A review by nessyreadsalot
An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I don’t think I’ll continue with this series. I liked this book and it’s ending enough to stop my interest here. The main thing that kept me from being fully invested was that there were sooo many characters to keep track of. On top of that, I feel like most of their personalities blended in too much and there wasn’t enough distinctiveness between them to make it easy in following them along in the plot of the story. It seemed to me like The houses showed more of the characters’ personalities than the characters themselves. 

I did love the plot/general vibe of the book. Set in NY where magicians live among mundanes but also have their own “unseen” world for the tournament and magic related lifestyles; furthermore, the lives of the magicians/houses are tied to institutions that impact the mundane world, making the winner of the tournament that much more powerful.

 I haven’t read an urban fantasy before so I found this approach to the fantasy genre to be so intriguing. Even though I won’t be continuing the series, I’ll definitely be looking for similar genres/settings.