I accepted a review copy of A Mage’s Guide to Aussie Terrors, by A.J. Sherwood through Eliza Rae Services. It’s the sequel to A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars, which I reviewed earlier this year. It was, in fact, the very first book I read and reviewed in 2022.
One ghost from the past.
Two unknown Australian monsters eating people.
Three men who won’t let either problem win.
I fell kind of middle of the road about this book. On the one hand, I did like it. On the other, I didn’t like it anywhere near as much as I’d hoped or expected. The throuple here is super cute. As with book one, I really liked the three men individually and together. I liked how they brought balance to each other and each of the other’s relationship with the third. It did make me laugh, and the writing is perfectly readable (though a few phrases got recycled a few too many times), and the editing seems clean.
However, Sherwood took what worked in book one and turned it up until it was just too much and turned silly. I liked Nico’s (and Wicky’s) chaotic energy, but it’s turned into a schtick here, and it just felt like a joke. I loved Garen in book one, but he’s a shadow of himself in this book…so is Bel for that matter. I thought the whole running into his ex and healing past traumas was ham-handed and lacked subtly, and the sex scenes seemed more focused on the mechanics of three men together than any sort of emotional connection.
All in all, it was cute and not a bad read, but it was maybe not the overall winner I had hoped for.
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