Veil of Embers is a Celtic-flavored portal fantasy that follows Sorcha, a ranger in the Circle of Light, as creeping corruption seeps into her forest, her city of Lumora, and even the people she loves. Strange reanimated beasts, a spreading sick bloom in the woods, and a willfully blind council set the stage while a second thread follows Kyron of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who faces the cost of dark magic up close, and a third thread tracks Riona as she gets entangled with a forbidden grimoire and the very charming, very suspect Vaelric. As the circle investigates, the rot in their world deepens, the old gods feel nearer, and the story builds toward Sorcha, Kyron, and the shapeshifter Cat stepping through the Veil itself into a new realm, leaving this first installment as a clear launch point for a larger series.

I really liked the way Karla Molina writes moment to moment. The opening trial with Sorcha and the animated wolf grabbed me right away, and the tone never really lets go after that. The prose is descriptive and sensory, with a lot of attention to sounds, smells, and texture, so the forest scenes and Lumora’s streets feel lived in. The library of Verdant Light, with its living tree and the mirror portal tucked into an alcove, is a good example, it feels cozy and ominous at the same time. The banter inside the Circle is warm and funny and gave me that “found family” vibe without feeling like a sitcom room, and the fight and horror scenes with the corrupted wolves, the dead livestock, and the black flower in the woods have real teeth. The pacing stays pretty steady, more slow-burning investigation and creeping dread than constant action, and then ramps up in the last act when the Veil finally opens. I will say it ends on a pretty hard “now we step into the new world” beat, so as a reader, I finished the last page already mentally reaching for book two.

The book worked for me because it is not just monsters in the trees. It keeps exploring the cost of power and the way hurt people go looking for shortcuts. Kyron’s mercy killing of Alenia, whose body has been twisted by dark magic, hits that theme in a brutal way, and it frames his later choices with a lot of quiet grief. Riona’s storyline with the Dark Book feels like watching someone slip into an addiction one page at a time, she is lonely and angry, the book tells her exactly what she wants to hear, and she keeps going back even while she knows better. The text does not glamorize that, it lets you feel the pull and the danger. On top of that, you have Sorcha’s trauma, the loss of her parents, the nightmares, panic, and the way she keeps forcing herself to function while her magic behaves more and more strangely. The preface is clear about the heavy topics, and I appreciated that the story leans into anxiety, despair, and even thoughts of not wanting to go on, but does so with empathy rather than shock value.

The character dynamics were a high point for me. The Circle feels like a real unit, full of teasing, half-serious flirting, and little crushes that may or may not go anywhere. Eirin, Drystan, Mason, Rhosyn, and Emry each get small moments that make them feel like people, not just names standing behind Sorcha in a formation. The romance threads stay fairly low heat and “closed door”, which fits the tone, but there is plenty of tension, especially between Sorcha and Kyron. I liked that their connection grows out of shared responsibility and shared guilt, not just “you are hot and mysterious”. Riona and Vaelric bring a darker, more questionable chemistry that adds another flavor. Worldbuilding-wise, I enjoyed the Irish myth roots, the Tuatha Dé Danann, Samhain, the Pooka, and the Undines in the waterfall, and the glossary up front is a nice touch, so the names and terms do not feel like homework.

By the time Sorcha, Kyron, and Cat step through the cracked earth into a sky full of dragons and a perpetual sunset, I felt both satisfied with the arc of this book and very aware that the larger story is only getting started. I closed it feeling a little wrung out, fond of this messy, brave group, and curious about how far into the dark the story is willing to go in future volumes. I would recommend Veil of Embers to readers who like character-driven epic fantasy with a slightly spooky edge, strong found family energy, Celtic myth influences, and slow-burning romance. It feels especially right for older teens and adults who do not mind heavier themes like grief, anxiety, and dark magic, and who enjoy that feeling of walking from a haunted, familiar forest into a bright and dangerous new world and knowing the real journey is just beginning.

Pages: 371 | ASIN: B0GHQM7JGD