Gray Court by Hailey Edwards [Review]

Gray Court (Black Hat Bureau #7) by Hailey Edwards
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: March 21, 2023

Black Hat Bureau
1. Black Hat, White Witch
2. Black Arts, White Craft
3. Black Truth, White Lies
3.5. Black Soul, White Heart
4. Black Wings, Gray Skies
5. Gray Witch
6. Gray Tidings
7. Gray Court - Paperback | Kindle
8. Gray Seas
9. Gray Days
10. Gray Dawn

Hailey Edwards
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

After wiping out an entire black witch coven on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, Rue can no longer afford to have a laissez-faire attitude toward the Maudit Grimoire. Its black magic is infecting her, and it’s leaking into her familiar bond with Colby, poisoning the loinnir with its thirst for violence.

A trip to the fae realm ought to be just the ticket, but any hope for a quick fix dies when a message arrives from High Priestess Naeema. Her daughter has gone missing, and she expects Rue to find her. As much as Rue wants to help Naeema, can she afford to put off disposing of the cunning book yet again?

Thoughts on Gray Court: We're back with Rue and Asa and crew and ahhhhhhhhhh. NO. WHAT? NO! No lie, that reaction can apply to more than one thing that happens this time around. Rue does not have the most uncomplicated life and THINGS HAPPEN. Often. NO. WHAT? NO!

Okay. Let's put that aside for a moment. Rue has the double (triple? quadruple? MORE?) issues of a book chock full of dark magic that happens to have a mind of its own (of sorts), her parents' whole dead/undead/tangled web thing, a grandfather to overthrow (and figure out how to make him NOT able to rise up and start a counter-coup which would be very complicated and deadly for everyone), Asa's father's obsession with her, his mother's disappearance, and...I don't even know. She has a lot going on.

Throw in a challenge Asa can't refuse and a desperate bargain with a very cunning demon and you get the whole NO. WHAT? NO! emotional fallout from pretty much every angle.

Things are coming to a head (in the most dangerous way imaginable) and Rue is trying to protect those who are most important to her while also making sure no one ends up as collateral damage. TO be fair, sometimes that collateral damage happens to people who very much deserve it and I'm okay with that.

MAN, I like this wild, dangerous world.