Lisa
This is the first book in a planned series. That being said, I enjoyed that it wrapped up well. It left space for more adventures without obvious cliff hangers or questions left unanswered. And the questions that were left unanswered fall into the “obvious reasons for a series” category and leave just enough encouragement to read the next book if you want to. This was a quick read for me. The words flowed easily, and the plot moved along well. I especially liked that even though it was a chosen one trope, Zev had his powers and could use them from the get-go. That was a refreshing change of pace, as was his age. It had many of the bits that make YAF (young adult fantasy) fun reads but with more mature characters, themes, and wit. The writing style was occasionally too repetitive for my taste, using multiple examples to get the point across. However, Zev has a unique personality; what felt like overuse to me fit his persona really well, as did the many social and cultural references. The author even included a running joke, the word gadzooks, which was a cute, creative touch. I also enjoyed the use of older myths, monsters, and folklore. Along those lines, as with any fantasy book, there are magic rules, creature traits, and vocabulary created for this book, but the author did a good job explaining and working them into the story. It helps that Zev, though his power isn't new to him, the magical world is. Written from his point of view (POV), he asks, explains, and gets the answers the readers may need. If you like snarky MC (main characters), secret government agencies, mythical creatures, and general hi-jinks, this is a good book for you.
I was given an ARC and wrote this review voluntarily.
This is the first book in a planned series. That being said, I enjoyed that it wrapped up well. It left space for more adventures without obvious cliff hangers or questions left unanswered. And the questions that were left unanswered fall into the “obvious reasons for a series” category and leave just enough encouragement to read the next book if you want to. This was a quick read for me. The words flowed easily, and the plot moved along well. I especially liked that even though it was a chosen one trope, Zev had his powers and could use them from the get-go. That was a refreshing change of pace, as was his age. It had many of the bits that make YAF (young adult fantasy) fun reads but with more mature characters, themes, and wit. The writing style was occasionally too repetitive for my taste, using multiple examples to get the point across. However, Zev has a unique personality; what felt like overuse to me fit his persona really well, as did the many social and cultural references. The author even included a running joke, the word gadzooks, which was a cute, creative touch. I also enjoyed the use of older myths, monsters, and folklore. Along those lines, as with any fantasy book, there are magic rules, creature traits, and vocabulary created for this book, but the author did a good job explaining and working them into the story. It helps that Zev, though his power isn't new to him, the magical world is. Written from his point of view (POV), he asks, explains, and gets the answers the readers may need. If you like snarky MC (main characters), secret government agencies, mythical creatures, and general hi-jinks, this is a good book for you.
I was given an ARC and wrote this review voluntarily.