xxamyrussellxx's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I like this one ans love the continued character development I just wasn't as invested as the last one
bookwife's review against another edition
5.0
I feel like this series is completely underrated. No one talks about it and it's so fantastic! I love the story and the characters. The magic is great. It's just all great. I highly recommend!
ceylb's review
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
readingistravel's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it
Took me a while to finish this one. But I loved it. Was not expecting Ezra and Tori but it's happening and I'm here for it.
Took me a while to finish this one. But I loved it. Was not expecting Ezra and Tori but it's happening and I'm here for it.
steffi_au_penguinbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Three Mages and a Margarita
Dark Arts and a Daiquiri
Two Witches and a Whiskey
Demon Mages and a Martini
rating: still 4.5 stars
Again: there is soooooo much forshadowing here. I feel like an idiot.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Oh Annette why?! :(((((((((((
So many FEELS
Be it the female friendship between Tori and Sin (Tori really needs female friends)
Be it the friendship/family thing between Tori and the three mages
Be it the friendship within the guild
Be it THAT ONE THING I WAS WAITING FOR SINCE BOOK 1 AND NOW I AM JUST CRYING
The story is definitely getting darker and more serious. There are still comedic scenes, but the plot in general .. HOLY SHIT! I don't know what Annette has in store for us, but it cannot be good!
In total I really really enjoyed this book a lot! I felt so many different emotions and really appreciate it that characters have faults. People do or say stupid things and it's human and the characters here in Guild Codex are no exceptions.
I haven't read the shortstory at the end of the book yet, but am looking forward for the second Demonized book coming out in November! The pain for Druid Vices and a Vodka will still be painful ....
Dark Arts and a Daiquiri
Two Witches and a Whiskey
Demon Mages and a Martini
rating: still 4.5 stars
Again: there is soooooo much forshadowing here. I feel like an idiot.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Oh Annette why?! :(((((((((((
So many FEELS
Be it the female friendship between Tori and Sin (Tori really needs female friends)
Be it the friendship/family thing between Tori and the three mages
Be it the friendship within the guild
Be it THAT ONE THING I WAS WAITING FOR SINCE BOOK 1 AND NOW I AM JUST CRYING
The story is definitely getting darker and more serious. There are still comedic scenes, but the plot in general .. HOLY SHIT! I don't know what Annette has in store for us, but it cannot be good!
In total I really really enjoyed this book a lot! I felt so many different emotions and really appreciate it that characters have faults. People do or say stupid things and it's human and the characters here in Guild Codex are no exceptions.
I haven't read the shortstory at the end of the book yet, but am looking forward for the second Demonized book coming out in November! The pain for Druid Vices and a Vodka will still be painful ....
lolasreviews's review against another edition
4.0
I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.
I've been enjoying this series so far and once I received my copy of this book I quickly jumped into this story. At first I wasn't quite sure what the problem of this book would be as it starts off with everything going well, but slowly it becomes clear what the characters are dealing with in this book. And it was a gripping adventure from start to finish. It also was an important book in terms of the characters and had some well done reveals and twists.
After a short few scenes back in their home town, Tori, Sin and the three mages leave for Sinclair Academy where they'll be spending Christmas with Aaron's parents. The Sinclair Academy is quite famous and so are Aaron's parents. The different setting worked for this book, it was a nice change of setting, but at the same time I missed the guild dynamics and bar tending scenes a bit. It did have as added benefit that the focus was much more on Tori, Sin and the three mages as those are the only familiar characters.
It's an important book for getting to know more about the characters. Seeing Aaron interact with his parents and how he is at the academy, gives more insight in his character and also his friendship with Kai. It becomes obvious how Kai can ground Aaron and we see Aaron's more elitist and arrogant side peek at out times and how he struggles to be the best version of himself. We also find out more about why Aaron didn't join his parents guild. There are also some great scenes of Tori and Ezra. I like seeing how they interact after what happened in the last book and there is still the possibility of romance here. There is another big reveal that hits at the end of the book.
This was another great read in this series. I enjoyed following Tori along, seeing the character interactions and also that little hint of potential romance. There is plenty of action and I love seeing how Tori fits in the world of the mythic even though she isn't a mythic herself and how she slowly grows more effective in combat as well. In fact she makes some big advancements in her battle skills in this book. With her potions, artifacts and the training she's receiving. I like how she doesn't become super good instantly, but you see her gradual increase throughout the series.
The storyline in this book was interesting as well with the strange happenings around the academy and how slowly things come together. There was a nice twist at the end which I figured out at about the same time the characters did. The title for this book is very fitting too and the cover fits the story perfectly. It's fun how each adventure gets wrapped up in a book, but there are continuing storylines as well.
There is still more we learn about this whole world with each book. We get a glimpse of the mythic world a bit more with the academy and we hear about various other guilds and get to see more of members of other guilds. There is also some paranormal creatures we see more of in this book as well as more about alchemy with Sin being pretty present here and a famous alchemist in a town close by who plays a role in this book.
This is the first book after the spin-off Demonized started and I was excited to see how these two series would interact, but as I mentioned before the characters aren't at the guild a lot in this book and well Robin from the other series is at the guild. So except for one scene in the book they actually don't interact. It was fun to have that one scene with both main characters in the same room and to see what Tori thinks of Robin. With something that happens later in the book I have a guess of how the two series might interact, but guess we'll see how that goes in future books.
To summarize: Another solid read. The main trouble of this book takes a bit to get started, but it was quite interesting. The pacing is done well and the new setting in this book worked well. There's quite some focus on the characters and I feel like this book really deepened what we know of some characters. There are some reveals and twists in this book as well and I am really curious how the ongoing storylines will play out. I liked getting more insight in Kai and Aaron's friendship in this book. There's also a less likable side of Aaron we see in this book and we get a better understanding of some of the choices he made and his personality gets rounded out more due to what we learn. I liked seeing Tori slowly become more capable in combat and how this is a gradual increase throughout the series. There is more we learn about the world, a paranormal creature we see more of as well as more about alchemists. All in all this was another great read and I am already looking forward to the next book.
I've been enjoying this series so far and once I received my copy of this book I quickly jumped into this story. At first I wasn't quite sure what the problem of this book would be as it starts off with everything going well, but slowly it becomes clear what the characters are dealing with in this book. And it was a gripping adventure from start to finish. It also was an important book in terms of the characters and had some well done reveals and twists.
After a short few scenes back in their home town, Tori, Sin and the three mages leave for Sinclair Academy where they'll be spending Christmas with Aaron's parents. The Sinclair Academy is quite famous and so are Aaron's parents. The different setting worked for this book, it was a nice change of setting, but at the same time I missed the guild dynamics and bar tending scenes a bit. It did have as added benefit that the focus was much more on Tori, Sin and the three mages as those are the only familiar characters.
It's an important book for getting to know more about the characters. Seeing Aaron interact with his parents and how he is at the academy, gives more insight in his character and also his friendship with Kai. It becomes obvious how Kai can ground Aaron and we see Aaron's more elitist and arrogant side peek at out times and how he struggles to be the best version of himself. We also find out more about why Aaron didn't join his parents guild. There are also some great scenes of Tori and Ezra. I like seeing how they interact after what happened in the last book and there is still the possibility of romance here. There is another big reveal that hits at the end of the book.
This was another great read in this series. I enjoyed following Tori along, seeing the character interactions and also that little hint of potential romance. There is plenty of action and I love seeing how Tori fits in the world of the mythic even though she isn't a mythic herself and how she slowly grows more effective in combat as well. In fact she makes some big advancements in her battle skills in this book. With her potions, artifacts and the training she's receiving. I like how she doesn't become super good instantly, but you see her gradual increase throughout the series.
The storyline in this book was interesting as well with the strange happenings around the academy and how slowly things come together. There was a nice twist at the end which I figured out at about the same time the characters did. The title for this book is very fitting too and the cover fits the story perfectly. It's fun how each adventure gets wrapped up in a book, but there are continuing storylines as well.
There is still more we learn about this whole world with each book. We get a glimpse of the mythic world a bit more with the academy and we hear about various other guilds and get to see more of members of other guilds. There is also some paranormal creatures we see more of in this book as well as more about alchemy with Sin being pretty present here and a famous alchemist in a town close by who plays a role in this book.
This is the first book after the spin-off Demonized started and I was excited to see how these two series would interact, but as I mentioned before the characters aren't at the guild a lot in this book and well Robin from the other series is at the guild. So except for one scene in the book they actually don't interact. It was fun to have that one scene with both main characters in the same room and to see what Tori thinks of Robin. With something that happens later in the book I have a guess of how the two series might interact, but guess we'll see how that goes in future books.
To summarize: Another solid read. The main trouble of this book takes a bit to get started, but it was quite interesting. The pacing is done well and the new setting in this book worked well. There's quite some focus on the characters and I feel like this book really deepened what we know of some characters. There are some reveals and twists in this book as well and I am really curious how the ongoing storylines will play out. I liked getting more insight in Kai and Aaron's friendship in this book. There's also a less likable side of Aaron we see in this book and we get a better understanding of some of the choices he made and his personality gets rounded out more due to what we learn. I liked seeing Tori slowly become more capable in combat and how this is a gradual increase throughout the series. There is more we learn about the world, a paranormal creature we see more of as well as more about alchemists. All in all this was another great read and I am already looking forward to the next book.
morelica's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
nemerith's review
5.0
Woohoo, I was so happy that I got to read another instance in what is pretty much one of my top five favourite series!! And IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!
Worldbuilding:
Christmas at the Sinclair Academy (which turned out to be a freaking castle!!!), what's not to love... except for pushy parents, snobby alumni and students getting attacked.
As always, and something I really think marks a great author is that there is just the right amount of details present to give your mind the space to fill in the blanks without either getting lost (you don't know where the characters are or were doing) or having everything spelled out for you.
Character development:
I like how the bond between Tori and her mages keeps getting tighter and tighter, but be warned: this book really gets you in the feels people. That ending... *sigh*
Though it feels like Aaron (who's turning into a snobby bastard) and Ezra (whose insomnia is getting worse) got a big chunk of the limelight in this instalment, you know Kai is never far away and ready to shock the hell out of you, literally (har har... yeah I know, I'm sorry).
I liked that we saw a lot more of Sin in this instalment, I really like her :D I didn't think Tori and Sin would ever be such good friends after book 1, but it's nice to have some more female company when all the men are throwing punches left, right and centre.
Pacing and flow:
I pretty much read the book in one go (yes yes, I really had to sleep some hours at least). The story kept getting better and better which each new clue and element thrown in! And then the Christmas party and I really couldn't put it down after that!!
As always, great balance between all the action and the necessary conversations to bring the story to life.
The book:
The book itself was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There is no sex described (if that is important to you).
The book is 296 pages long, spread over 25 chapters and told from Tori's point of view.
Final thoughts:
Can I just give a big shoutout to the pixy at the Christmas party? You rock!!! And no, I'm not going to spoil that for you (but yaaaaaay!).
I just loooooooooove this series so much!! I can't wait to get on to the next part, but first... some time for Robin and Zylas! (weeeeeeeeeee)
Worldbuilding:
Christmas at the Sinclair Academy (which turned out to be a freaking castle!!!), what's not to love... except for pushy parents, snobby alumni and students getting attacked.
As always, and something I really think marks a great author is that there is just the right amount of details present to give your mind the space to fill in the blanks without either getting lost (you don't know where the characters are or were doing) or having everything spelled out for you.
Character development:
I like how the bond between Tori and her mages keeps getting tighter and tighter, but be warned: this book really gets you in the feels people. That ending... *sigh*
Though it feels like Aaron (who's turning into a snobby bastard) and Ezra (whose insomnia is getting worse) got a big chunk of the limelight in this instalment, you know Kai is never far away and ready to shock the hell out of you, literally (har har... yeah I know, I'm sorry).
I liked that we saw a lot more of Sin in this instalment, I really like her :D I didn't think Tori and Sin would ever be such good friends after book 1, but it's nice to have some more female company when all the men are throwing punches left, right and centre.
Pacing and flow:
I pretty much read the book in one go (yes yes, I really had to sleep some hours at least). The story kept getting better and better which each new clue and element thrown in! And then the Christmas party and I really couldn't put it down after that!!
As always, great balance between all the action and the necessary conversations to bring the story to life.
The book:
The book itself was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There is no sex described (if that is important to you).
The book is 296 pages long, spread over 25 chapters and told from Tori's point of view.
Final thoughts:
Can I just give a big shoutout to the pixy at the Christmas party? You rock!!! And no, I'm not going to spoil that for you (but yaaaaaay!).
I just loooooooooove this series so much!! I can't wait to get on to the next part, but first... some time for Robin and Zylas! (weeeeeeeeeee)
shiranlazarovich's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25