.
At the market, they meet Kitara, a fae with whom Valen has a relationship. She tells Kel about an incident last month where she and Valen were in the gardens together when assassins interrupted them, trying to kill him.
Valen and Kitara sneak away from Kel and kiss against a tree when a hulking figure comes out of the shadows and whacks Valen unconscious.
When he awakes he finds himself being questioned by Kitara and her brother who want his help as the Omen. He denies being the Omen and Kitara's brother almost slits his throat when the Aphelian shows up.
They get back on their horses to ride back to the estate but Valen stops in a clearing to dismount and begins howling.
Ice cracks. 
Chapter Nine (Keltania):
Keltania tries to calm Valen as he rages about his betrayal from Kitara. Kel eventually gets him calm enough to return to the estate.
A few weeks pass by and Keltania slowly begins to learn that Lord Obrik, Valen's uncle, is a tyrant. One evening, in particular, Valen returns from a meeting with Obrik and his Aunt Liani in a sour mood. Kel asks him what's wrong.
He responds that his uncle has asked him to check in with a village having an issue with bandits and he seems angry and dark. Ice swirls on the ceiling and Keltania asks him about that too, but instead, he just rebuffs her and tells her to go to bed. 
Chapter Ten (Valen):
Valen and the Aphelian reach the village by the next afternoon and he meets with the village overseer.
He learns that the overseer believes that rebels have stolen their food and the village is concerned that they will run out of resources. Valen responds that it could easily be someone other than rebels and assures the overseer that he will inform his uncle.
The overseer is angry with Valen's response but thanks him. The Aphelian wants to look around the village so they walk and she tries to encourage him into friendship, but Valen avoids her request and they argue about both their paths in life. Finally, Valen tells her that he believes his magic will one day save his people and that his previous Aphelian, Mika, told him that.
Valen continues to tell Kel about how she found it out with her druid sigils. Keltania asks him again what happened to Mika and he tells her that she was murdered in his rooms.
Keltania sympathizes with Valen, finally telling him her true name. 
I'm not entirely sure what's going on, forget what I said yesterday.
Questions:
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🐺Valen can turn into a wolf! Were you expecting that? -
🌨How would you handle your room full of snow? -
👀Why do you think Keltania finally told Valen her real name?Never miss a box! Subscribe to OwlCrate today with code OCBLOG15 to save 15% on a new subscription!
