annieb123's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
A Mage's Power is the first book of the Inquisition trilogy by Casey Wolfe. It's a NA/older YA paranormal romance with a m/m lead. Released 19th July 2018 by NineStar press, it's 270 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats.
This book struck me as more of a romance with fantasy/magic (worked in where convenient) than a fantasy with romance. Definitely heavy on the romance. There's nothing wrong with that, but readers looking for straight fantasy and magic with a side order of romance are possibly going to be disappointed.
There's also remarkably little dramatic tension in the book. This was a very low stress sweet novel with a plot that never really placed any of the lead characters in what felt like direct danger. Whatever the bad guys do, the good guys just manage to crush them.
It felt odd to me that techy items like cell phones exist side by side with shapeshifters, incantations, and grimoires. It probably won't bother a lot of readers. It honestly didn't bother me, but it was a noticeable nudge to my suspension of disbelief every time it happened.
The lead characters also do an awful lot of murdering and mayhem causing without much (any?) repercussions. This book also includes a fair bit of insta-love and insta-bonding. Again, that is likely a bonus for a lot of readers.
The writing is even and well done. There is an awful lot of good natured sarcastic banter, so if that's your thing, you'll be over the moon.
This is a clean romance and the naughty bits are implied rather than explicit. There is a fair bit of rough language (multiple uses of 'the F-bomb', as well as more minor bad language). None of it really seems overly gratuitous.
A nice m/m romance, sweet and low drama. It was a little bit on the sarcastic end of the spectrum for my tastes, but I'm not the target audience. This is an undemanding fun read.
Three and a half stars. I liked it well enough to seek out other work by the author and I'm looking forward to see what's in store for Rowan and Shaw.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
A Mage's Power is the first book of the Inquisition trilogy by Casey Wolfe. It's a NA/older YA paranormal romance with a m/m lead. Released 19th July 2018 by NineStar press, it's 270 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats.
This book struck me as more of a romance with fantasy/magic (worked in where convenient) than a fantasy with romance. Definitely heavy on the romance. There's nothing wrong with that, but readers looking for straight fantasy and magic with a side order of romance are possibly going to be disappointed.
There's also remarkably little dramatic tension in the book. This was a very low stress sweet novel with a plot that never really placed any of the lead characters in what felt like direct danger. Whatever the bad guys do, the good guys just manage to crush them.
It felt odd to me that techy items like cell phones exist side by side with shapeshifters, incantations, and grimoires. It probably won't bother a lot of readers. It honestly didn't bother me, but it was a noticeable nudge to my suspension of disbelief every time it happened.
The lead characters also do an awful lot of murdering and mayhem causing without much (any?) repercussions. This book also includes a fair bit of insta-love and insta-bonding. Again, that is likely a bonus for a lot of readers.
The writing is even and well done. There is an awful lot of good natured sarcastic banter, so if that's your thing, you'll be over the moon.
This is a clean romance and the naughty bits are implied rather than explicit. There is a fair bit of rough language (multiple uses of 'the F-bomb', as well as more minor bad language). None of it really seems overly gratuitous.
A nice m/m romance, sweet and low drama. It was a little bit on the sarcastic end of the spectrum for my tastes, but I'm not the target audience. This is an undemanding fun read.
Three and a half stars. I liked it well enough to seek out other work by the author and I'm looking forward to see what's in store for Rowan and Shaw.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
kiiouex's review against another edition
2.0
I don't like to dunk on queer books like this too much, so to be brief; the issue is really the writing. It's very amateur - you could make a bingo card of beginner mistakes, structural stuff like characters talking to themselves, to ""You look good," he complimented", to every character sounding the same, but it just - is very flat, very tedious, and renders all the action and ideas meaningless, when the book's ideas are a bit cliche but otherwise pretty good. The main characters have no chemistry, but are In Love in about a hundred pages, and Soul Bonded after knowing each other for like, a month, and it just doesn't work for me. Someone out there won't have encountered this stuff before, and might love it, but it is not for me.
casseyt's review against another edition
4.0
I utterly enjoyed this read. There were a few slow moments, and some clunky sentences, but the overall pacing and general sigh moments meant that they weren't too bothersome.
As this is the first book in a series it needed to do some heavy world building lifting, and did it deliver. I could draw you a really rough map of the different races, cities and countries. Along with a relationship map between said physical places - and the characters mentioned along with the three core characters. Speaking of the three core characters, I just got to say that I love them all. Especially, the way that Shaw just fell in with the bond that Rowan and Caleb have, and finding his niche in their pack.
Ro and Shaw are amazing. Now give me more please...with lots of Caleb and Marcus :D
*I'm a lucky fish and received an ARC of this read*
As this is the first book in a series it needed to do some heavy world building lifting, and did it deliver. I could draw you a really rough map of the different races, cities and countries. Along with a relationship map between said physical places - and the characters mentioned along with the three core characters. Speaking of the three core characters, I just got to say that I love them all. Especially, the way that Shaw just fell in with the bond that Rowan and Caleb have, and finding his niche in their pack.
Ro and Shaw are amazing. Now give me more please...with lots of Caleb and Marcus :D
*I'm a lucky fish and received an ARC of this read*
thebookedunicorn's review against another edition
4.0
This is a delightful beginning to the inquisition trilogy. Casey Wolfe has created a beautiful world with lovely characters.
In the beginning we are introduced to Rowan a nerd on his way to become become a grand master mage. His best friend/ live in dog Caleb is a lovable werewolf who is ultra protective of Rowan and Shaw the hot stuff inquisitor.
Rowan and Caleb become friends with Shaw and thus begins an adventure to save lives.
The world Casey created is beautiful, from afar Everstrand looks like an ideal place but when you get close you discover it's a lot darker than you think ahem *coughs* 'Murica. There's a scene where Caleb and Rowan are discussing about a political candidate and i wrote down, ''okay this scene reminds me of orange juice in the white house''
The major theme of the book was family Caleb, Rowan and Shaw bonded on different levels. You'll get a warm fuzzy feeling when you read how the characters interact, i know Rowan is the star of the show in this book but Caleb has a special place in my heart.
One final thing i appreciated was the writing style let me explain. There were scenes were you would hold your breathe and expect something bad to happen but it didn't why did i appreciate this? She did not try to force an unnecessary plot twist but by my unicorn bottom when the twist happened i screamed.I recommend this book if you love that friendship/family bond.
In the beginning we are introduced to Rowan a nerd on his way to become become a grand master mage. His best friend/ live in dog Caleb is a lovable werewolf who is ultra protective of Rowan and Shaw the hot stuff inquisitor.
Rowan and Caleb become friends with Shaw and thus begins an adventure to save lives.
The world Casey created is beautiful, from afar Everstrand looks like an ideal place but when you get close you discover it's a lot darker than you think ahem *coughs* 'Murica. There's a scene where Caleb and Rowan are discussing about a political candidate and i wrote down, ''okay this scene reminds me of orange juice in the white house''
The major theme of the book was family Caleb, Rowan and Shaw bonded on different levels. You'll get a warm fuzzy feeling when you read how the characters interact, i know Rowan is the star of the show in this book but Caleb has a special place in my heart.
One final thing i appreciated was the writing style let me explain. There were scenes were you would hold your breathe and expect something bad to happen but it didn't why did i appreciate this? She did not try to force an unnecessary plot twist but by my unicorn bottom when the twist happened i screamed.I recommend this book if you love that friendship/family bond.
almostsilent's review against another edition
2.0
I didn’t love this. Parts of it were good, and it could’ve been a great story. But honestly I found most of it fairly boring and it never fully gripped me. The ending was especially meh.
faricannon's review against another edition
3.0
**I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, Thank you! **
This book had lots of things going for it and a lot of things that it did well. There was a found family, magic, werewolves, complex world building and love in every character interaction. It was so much fun to read about Rowan’s abilities and his interactions with Shaw and Caleb. They were familly and that was very clear. This book was adventurous and fun, at times it felt more like a movie than a book which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think with more books in the series there’s so much here for the author can explore in terms of this world. The way the magic system worked was cohesive with the world building and was one of my favorite parts of the book. Rowan and Shaw were precious and I was rooting for them the entire time. I appreciated that the angst was minimal and communication was abundant. Caleb was one of my favorite characters! he was exactly the type of comedic relief you want in high pressure situations. His relationship with Rowan made my heart melt.
I would’ve loved to see more female characters and more characters of color. This was a book where all of the main characters were men and from what i can find of the authors fancast, predominantly white. More diversity would’ve made this book hit home, and I hope the author explores that in the coming books! I’ll definitely be picking them up.
Overall, I had a fun time with this universe, and I can’t wait for more.
This book had lots of things going for it and a lot of things that it did well. There was a found family, magic, werewolves, complex world building and love in every character interaction. It was so much fun to read about Rowan’s abilities and his interactions with Shaw and Caleb. They were familly and that was very clear. This book was adventurous and fun, at times it felt more like a movie than a book which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think with more books in the series there’s so much here for the author can explore in terms of this world. The way the magic system worked was cohesive with the world building and was one of my favorite parts of the book. Rowan and Shaw were precious and I was rooting for them the entire time. I appreciated that the angst was minimal and communication was abundant. Caleb was one of my favorite characters! he was exactly the type of comedic relief you want in high pressure situations. His relationship with Rowan made my heart melt.
I would’ve loved to see more female characters and more characters of color. This was a book where all of the main characters were men and from what i can find of the authors fancast, predominantly white. More diversity would’ve made this book hit home, and I hope the author explores that in the coming books! I’ll definitely be picking them up.
Overall, I had a fun time with this universe, and I can’t wait for more.
annarella's review against another edition
4.0
This is a highly enjoyable and fun to read fantasy book.
I loved the plot and the way it mixes modern times technology with a fantasy world.
There could be some more details and world building but it can be developed in the next instalments as I assume this is a series.
I look forward to reading the further instalment in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to NineStar Press and Netgalley for this ARC
I loved the plot and the way it mixes modern times technology with a fantasy world.
There could be some more details and world building but it can be developed in the next instalments as I assume this is a series.
I look forward to reading the further instalment in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to NineStar Press and Netgalley for this ARC
rabbitholereader's review against another edition
4.0
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3.8⭐
In Everstrand, magical races of all sorts live out in the open with humans in peace. Rowan, a mage, is something of a prodigy; he is the youngest ever mage to receive two masters, and he is on his way to become grandmaster - a mage who has obtained masters in all five Schools of Magic - when he receives news that a dark mage is committing animalistic murders. The dark mage needs to be stopped before the human Inquisition finds out and the peace between humans and magicae is disrupted forever. Shaw is the newly appointed Inquisitor, brimming with secrets of his own, he is responsible for policing the magical races, but with powerful magicae all over Everstrand going missing, Shaw must risk his life to discover what is really conspiring in the Inquisition organisation. When Shaw meets Rowan, however, they become enthralled with each other, and the scope of their upcoming pursuits looms larger than ever.
[b:A Mage's Power|40719062|A Mage's Power (The Inquisition Trilogy, #1)|Casey Wolfe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1530719775s/40719062.jpg|63336097] is the first book in the Inquisition trilogy and I can honestly say it was a truly gratifying start. Rowan and Shaw are a sincerely sweet couple, and the bond between them, and Rowan's best friend, Caleb, is relayed realistically throughout the story, allowing the characters a new depth that can sometimes be overlooked in fantasy novels in favour of world building or the plot. I believe that [a:Casey Wolfe|14003265|Casey Wolfe|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1504926582p2/14003265.jpg] did a fantastic job on the characters, bringing them to life in a way that contributes to not only the flow of the story, but to the ease in which the readers can read the book. I found myself flying through the pages, as fast as my Kindle app would allow, consuming the witty dialogue, the peaks and the equilibriums, and the profound bonds held by the characters.
Although I genuinely loved Rowan and Shaw as a couple, I did find that their demeanours were definitely border lining on cheesy, but with a story that almost revolves around the romance of the two, it did subsidise to the relationship as a whole; I got used to the cheesy bits and began to enjoy them rather than slightly cringing at the clear sudden devotion written between the two. I did think that Rowan and Shaw became too familiar with each too quickly, and there was no appropriate building up to the budding romance, there was no effort or detail dedicated to what could have been a really immersive developing fascination with each other - at the beginning of the story anyway - although, from around Chapter Ten onwards, I found that that was rectified.
The other issue that I had was the lack of detail on the Inquisition side. There is character interaction with a knight only once until the story peaked and suddenly, there were knights everywhere. For an organisation that is suppose to police the magical species, there seems to be nobody around doing that. I would have liked more of the story to be dedicated describing how the knights keep the peace, rather than being told that that is what they do and having to take that at face value.
All in all, I genuinely enjoyed this story. And I would one hundred percent read the next instalment.
I was given this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.