Elena has always been a disappointment to her mother, the headmistress of the country’s best school for magic. On her sixteenth birthday, she is expelled by her mother, and she and her familiar are turned out in the cruel world of the magept (the magically inept normies). Quinn is a thief, a hunter, and a hothead. His unexpected friendship with Elena brings out a fiery side of him that he didn’t know he had, including uncovering magical abilities no one thought were possible since men weren’t supposed to be capable of magic. With Quinn’s help, Elena creates a safe new life as a barmaid at a small inn. But when a group of drunken men attack Elena, her magic awakens with shocking ferocity. Elena’s explosion of magic creates a power surge that reaches the mountain where her mother runs the world from her magic school, and investigators are sent to uncover the source of the power surge. With investigators now on their heels, Elena and Quinn are on the run. The awakening of their powers kickstart a prophecy and send the two teens on a quest to save all the magic in the world from being destroyed by the turmio , a sentient black cloud that’s been created to absorb and erase all magic and magical beings from their world. Content warning: the story mentions incidents of child abuse, sexual assault, and birth trauma. May not be suitable for some readers. Storm and Flame is the first in a completed trilogy. A found family low-spice series perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber's Caraval series, Margaret Rogerson's Sorcery of Thorns, and Phillip Pullman's Golden Compass. "Mallory crafts a lovely tale that weaves the allure of magic with charming characters you can't help but cheer for." "This story is packed full of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat-turning pages well into the night to see what happens next." "This is a brilliant read...Great suspense and action with and wonderful world building." "I loved the adventure throughout the whole novel. Elena is such a fun character with such a relatable backstory. I love that through her journey she finds a rag-tag bunch of misfits...And I cannot even tell you how much I love both Agon and Lyra. They were hilarious. They were the perfect blend of comedy and skepticism and logic." "Brace yourself for adventures, posturing, learning magic and a dark & devious backstory peeled back like an onion."