The Ancient Magus' Bride vol 3 by Kore Yamazaki

Elias has revealed his full, true form, and takes on the being known as Josef, who has been trying to capture the Church Grim in order to make a chimera.  Chise awakens from her injury inflicted by Josef, and she manages to calm Elias down back into his "human" form.  She forms a bond with the Church Grim, who becomes her familiar even though he is a fae, which means his eternal life will end when hers does.  Chise renames the Grim "Ruth" because of his loyalty. Days later, while wandering and looking for Elias, Chise comes across a man named Joel tending his garden full of beautiful roses.  He has a muse attached to him, a parasite who normally feeds on the energy of people in exchange for inspiration, but this muse is content with just being near Joel. At the very end, Chise receives an invitation from Master Lindel to return to the Dragon Sanctuary to make her wand.

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This series’ storyline is really intricate and there is no summaries anywhere to remind readers of what happened in previous volumes. Each chapter goes right in to the next, which means each book concludes and leads right into the next without any recap, so this is definitely one to sit down and read in large chunks.  There are still plenty of world-building elements even into volume 3, as Yamazaki has made one of the most intricate fantasy worlds I've encountered in a while.  Every volume, we find out a little bit more about Elias and the nature of Magic, and Chise's nature as a "sleigh beggy" is also complicated more with each volume.  Chise started off as a really complicated character, but within the last two volumes, she is sort of "floating" through the narrative with little development.  Hopefully, coming volumes has her getting back to the depth she had at the beginning of the series.  

I'm still getting major A Court of Thorn and Roses vibes, so this fantasy series will definitely appeal to fans of Maas and other complicated magical worlds.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 8-12
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Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2

Publisher: Seven Seas
Publication Date: December 1st 2015​
ISBN: 9781626922242 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Seven Seas