Hmmmm... this is a tough one. This book was definitely hard to rate. On the one hand, it had a good premise and the content was engaging. It held my attention firmly and did not let go until the very last page. On the other hand, it managed to accomplish those even though the writing was a bit stilted. This made getting swept up and lost in the story difficult. It also had a habit of telling more than it showed/invoked... a second factor that made total immersion difficult. A third point of contention were the easy outs. The obstacles the MCs had to face were easily overcome with little to no need for character effort or growth... this niggles and rankles and is one pet peeve that I will most likely never shake. Lastly, and most importantly, the writing was somewhat sophomoric. The writing is the Life Force of a story and this book was nearly DOA. Harsh? Probably, but it's the truth so I'll just lay it down here and you can do with it as you wish.

NOW, for some good news, this book's storyline was fun and interesting as were the characters and backdrop. These facts did the heavy lifting and carried the majority of the weight. I also liked the Magic BUT that too comes with a caveat... the Magic in the story was achieved by the MC with zero trouble/effort/toil or practice. Argggggg... that's sooo frustrating!!

Overall:
This mixed bag of a read was very engaging though not perfect, by far. It was entertaining and unique... two attributes that can go a loooong way when trying to assess the merits of a story. I will go out on a limb and declare that those two factors can go as far as to rescue and resuscitate a flailing and sputtering, less verbally nuanced yarn such as this one. Without the premise and addictive nature of the tale itself, this book would have crashed and burned and the ashes scattered to the wind. I am glad to say that the redeeming factors mentioned above were significant enough to overcome its shortcomings. Brutal? Maybe but it is fair as well sooo, make of that what you will. I will judge on the side of leniency because I enjoyed the meat and potatoes in spite of the messy presentation.

*** I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. *** ( )