It's been a while since I last got any approved books from Netgalley. I was actually starting to wonder if I'd ever get approved again. So far so good they approved 3 within 2 weeks. So here's my take on these Netgalley finds.
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(The Spellwork Syndicate #1)
by Lola Dodge
Published January 16th 2018 by Ink Monster, LLC
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Anise Wise loves three things: baking, potion making, and reading her spellbooks in blissful silence. She might not be the most powerful witch, but enchantment is a rare skill, and her ability to bake with magic is even rarer. Too bad one wants witchcraft on their campus. Anise’s dream of attending pastry school crumbles with rejection letter after rejection letter.
Desperate to escape her dead-end future, Anise contacts the long-lost relative she’s not supposed to know about. Great Aunt Agatha owns the only magic bakery in the US, and she suddenly needs a new apprentice. Anise is so excited she books it to New Mexico without thinking to ask what happened to the last girl.
The Spellwork Syndicate rules the local witches in Taos, but as “accidents” turn into full-out attacks on Anise’s life, their promises to keep her safe are less and less reassuring. Her cranky bodyguard is doing his best, but it’s hard to fight back when she has no idea who’s the enemy. Or why she became their target.
If Anise can’t find and stop whoever wants her dead, she’ll be more toasted than a crème brûlée.
Who knew baking cakes could be so life or death?
Review: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley (of course) in exchange for an honest review. I gave it the rating of 3 stars because I did like it even it was a little shallow in a lot of parts. This book had the makings of the type of YA books I didn't like - angtsy teens that just whine from page one, instant romance, and overall unrealistic descriptions of life. What made is better is the fact that the protagonist was a "Kitchen" Witch. Did they just say Kitchen Witch? LOL. Meaning she has witchy powers and she mostly uses it when she's baking. The paranormal element was awesome if not a little overwhelming and it was fun to think about a Mafia of Witches (C'mon, they call themselves the Spellwork Syndicate..teehee). Wish there was more to the story though especially the protagonists Grandmother and Great Aunt. Maybe I'll get to read more about them in the next books in this series. Overall very light and entertaining read.
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The Girl Without Magic
(Chronicles of Maggie Trent #1)
by Megan O'Russell
Rating: ⭐⭐
Unbreakable
Death would have been easier, but the Siren wasn't through with her.
Seventeen-year-old Maggie Trent fell out of a battle and into the Siren's Realm, a land where secrets hide in the shadows and pleasure comes at a price Maggie is unwilling to pay.
The time for the Siren's reckoning has come, sweeping away all she deems unworthy to live in her realm. Those without magic are hunted by the Siren. Those with magic are hunted by the Stricken. Fighting or hiding seem necessary to survive. But there is a different way.
Bertrand Wayland, unaging and unrelenting in his determination for Maggie to accept her fate, slips in and out through the stitches that bind the Siren’s Realm to other worlds, gaining magic and having glorious adventures. When Maggie follows Bertrand out of the Siren’s Realm, seeking an adventure of her own, she finds instead a world of magic on the eve of war. To save innocent lives Maggie risks her heart, her life, and her only chance of returning to the Siren’s Realm.
Review: So seriously this was a meh book for me. I loved the cover but I was a little put back by the story. This was supposed to be the 1st book in a series but from chapter one it didn't feel like it. There were some background elements like Maggie (the protagonist) was an orphan who studied in a magical academy and she had a clan in Virginia. She was also supposedly fighting in a war. I was like what clan? What academy? What war? And the attempt at an explanation came in the middle of the book? Besides the fact that the title was sorely misleading - Maggie in fact is NOT a girl without magic. There wasn't much of a coherence and balance that I'm so used to reading from mainstream Fantasy.
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(Unblemished #3)
by Sara Ella
Expected publication: May 1st 2018 by Thomas Nelson
Rating: N/A
Eliyana Ember is stranded in a foreign country in the Third Reflection with no passport, the inability to mirrorwalk, and zero clue where the nearest Thresholds back into the Fourth or Second might lie. Her mind is a haze, her memories vague. She knows a wormhole from the Fourth sent her here. She remembers her mom and baby brother Evan. Makai and Stormy and Joshua . . .
Deep down El realizes she must end the Void once and for all. Is there a way to trap the darkness within its current vessel, kill it off completely? To do so would mean sacrificing another soul—the soul of a man Joshua claims is a traitor. But he’s lied to her before, and even El senses Joshua can’t be fully trusted, but one thing is certain . . .
The Void must be annihilated. And only the Verity—the light which birthed the darkness—can put an end to that which seeks to kill and destroy.
Note: No review for this yet because I didn't know it was book 3 in a series when I requested it. I don't have copies of the 1st 2 books yet so I am going to put this book on hold until I do. Hopelly I would have the copies and read the books before this one comes out in May.
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