by Victoria McCombs
publisher’s synopsis
EVERY FOUR YEARS, THE LABYRINTH AWAKENS. It shifts location, resets its deadly puzzles, and demands a new game. The rich pay for clues to find it and keys to get in, while the poor fight for entrance. This year, the first to reach the center wins control over the renowned trade vessels. Strange, because Ren specifically remembers her father—the captain—promised her those ships.
But her father had the misfortune of going missing before revealing Ren as his hidden heir. And she’s never actually met him. Only through scraps of letters she keeps in a trunk, promising he’d return to the island for her someday.
There isn’t time for her father to explain. Ren has until sundown to find the labyrinth and get inside before its entrance is sealed.
Even if she makes it through the gate, she must race against others who are just as determined as she is—and far deadlier. Then there’s the Labyrinth Wolves. And the Stone Gods. And the son of her father’s enemy who takes a personal interest in Ren. She will fight for her birthright through wits, strength, and perhaps a bit of luck to be the one at the helm with her future begins.
May you find yourself in the labyrinth.
At least, may you not lose yourself.
The pace of Quarter Labyrinth moves quickly and will appeal to fans of action-based plots. It’s also clear how McCombs intentionally worked the worldbuilding and plot of the book together.
I struggled with the romance aspect of the plot. It wasn’t simply because it turned into a love triangle. Rather, there didn’t seem to be any base for the relationship between Ren and the second love interest other than McComb’s twist on the fated soulmates trope. I also didn’t really see the second love interest as all that great of a guy.
My experience reading Quarter Labyrinth was similar to reading McComb’s Rogue Secreto. With both books, I was intrigued by the premise and really wanted to like it. However, neither really clicked with me. It’s likely then that my struggles with Quarter Labyrinth are simply reader preference and style.
Cautions: moderate romance; three kisses; semi-graphic heavy violence; five instances of swearing; three instances of British swearing; one instance of coarse language (NOTE: I did see the author share something on social media about removing some language from the final copy. I have not read the final, sent-to-print version of the manuscript, so I don’t know if all of it was cut.)
I received an eARC from the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Hailey Huntington 
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