Tag Archives: A.J. Sherwod

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Book Review: A Mage’s Guide to Aussie Terrors, by A.J. Sherwood

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.

a mage's guide to aussie terrors coverCover
One ghost from the past.

Two unknown Australian monsters eating people.

Three men who won’t let either problem win.

my reviewI 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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Other Reviews:

Review: A Mage’s Guide to Aussie Terrors by A.J. Sherwood

 

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Book Review: A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars, by A.J. Sherwood

I accepted a review copy of A.J. Sherwood‘s A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars through Eliza Rae Services and I read it as my FIRST book of 2022! It was also featured over on Sadie’s Spotlight.
A mage's guide to human familiarsCover
One mage, Bel Adams – needs a familiar, gun shy about being rejected by one again.

One familiar, Nico di Rossi – Army Ranger, needs a change of pace and a new purpose in life.

Plus one familiar, Garen Dallarosa – Secret Service, needs his ex-lover Nico back.

One second chance – all for the taking.

bel nico garen
My Review:

I thought that this was really cute and I enjoyed the heck out of it. I liked all of the characters, including the side characters and I was really rooting for the relationship to work out. However, I also thought that the book dragged in the middle, with too much time dedicated too many random things and going on equally random missions, as all the men mulled over the same things. I would have liked to know a bit more of the world in general, how magic, mages, and familiars fit into it, for example. I thought the dialogue tripped into cheesy occasionally and the whole thing just got too childishly ridiculous at points (especially around Nico’s character). All in all, however, I liked a lot more than I didn’t and I’d happily read more.

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Other reviews:

Review: A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars by A.J. Sherwood