Book Review(s): The Secrets of Ormdale

Books 16, 17, and 18 for 2025: The Secrets of Ormdale books 3-5 by Christina Baehr
Castle of the Winds – 260 pages / April 2024 / available here
City of Serpents – 308 pages / July 2024 / available here
Valley of Dragons – 515 pages / Nov 2024 / available here

Castle of the Winds: Another great installment in an already delightful series. The plot hangs on a bit of a willingness to overlook some logic (but I'll not say more to avoid spoilers), however once past that, it's a fun adventure with main characters that continue to enchant. Eagerly moving on to book four!

CW: sexual assault (prior to story, discussed without details), threatened imprisonment, mild peril

City of Serpents: This book was a wild ride with some pretty heavy themes, but also featuring all the great writing I’ve come to expect from this series, growth for the characters I’ve come to love, as well as a few new faces (for better and worse!). I don’t know if I enjoyed this more gritty landscape as much, but it’s a nice change-up from the fairly pastoral settings. I again struggled with some of the logic of the MC, but also saw those holes as necessities for the story…so I get it, but also, Edith is much smarter than some of her choices in this book and the prior one. Happily jumping right in to book five!

CW: very shady medical experimentation, character drugged without consent, blood transfusions/needles

Valley of Dragons: Quite an epic finish for this fantastic series! Given the longer page count, the pacing did feel slightly more drawn-out than the prior books, but I didn’t mind because Baehr did a great job wrapping up all the loose ends. Each character’s arc came to such a satisfying conclusion (maybe except Farley) and I’m already sad to have to leave Ormdale. My only gripe was that during the climactic scene at the Abbey, it felt slightly Monty Python with tracking everyone’s movements and action. I’m not sure why it read that way, but it felt almost comical to me which didn’t track. Regardless though, I loved the series and will certainly be keeping my eye out for the promised in-world continuations coming out later this year.

CW: stillbirth mentioned