Rise of the Mages

3.5 stars
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway.

This was a nice run of the mill book. It had a magical system that reminded me of Mistborn in the sense that the characters consume a substance to gain powers like strength or healing.
It had a lot of violence that was entertaining most of the time but sometimes it was just okay.
Overall the story was a decent read but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to finish the series.

The story has lots of traditional fantasy elements that I love.
Emrail- main character is a teenager who is not aware of his upper echelon bloodline and comes to realize his magical powers. He seeks to find his brother and save him from the insurrectionists.

Jaina- mentor to Emrail who is an elite swordswoman who hones his abilities to prepare for the war to come

Elle- a beautiful love interest of Emrail who are obviously infatuated with each other but play coy about it