There are books you read and forget. Then there are books that sit with you long after the last page, the kind that creep into your thoughts at random moments and refuse to leave. Forgotten Magic by Krysten Coldsmith is very much the second kind.
At its surface it is a young adult fantasy romance. But call it that and you are doing it a disservice. It is a story about identity, about heritage, about what happens when two people are so deeply connected that not even centuries of separation can silence the pull between them.
Meet Ana. Sixteen years old, Romani, fire affinity just beginning to stir beneath her skin, traveling the Renaissance fair circuit with her family and resenting it just enough to make her interesting. She is stubborn and sharp and deeply loyal, the kind of character you root for not because she is perfect but because she is real. Then she crashes into Tigan, the fair owner’s son, golden haired and charming, and something shifts between them that neither of them can explain.
What follows is not a simple love story. It is a mystery that stretches across centuries. Ana begins experiencing visions of a past life, a girl named Liliana in 1554 Tudor England, a world of royal decrees and Romani persecution and a curse that has been quietly tearing two souls apart for lifetimes. The story moves between the present day fair and the dangerous courts of Tudor England with a confidence that never lets you feel lost, only breathless.
The magic system alone is worth picking this book up for. Romani affinities, fire, air, earth, water, and spirit, awaken at sixteen and are marked on the body. It is intimate and personal and tied so deeply to culture and identity that it never feels like decoration. It feels earned.
And then there is the ending. Without giving anything away, Krysten Coldsmith does not play it safe. She makes a choice that is devastating and brave and sets up what is coming next in a way that will have you reaching for Book 2 before you have even processed what just happened.
Forgotten Magic is the kind of debut that reminds you why you fell in love with reading in the first place. It is bold and emotional and genuinely surprising, and it introduces a world that you will not want to leave.
Your copy is waiting. Forgotten Magic is available now on Amazon and on Krysten Coldsmith’s official website. Go get it, you will not regret it.