Reviewed by Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite

The Mage Heir by Kathryn Sommerlot is the stunning conclusion to The Life Siphon duology. Tatsu gave up his comfortable life in the woods to save Yudai's life. Now he's looking at life on the run with Nota's rage and the siphon's curse close behind. Whenever Yudai sleeps the siphon drains the earth around him and it's only getting worse. They have no choice but to seek answers from Joesar by locating the source of the poison that was inflicted on Yudai. Not knowing who they can trust, Tatsu and Yudai lean on each other to survive what lies in the desert. As the two grow closer, Tatsu realizes the only way to stop the siphon may cost Yudai his life and he's not sure it's a sacrifice he's willing to make.

A stunning conclusion to The Life Siphon, Kathryn Sommerlot delivers higher stakes and an emotional journey that will capture the heart. The Mage Heir explores new challenges for Tatsu that bring him further out of his comfort zone, leaving the safety of his woods far behind him. Now he's thrown into one dangerous situation after another, going through the motions a day at a time. Their journey is far from an ordinary adventure through a desert. It's a harsh setting for a sweet love story, but it's also filled with dangerous conditions that provide a real struggle for the characters. Sommerlot continues the theme of nature coming to life with dangerous effects. Several of their obstacles come from nature itself as they have to face sand, flooding, scorpions, and underground creatures. This landscape is vastly different from the gritty and decaying setting introduced in The Life Siphon, which portrayed the dying trees and the land as a grieving and suffering entity. The land they face through the desert is alive in a more chaotic way. Sommerlot balances chaotic action with softer moments between Tatsu and Yudai, slowly unraveling a love story that is breathtaking, genuine, and romantic.

What makes this love story excel so brilliantly is the way Tatsu and Yudai are both lost and find themselves through each other. They completely accept who the other is and, through that, they make each other stronger. They're both struggling through their own individual journeys, which center on the loss of and search for identity. After Tatsu discovered his mother was Nota, it tears apart everything he thought he knew, everything he thought his father was. Now he's struggling to figure out who he is while learning how to accept this sudden weight on his shoulders of what his mother has done. He's able to find solace by being with Yudai, who gives him hope for a future. Balancing him out is Yudai who has suffered so much by the torture and his role as the siphon, but it's the guilt driving many of his actions forward. Tatsu grounds him and helps him through this guilt by giving him someone to hold onto and someone to see the good in him. Their romance balances their fight against Nota, creating this journey of love and hope that pulls you into every step of Tatsu and Yudai's story. The Mage Heir is a story of heartache and loss, and a fight to reclaim a crown, to save a kingdom's fate, and to protect a love neither knew they wanted. The Mage Heir will be your next favorite fantasy read!