13 must-read June YA book releases to start your summer off right

The Shadow Wand – Laurie Forest

The third installment in Laurie Forest’s Black Witch Chronicles series, The Shadow Wand continues the story of Elloren Gardner, the prophesied Black Witch of legend, who’s currently just busy trying to get through school, secretly help a revolution get off the ground and figure out where her heart truly lies.

As this section of the story begins, Elloren is isolated from her friends and family and must join forces with her fastmate (which is sort of like a magically bound husband) Lukas Grey to try and save her kingdom, which is a problem for many reasons. One, she’s kind of in love with another man, and two, Lukas is a commander in the Mage forces that serve her greatest enemy – the Gardernerian leader who wields the dark Shadow Wand.

Forest’s Black Witch series is sweeping high fantasy, with loads of magic, strange creatures, ancient lore, and complex characters. It explores messy issues of inclusion and forgiveness and tells a story about what it’s like to realize that all the preconceptions you were raised with were wrong. The author is already working on the next book in the series – currently titled The Demon Tide, according to her Twitter – so we already know The Shadow Wand won’t be the end of Elloren’s story.

Which probably means everyone should be ready for a big, painful cliffhanger going in.

The official synopsis has some hints about what to expect from the story.

"Elloren Gardner hides the most powerful secret in all Erthia—she is the Black Witch of Prophecy, and destined to triumph…or be used as the ultimate weapon of destruction. Separated from everyone she loves, isolated and hunted, Elloren must turn to the last person she can trust—her fastmate, Commander Lukas Grey. With the Mage forces of Gardneria poised to conquer all of Erthia, Elloren has no choice but to ally with Lukas and combine their power to keep herself out of the hands of Gardnerian leader Marcus Vogel…the holder of the all-consuming Shadow Wand. With just weeks to train to become a warrior, and no control over her magic, Elloren finds unexpected allies among those under orders to kill her. It’s time to step up. To fight back. And to forge onward through the most devastating loss yet"

The Shadow Wand is available on June 9.