Tag Archives: fantasy

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Audio Book Review: Magical Intelligence, M.K. Wiseman 

Somewhere on the internet, I came across a freebie Audible code for M.K. Wiseman‘s Magical Intelligence.

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When you are a member of Britain’s first team of wizard spies, every mission might be your last. But as the dawning of the 20th century draws ever nearer, magic grows weak. Violectric Dampening, the clash of man-made electricity with the Gifts of magekind, threatens M.I.’s existence. And if that isn’t enough, they’ve now been discharged from their own government. Obsolete. Distrusted.

And now hunted by one of their own.

Myra Wetherby has always feared her so-called fits, strange visions of people and places that she cannot explain. It is the emotional manipulation, however, a strange empathic connection to those around her, which threatens her very sanity. A danger to her family, Myra runs away, falling straight into the hands of the newly ousted Magical Intelligence team. Who just so happen to need an ability like hers.

Which makes Myra one of them…whether she likes it or not.

my review

The description for this book isn’t untrue, but it misdirects. It does not give an accurate impression of the story. Most of it is the history that the story builds on, rather than the story itself, and it more problematically leaves out the fact that the main character, Myra, is 14 years old, which makes this a much different story than one is led to expect by the blurb.

Having said that, nothing about the story actually feels like she is 14 years old. I say that as a parent of a 14-year-old. So, I feel ideally placed to say her young age does not work for the character or the plotline. She does not act 14, no one treats her as if she is 14, and the plot does not lend itself to a 14-year-old. Honestly, several of the other characters are also in their teens, and they don’t act their age either. But it is especially problematic for Myra, as the main character. Plus,14 feels so much younger than 18 in this context. Eighteen might round up to a young adult. 14 rounds down to a child.

Outside that one big glaring problem, I generally liked this. I didn’t love it, but I liked it well enough. However, the pacing is a bit off. Somehow, the beginning dragged on and on, and then the end rushed too fast. Honestly, I felt like I was constantly scrambling, being like, “Wait, who is this again?”

I do feel like this book did a lot of work setting up the series. So, the rest of the series might not suffer from the same pacing problems, which could just be a symptom of first-book syndrome. All in all, it was a middle-of-the-road read for me. Alyson Grauer did a nice job with the narration, however.


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Blog Tour Book Review: Magical Intelligence – M. K. Wiseman

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Audiobook Review: Spark of Lightning, by Jessica Gunn

Somewhere on the internet, I stumbled across an audiobook code for Jessica Gunn‘s Spark of Lightning.

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Be careful what you wish for…

There are very few things I know to be true. I’ve worked hard to stay alive while waitressing at Lunar Royale, a premiere casino in Boston serving explicitly supernatural clientele. I’ve taken these risks because I need money to escape Boston and start over in a new city. That money isn’t coming fast enough, and now this job might kill me before I can escape.

Tonight I plan on carefully maneuvering my way into the most important game of poker ever played at Lunar Royale. The stakes are high, and the players are Boston’s supernatural elite. But by the time I realize it’s not money they’re playing for, I’m stuck in the game. The real prize? A dragon’s egg. Dragons were supposed to be hunted to extinction during the Supernatural War, but before that, they were powerful conduits of magic. This egg, if real, is invaluable.

You may just get it…

All I wanted was to escape the city, and winning this dragon’s egg might be my ticket out…if I can survive the game to the end. I just have to ignore the way the dragon’s magic hums, calling to me from across the room.

As if this dragon has belonged to me from the start…

my review

spark of lightning photoThe basic premise of this story, that a waitress at a paranormal casino manages to almost silently flirt her way into a highroller poker game, is entirely incredulous; so much so that I had more trouble suspending my disbelief about it than I did about dragons, fae, and vampires. But once I got past that initial trouble, the rest of it was okay. Unfortunately, although I think it’s objectively fine, I don’t think it’s for me. I just found the whole thing kind of milquetoast. I never found myself vested or overly interested. This feels very much like a ‘not the right reader for the book’ sort of critique. Shannon Condon did a fine job with the narration, however.


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Book Review: Dire Bound, by Sable Sorensen

I was recently lucky enough to win a giveaway on Instagram that included a copy of Sable Sorensen‘s Dire Bound.

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Only the worthy survive the Bonding Trials. She’ll risk her life—and her heart—to be one of them…

Meryn Cooper has never dreamed of being one of the Bonded, the King’s elite warriors who form mental links with massive, vicious direwolves. She’s made peace with her life scraping by in poverty in the shadows of the castle. But then her younger sister Saela is kidnapped, stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting.

And Meryn’s world falls apart.

Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army—only to discover that there are Bonding Trials this year, where all soldiers are forced to risk their lives in an attempt to connect with a direwolf. It’s too late to turn back; Meryn is thrown into the deadly competition against her will.

Now, she’ll need to survive the next four months of training at the castle if she wants a chance of finding Saela. Everything here is a test, from the brutal classes where one mistake means death, to the glittering court parties where every smile hides a knife.

To make things worse, Meryn is bound to a feral direwolf who refuses to communicate. The other trainees would love to spill her common blood. And her gorgeous instructor, Stark Therion, is as malicious as the wolves himself.

Everyone is out to get her—everyone but the dangerously handsome crown prince, Killian Valtiere. But if she loses her heart to him, she may also lose her life.

And the castle is hiding dark secrets…

my review

I enjoyed this. Meryn is the physical embodiment of ‘all things through spite,’ and I was 100% here for it and her. I also found the world interesting, the writing easy to read, and there’s some snarky humor. All in all, a good enough read that I’ve pre-ordered book two.

On the other hand, the pacing is inconsistent throughout, and I believe the book is longer than necessary. It’s also fairly predictable, except for a few moves made by Meryn that seem out of place to the reader (especially toward the end). Lastly, it has some questionable Fourth Wing vibes going on. But these complaints were outweighed by my enjoyment.

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Other Reviews:

Review:  Direbound: A Dark Romantasy (The Wolves of Ruin Book 1) by Sable Sorensen