Nocturna by Maya Motayne is an enchanting tale filled with magic, intrigue, and rich world-building. The characters navigate a complex landscape of power, secrets, and fate, and the story keeps you engaged with unexpected twists. It blends familiar fantasy elements with fresh cultural influences, making it both compelling and unique. While some parts feel a bit predictable, the vivid writing and deep themes of identity and redemption shine through. Overall, it's an enjoyable read for fantasy lovers looking for an immersive experience.

My review for this one is later than late (apologies for that); aside from life and also wading through lots and lots of adventures between the pages, it took some time to get around to this one.
What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Regrettably Nocturna is not a groundbreaking YA adventure, as many readers will find themselves reading it with a sense of dejavu. And there’s nothing wrong with that — until you factor in the length of this book. For nearly 500 pages, I was left wanting something new. The characters are likeable and the world building interesting enough, but Nocturna does blur into the myriad of YA fantasies with such formulas.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

Short review because I read this one some time ago and can’t remember much about it. I’d forgotten I requested this one, and it was book of the month in one of my book subscription boxes so I got a pretty signed hardback with sprayed edges and an exclusive cover.

It took a while to get into the plot, I liked the world building, I found the setting quite unique and interesting with its Spanishy feel to the language of the magic and descriptions of the country. I did get quite annoyed with the use of the world “maldito” which I personally felt was overused. Other than that, the use of language added nice dimension to the flavour of the novel.

It was quite some time into the novel before the two main characters even met. It was like two separate stories and where was this going to go? The plot was interesting enough, two very different people from very different lives find themselves thrown together and having to work together to solve a problem with an outcome that would be mutually beneficial. But it did include as part of the plot a break someone out of impossible to break into or out of prison. Which is something I’ve seen recurring in a few fantasy books. That type of plot is getting a tad bit eye rolling. It did add some nice action to the novel and seemed to also add some dimensions to the characters.

One thing I really did like was there was little to no focus on romance until just hinted at right at the end. The relationships focused on were more friendship style. The two main characters just seemed to annoy the hell out of each other. Though as the novel progresses they seem to empathize and start to trust each other more building to a solid foundation of a decent friendship. There may be something more to that in the follow up.

Not one of the best fantasies I have read but definitely an interesting one with a different take on magic building. I am looking forward to more from this series.

Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton for approving my request to view the title.

There's nothing exactly wrong with this book, but unfortunately, it's incredibly generic and bland YA fantasy. I appreciate that there isn't much Latinx fantasy out there, and I was excited to see it, but I felt that the worldbuilding was lacklustre - it's set in a generic Western fantasy city, and the Latinx influence seems to be just a peppering of Spanish words in the dialogue and magic. As a side note, I wish authors would stop using existing languages to provide their magic incantations - it's disconcerting to read people just saying, for example, 'open' in a language you speak, but pretending it's arcane and magical.

I struggled to care about any of the characters, and I never felt like I got to know them more than their basic tropes - sassy thief and anxious prince for the main characters, with everyone else a perfect trope from carefree best friend to irredeemable villain. Every page I read reminded me of something else. The card game at the beginning of the book is fun, but made me think of The Lies of Locke Lamora, for example.

Essentially, it feels underbaked and overly simplified. The magic system that's set up offers the protagonists some unique powers, but these are under-used and largely irrelevant to the plot. So many threads of character work are offered up and then completely abandoned. There's one line about the effects of colonialism, and then the theme is completely dropped for the remainder of the book. It's just a book filled with unfulfilled promises and missed potential. The main plot is fine, the writing flows okay, and the book is pacey, but ultimately, I don't think a single element of this book really *does* anything. I didn't dislike it, but I don't really feel anything about it. Two and a half stars.

I was very, very curious about this book because it was, at least for me, a fresh new page in YA Fantasy world and by that, I mean the setting of the book and the whole mythology presented.
I wasn't very fond of it until the end, I'm sorry to say...

This was a great book to read and an interesting concept. I do feel that much more could have happened in the journey and the romantic in me is disappointed that nothing happened between Alfie and Finn - maybe in the next book?!?!

2.5 stars

With the ability to change her appearance with magic, Finn Voy is a talented thief, and handy with a knife. But when Finn finds herself in trouble with a mobster, she is given the task of stealing an important item from the royal palace. It seems impossible, but Finn is determined to try, otherwise she won't get her magic back.
Prince Alfehr - Alfie - is the unwilling heir to the throne after his older brother was killed. Racked with guilt, and knowing that he will never be as good a king as his brother would have been, Alfie searches for a way to bring his brother back, seeking forbidden books about dark magic.
Finn and Alfie are thrust together when their paths cross. Then Alfie accidentally releases a dark, ancient power and the duo must work together to stop it.
Will they succeed?

The blurb for Nocturna really intrigued me, but, unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped.
I liked the characters, and reading as they interacted, but there were times when I found Alfie (and his decisions) frustrating.
The plot was pretty average overall - nothing surprising happened and I lost interest once or twice.
The setting and magic were interesting. I would be intrigued to read more books set in this world.
I liked that Nocturna was set in a Latinx inspired kingdom.
The writing was easy to follow.
My main gripe about Nocturna is that it's far too similar to the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab for my liking - the main characters, the villain, even some of the plot and magic, all reminded me of the series.
I think I might have enjoyed this more if I hadn't previously read the Shades of Magic books.
I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall, this was a mixed read for me.

I finishied this book last night and I'm trying to understand why some readers are saying "nocturna is a poorly A Dark Shade of Magic version".

3 stars. I did really enjoy this book in the beginning and it was quite unique and different. However, I felt a little underwhelmed overall and so it has dropped a star for that.

Finn is a shapeshifter, a thief and a trickster. She steals faces, loosing herself amongst the crowds to keep one step ahead. Until her luck runs out, and she’s forced to steal treasure or loose her powers forever. When her plans align with that of a forlorn prince, who holds the power of moving between worlds, she sets her sights on a prize worth taking, but is the risk worth the consequences?

The world building is both complex and reasonably told, with a solid backstory to support a good grounded magical system, although with a few ‘info dumps’ along the way. The descriptions of the Latino inspired culture also drew me right into the story, and I could almost imagine myself walking the colourful, magical streets, and eating the wonderful Hispanic foods depicted. If anything, I would have appreciated more Latin flavours scattered throughout the book to really elevate this to the next level. The inclusion of Spanish words for magical spells was nice, but feels a little underwhelming compared to the ‘real’ Latino culture that could have been added, but I appreciated the effort. It tried to be different.

I also found the two central characters, Finn and Alfie, likeable and fun. Finn is the typical YA heroine - masterful thief, full of wit and banter while Alfie is the emotional royal who’s just desperate to find his brother. They’re opposites in a lot of ways, but bounce off each other well and I enjoyed their conversations together throughout the book. There’s charisma and enough spark between the pair that their partnership doesn’t feel forced or tired. I would have liked them to perhaps have been more developed individually, and perhaps be a little more unique than the stereotypes they are, but again, I didn’t hate them.

This brings me onto my main point, which is the story itself. Aside from the Latino elements, the plot is a rehash of a lot of other YA novels that have done the rounds in the last couple of years. There’s nothing truly unique or original about it at all, and I also found the pacing quite slow, with the actual action not really starting until 100+ pages in. This meant that at times I really struggled through the plot because I knew what was going to happen before it did. Nothing is particularly memorable either, and I just ended up feeling very underwhelmed at the wasted potential.

An average YA fantasy with summery Latin flavours, this is let down by an unoriginal plot and stereotypical characters that I’ve seen way too many times before.

I honestly loved Nocturna. The concept of the magic, the propio, was very cool. And I love a quest, and I lover sass and banter, and I love thieves. So much love.

This is a latinx story, and I would have liked to feel that come out a little more strongly - I definitely could have read the book without realising if I hadn’t known. That said, there are places where it works really well in that sense.

I also feel that Finn was a little hard to connect to, even if her sass was hardcore amazing. Calling Luka bathtub boy made me laugh every time.

Alfie is a great main character, possibly because he owns that he caused the problem and that he wants to solve it. He made a choice and tried to fix it. That’s pretty rare in YA and I loved it. He is a little guilt inclined, which was a bit annoying in places, but the honesty about it was refreshing.

I loved his gradual friendship (to more???!) with Finn. It felt very sudden at first - especially with Finn staying around to help, but from there you really do see them grow to trust each other despite the short amount of time. Plus while it’s a little insta-crush in places, it isn’t a romance! Woo 😂

And the bad guy was pretty scary. I feel aligning him with the person he ended up with was a little neat as a story telling device, and a little cliched, but again once you get past that you get some truly amazing and mildly terrifying moments.

I really enjoyed this and will be eagerly awaiting (and dreading, eep!) the sequel!

I don't often read fantasy these days, and something has to be really special to grab me enough to finnish it. That wasn't a problem with Nocturna. The world was skillfully built, the characters had great depth, the pace was just right and the magic was intriguing. The story might not be the most original, but that doesn't matter when it's done this well. I look forward to reading more of this series.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good book, it just took me a while to get into it. At first I was a little unsure but then as the plot unraveled more I found myself becoming more invested in the characters. I loved the Spanish and the magic system was thought out. It reminded me a bit of V E Schwab’s A Darker Shade of magic as it had similar tropes and plot points, but it was still original.

3 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2019/06/26/nocturna-a-forgery-of-magic-1-by-maya-motayne/
“Set in a Latinx-inspired world, a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince must team up to defeat a powerful evil they accidentally unleashed.” I loved the sound of this book and was so excited to pick it up but, to be fair, and to get it out of the way quicky, this one didn’t really work out for me and I’m not one hundred percent sure why so this will be a fairly short review I think.

As the story begins Alfehr is returning from a three month absence to his home. He’s in the bad books with his parents and is delaying the inevitable repercussions following his disappearance. Prince Alfehr is, following his older brother’s assassination, next in line for the throne and not only is he not keen to pick up the duties he’s also not convinced that his brother is actually dead.

Meanwhile in a slightly seedier part of town we make the acquaintance of Finn – a thief with a difference. Finn can change her face which makes her pretty difficult to catch as nobody ever really sees her true face.

Alfehr (Alfie) and Finn are about to meet at an illegal card game where the stakes are very high. Alfie is hoping to win a set of black market magic books to try and find some leads about his brother and Finn is hoping to secure the same books. The two cross paths and things start to go wrong from there onwards. When Finn is given a job that involves thieving at the Palace their paths cross again and this time the Prince makes a disastrous mistake unleashing evil upon the world.

In terms of the things I liked I have to say the writing was very good and the story intrigued me enough to keep me reading until the end.

I think my main problem with Nocturna was that I failed in the first instance to connect with the two main characters. I don’t really know why but they just didn’t work their magic on me and this meant in turn that their adventures along the way felt lacking in tension and fell a little flat – basically I didn’t have that feeling where you’re scared that one of your main characters might be hurt.

On top of this I didn’t really get a feeling for the place. This is a Latinx inspired world but it didn’t feel massively different to me and perhaps that’s because I had unrealistic expectations going into the read – although I don’t think the main character having the nickname Alfie really helped with this. I liked the magic and thought that it had some very inventive aspects to it but it felt a little too easy at some points and then failed at times when it was desperately needed..

In terms of pacing. This is something of a slow starter so you need to have patience going in. The plot does change tack following the ‘incident’ and the focus deviates when the Prince has to take action to try and rectify the mistake he made. In fact this is one aspect that I meant to mention above in terms of the two main characters. I think that the author certainly manages to do a great job in portraying the youth and naivety of the two main povs.

Overall, Nocturna didn’t work out for me for a number of reasons during the read but mostly because of my lack of feelings for the two main characters. I certainly wouldn’t want to discourage anyone else from picking this up. It could be a mood thing on my part and of course I’m not the target audience so perhaps it felt too young for me overall. I’m sorry that this didn’t work for me but I will certainly keep my eye on this author in the future.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Highlights
the magic
the characters

Overall
I loke the story, but there were continuity issues in the text which annoyed me to a high extent. Yes, I'm reading an ARC and this might have changed in the published copy but I struggled to read smoothly with these issues. Also, the characters hardly eat! It a random thing I know, but people got to eat!

Having said that, I really liked the characters and the magic in this world. I loved the propio magic with shadows. Such a cool element!

The story
The story takes places in a country who rescued itself from slavery, a monarchy which has suffered a recent trauma from the death of their crown prince. The younger brother struggles to cope with the idea that he is the next king. Adjacent to that story is Finn's story or thieving and struggling to get enough money for food. Due to convenient circumstances, they join forces to defeat a dark magical force roaming the city.

The world building
The world is small in this book and some country names felt easy. The only two other countries named was Englass and Uppskala. To me, that's England and Sweden (Uppsala is a town to the south-east). Nothing wrong with either, but I just feel like a more original name would make it better and feel more creative.

The world building itself was not too steep nor difficult to follow. It was made clear from the get-go that this was set in a Spanish-ish speaking fictional world which added depth to the story and the world.

I did love those elements which made you realise this was in a fantasy version of Latin America or similar (I think it's Mexico), like the tequila and the sangria and how common and available the drinks were throughout the story.

One thing that annoyed me, which I have never really been annoyed about before and surprised me was how little they ate... random annoyance... but the characters were complaining about being hungry and then nothing happened. Did they eat? Are they still hungry? Or are they now a ghost, death by hunger? I'm not sure, and I'm worried they don't get to eat. Also, food it a great way of creating a richer culture in a fantasy story, it literally adds flavour.

The magic
There are two types of magic in this world: desk magic and personal magic. Desk magic is the study of the magical language and spells and that type of work. While your personal magic (propio) is attached to you like a shadow, literally. The personalised magic is very limited to one thing but very specific to you and enhances your connection to the magic around the world. I loved the personal magic the most. It felt completely original (but what is original these days?) and creative. The personal magic can only do one thing e.g. change your appearance, create voids, see magic, compulsion, etc. But you have the freedom to use that magic freely, so if you can change your own appearance it's likely that you can change someone else's appearance too, but you can't change objects. If you can see the magic it's likely you can adapt your magic to fit theirs, but you can't use their magic. It's quite cool.

I really liked how different they were, and how independently they worked, but at the same time, there could have been more intertwined and make the relationship more complex.

In the end, I really like this magic system and I'm curious about where it will continue in the next book. I hope there is more too this :)

The characters
There are two main characters and narrators; Finn and Alfie.

Finn is the thief and the face changer. I really like her in her own narrative but I felt she felt a bit flat in the prince's narrative. Finn struggles with her past and is constantly on the run. I could feel her need to run come out of the page which was amazing.

Alfie is the prince and next king. Alfie is struggling with the loss of his older brother and therefore making him next in line for King. He's a bit of a softie. Nothing wrong with that. Though he's got anger management issues too. lol. The clash of personality traits - love it!

Luka is Alfie's cousin, but are more like a bother. He was one of my favourite characters and I wished he was more present throughout the book. Maybe in the next book?

LGBT?
Nope. Nada.

The writing
This is a debut novel, and I can tell. Writing is hard, I know. There is always something that could be better or something you noticed too late, etc. Having said that, I have issues with this text. I had an ARC and these issues might have changed but I thought I would mention them anyway.

I felt some things happened either to easily and conveniently, or to sudden and random. There were also holes in the text and inconsistency in the smaller continuity stuff. For instance, there was a moment when the character couldn't see someone's face because it was hidden, then, later on, referred to that "black-eyed person". How did they know that? Their face was hidden!

Plot-wise, it was a complex and intricate plot, but some of the plot felt convenient and too easy. For example, you need to find the villain after getting something? Oh, wait, he wants something which can only be found in the same location you are heading. How convenient... I know it's YA novel, but come on! Make them struggle a bit! LOL.

Apart from these minor issues, the story was well written and flowed easily through the book. There were no spelling mistakes throughout the book which was nice :)

Summary
I enjoyed this read but the inconsistency of the writing annoyed me too much.

Also, I have learnt that I like to have food in my stories, and if the character is hungry there has to be an event to which that is fulfilled otherwise I'm not happy, apparently. Lol. Also, I prefer it the characters struggle lol!

I'm interested in picking up book 2 when it comes out.

First impressions: I wanted to read this as soon as I spotted it on Netgalley – the cover is gorgeous, it is fantasy which I love, it is LatinX-inspired which sounds refreshing and it features a snarky thief (one of my favourite character tropes).

I went into this expecting to love it and I really did…despite the fact that this book seems to have garnered quite a lot of negative reviews since publication.

Therefore, I seem to be going against the popular opinion but I really loved this!

The story started off strongly with lots of interesting bits of information about the Latinx-inspired world this is set in. However, due to the pace of the action (everything in this book takes place over just a few days), the world-building drops off completely in the second half, which means that the second book will have a lot of expansion to do to make this fantasy world believable. I was fascinated by the little snippets I did see though so I am happy to go back for more!

The past conflict, colonization and siphoning of magic by the neighbouring country has lots of potential so I am excited to see where it goes next.
I liked the characters, although I feel like they weren’t described very clearly at times. E.g. I know that Alfie had golden eyes because Finn seemed to describe them every time she looked at home, but other than that I’m not very sure of many distinguishing features.

I also liked how the romance developed in what felt like a natural way. Even though the characters have only known each other for a few days, they are thrown into dangerous situations which tend to build connections quickly. Yet, it wasn’t unnecessarily demonstrative and didn’t cross the line into insta-love.

Alfie is an interesting main character, especially as we are introduced to him as he is self-medicating with tequila due to feeling responsible for not saving his older brother, who was sucked into a void and is presumed dead. The reluctant royal is not a new character trope but I liked how Alfie is seen as physically quite weak, almost effeminate and how the fortune-teller being unable to see his future has led to him feeling entirely unsuitable to be a future king. Despite the ‘reluctant royal’ being a stereotype, his privilege is challenged by those around him and he begins to realise just how lucky he has been, even though it’s not his ideal.

Our second main character is Finn, a thief with the ability to change faces and a troubled past. I liked her immediately, again enjoying how the ‘snarky thief’ stereotype was gently subverted with her being built quite heavily and her psychological scars having a real effect on her current behaviour. At times, she reminded me of Lila Bard from The Darker Shade of Magic series…and this is where a lot of criticism has appeared from other reviewers.

Yes, the main characters in this story feature a reluctant royal, his brother figure (actually a cousin) and a tough-as-nails thief. Yes, the story features dark magic escaping and infecting others. However, just because these character tropes and storylines have been used in other books and by very popular authors does not mean that they are off-limits for all others. I loved The Darker Shade of Magic trilogy and I loved this book too. I love a lot of fantasy books even though I have read about certain characters and certain storylines numerous times.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and I think it is worth giving a try if you enjoy fantasy books, despite the many negative reviews that have appeared!



What I liked: The way the character’s shadows show their psychological state, the various ‘proprio’ (unique magical skills), the Latinx-inspired culture, the development of the romance, Alfie and Luka’s relationship (although Luka stayed cold for too long). I liked that this read as a stand-alone even though it is the first in a planned series. Ignacio is a terrifying antagonist. Alfie’s parents (The King and Queen) are both present and effective parents.
Even better if: The way that the insanely powerful dark magic was released was a little contrived. One very small decision changing could have meant that the events of this book would not have happened at all.
How you could use it in your classroom: This would be a great addition to any library that stocks fantasy, especially as it represents a LatinX culture which is not commonly seen in fantasy books. I wouldn’t use this as a class text but ti would be a rip-roaring read for anyone who wants a bit of adventure and magic!

Teacher/Parental note: There is some swearing (in Spanish and English)

Nocturna is a magical Latinx inspired world. We follow Alfie, a prince who is not accepting of his future and has a magical door knob... and Finn, a thief who can change faces.

Both wish to escape. Alfie does not accept that his brother is dead and does everything he can to prove that he is right. Finn wishes to escape her past. One fateful night, when both believe that their goals are in sight, a dark magic is released. And instead of  fighting for their own causes they have to come together.

Alfie and Finn join forces to battle with a dark magic to save their kingdom. 

The magic system is so different to anything that I have read before. I loved how the magic effects each person different. Giving them a magical ability that only they can use to influence the world. Each magical ability has its own limitations. Meaning that no one control and power are the same.

This is a great debut that sucked me in. I was so sad when I finished this, so when I went on Goodreads and saw that this is part of a series, I literally jumped for joy. This felt like such a standalone book, that I'm not really sure how the next book will play out, but....

This unlikely alliance will pull you in and sweep you off your feet. I devoured ever page and cannot wait for the next instalment.

<i>Thank you to Balzer + Bray and Netgalley for providing me with a digital Arc in exchange for an honest Review! All quotes featured are from the Arc and therefore subject to changes.</i>

<u>Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars</u>

<i>Nocturna</i> had its strong points, but sadly turned out to be disappointing<b> when it came to the plotline</b>. It especially suffered in the last half of the book and began to feel repetitive and mediocre. So, <b>while I liked the interesting worldbuilding and the strong, lovable main characters</bg> Alfie and Finn, I wasn't fully convinced in the end. The first part was a definite 4 stars, but towards the end my rating dropped to 3 stars. I don't think that I will be reading the sequel as I'm not invested enough to pick it up.

<b><strong><u>L I K E S</u></b>

<b>✅ We have a soft Prince called Alfie.</b> He's more of your bookish prince and not much experience with fighting unlike Finn, something that makes them such a good duo. Instead Alfie is more of the soft, loyal sort and radiates a lot of positive energy. When he makes a huge mistake, he is doing everything to fix it and must confront the guilt that he harbors, even though what he did was out of love. His huge heart is what sometimes stands in his way, as our Prince deeply cares for his family and even his country, but can go to extreme lengths for them, that might not always be good. I did like that we got to see a darker side of him, because Alfie also has some edges - not many, but they are there. One of them is how obsessed he becomes with finding his brother Dez, who is believed to be dead by everyone else, but he can't quite let it go. He's the new crown prince now but the grief is weighing him down and Alfie cannot face having to be the new king instead of his brother. That’s why he tries to bring him back: he needs Dez and struggles so much with moving on. That really touched me, because you could see how desperate he was to return everything back to 'normal'.

<b>✅ We have a face-changing thief called Finn</b>. It took me a while to warm up to her, but when we got to know more of her background, I really began to like Finn. I feared that her character would just be the 'strong kickass girl' and not develop past that, but gladly she had a lot of depth. We get a lot of discussions about good/evil and all the grey areas in Finn's perspective because she had a tough life and was forced to do bad things to survive. Her parents were killed early, and she spent YEARS trapped under the thump of an abusive, horrible 'father' that lured her in on the streets. You see the scars that his emotional abuse and constant gaslighting has left on her. Finn is convinced that she's bad person because he forced her to kill and never allowed her to have anyone but himself in her life. This all explains why she had to be so tough and always show a strong facade. It made me understand her a lot better and I truly felt for Finn, because you see the fear in her and when her abuser returns, she struggles with his influence and the deep need to get away. In the end Finn is helping to stop the darkness while also confronting what dark places might hide inside her, as she pushed a lot of her bad memories deep down.

<b>✅ The slow burn romance between Finn and Alfie</b>. I liked their relationship a lot because it was very subtle and anything romantic was very, very hidden, making this a very slow developing romance. That was very fitting for both and I thought that the slow buildup and growth of their relationship and their trust in each other was well done and realistic. In general, I liked their dynamic as it's pretty much sharp Slytherin girl and soft Hufflepuff boy, a duo that I have come to really love nowadays! I want more books like this one that have more 'quiet' romances that develop over time, especially if the characters are so different from each other.

<b>✅ The worldbuilding was interesting.</b> I really liked that the book explored Castallan history, especially the dark times during being enslaved and how that is still affecting their magic (which was nearly destroyed) and the entire country. I thought that the history was very well set up and felt realistic to me, like it could have happened. Other than that, I lived the magic system, especially as there are several types of magic. There is inborn magic like elemental magic and very rarely a personal power, called proprio (you can have both if you're lucky). But you can also learn what is called 'desk magic' aka spells that pretty much anyone can use. I liked that Prince Alfie has such a unique power (traveling through the currents of magic and being able to match other's magic) and that there are different colors to everyone's magic. I also liked that the book discussed the limits on people's personal powers, I always appreciate magic systems that have drawbacks and limit power. In general, I liked that with the darkness unleashed we discuss a lot about human nature and what constitutes good or evil.


<b><u>D I S L I K E S</u></b>

⛔ <b>The plotline began to go downhill in the second half</b>. The first half was okay when it came to the plot: I was engaged and ready to go on a journey with these characters. However, after a while the plot began to feel repetitive to me and dragged a bit, as this book is on the longer side. It took me a while to figure out, but in the end, I think that my enjoyment was hindered by the fact that the plotline didn't feel that original to me and rather like I had read it before. I understand that there's no way to completely reinvent plotlines, but I wished for a twist on the events, as they began to feel mediocre and not exciting anymore, especially towards the end.

⛔ <b>The secondary characters were flat.</b> I did like Paloma, so she's exempt from this statement, but sadly both Luka and Alfie's parents were not the most complex characters. I never warmed up to Luka, he felt like an entitled character who's trying to be funny and carefree, but actually comes across rude and annoying. There is no other way to say it: his jokester personality wasn't endearing at all. It was also very clear that he was supposed to be the best friend and sidekick, but his character never evolved past that and therefore felt hollow. Alfie's parents didn't have any defining characteristics, they were just there because the story demanded it, something that was a lot of wasted potential, as I liked seeing living parents for once!

⛔ <b>The ending didn't work for me at all.</b> I was very confused, because I knew that this would be a trilogy, but the ending is more fitting for a standalone. I don’t know why there is even a need for a sequel as nearly everything (but one thing) is neatly tied up, creating the feeling that this is the definite end. I don't think having the ending be this closed was a good idea because it'll likely feel unnatural to suddenly open everything up again for the sequel. More under the spoiler Tag, because this is hard to describe without getting into the details.

<spoiler><b>I don't understand why the darkness has been defeated ... I thought this was the point of the entire SERIES as Sombra is set up to be the big Bad</b> ... only that he isn't awakened and any means to do so is completely gone. The story makes it clear that the darkness cannot come back, so the main villain is literally no longer here, and I wonder what we'll do the next 2 books. There is still the death of Alfie's brother Dez and how the gang lady had this tattoo that is connected, but that's literally it. I just think that closing the darkness in so finally was a mistake, because it was literally the antagonist with the highest stake. Everything else is bound to be disappointing. If there is another way to wake Sombra I'll be mad too, because you cannot define how it's done and then just reverse that. Either way the ending is messy, and I think the sequel could have some issues especially if reader expectation is played with.</spoiler>

<b>“We all carry good and bad within us, light and dark. That is what makes us human. And remember, no matter how far into the darkness we may fall, it is never too late to seek the light.”</b>

2.5 stars

This book simply felt like the A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC series smushed together, lacking the charisma of V. E. Schwab's books.

The villain is a dark magic/god-thing that wants to infect people so it can grow and take over the world. Anyone incompatible to its magic is turned to ash. There's a bad-magic-tried-to-infect-people-at-a-ball scene too.

Finn felt like a discount Lila - a thief with no family. She didn't quite have the sharp-talking, impulsive and general devil-may-care attitude of Lila. Alfie is like Kell, an unwilling prince and a powerful magic (which has a lot of underutilised potential and very little explanation). There's also a paper-thin Rhy-ish character in Luka. He has some nice bromance-line, but no charm and no Alucard to share sizzling chemistry with (yes, I know Alucard comes in book two).

The relationships are very lackluster. There's no chemistry at all, and the cousin bone between Luka and Alfie is told rather than shown. This means that it's confusing when Alfie risks everything for Luka (yup, that happens too) because they've no special connection.

We even get one character whose magic can assume the shape of others (I think - I don't know. None of the magic is explained at all. It's elemental and yet Alfie seems to be able to do everything). He also yells command words for his magic.

The magic and action scenes were confusing. I couldn't tell you what was happening. They were there fighting, and then they weren't? The market fight scene was the worst. This was because our villain possessing the body of Finn's adoptive manipulative father-figure Ignacio hadn't had his magic explained yet.

Ignacio is... weird, in a creepy, confusing way. He's motivation is to get back his adoptive/captive daughter because he can control people. This means people do what he wants them to and thus no one loves him because it's forced? So he manipulated a girl into being dependant on him and calling it love. She escaped and now he wants her back. Yeah, I'm not sure.

It takes 30% to hit the start of the synopsis, and then everything happens all at once. I couldn't predict what was going to happen next. Not because there were any twists, but because nothing felt set up. The characters just took new directions like they were flipping coins. They did one thing. It failed, so they try another, plucking the idea out of nowhere.

I should preface this next comment with the fact that I'm not Latinx. However, the book didn't feel like it was in a setting any different to the common-place western fantasies. I assume what the Kell-like character was yelling to shape his magic was Spanish (I was terrible at school). There was a little bit of set dressing with the food and names, but the world building generally was thin on the ground. I couldn't imagine the settings or feel like the world was a real thing.

So why the 2.5 stars if I thought it was a A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC rip off? Well, it was a light, fun read that I sped. It was a nice enough experience, if disappointing. Also, the card game Cambio is such a fun idea - I would have loved to see it woven into the plot more.