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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Took awhile for it to pick up, but not bad. I will be reading the next, because I need to know what is going to happen with these two and her history. I enjoyed the characters and I enjoyed the story line, but some parts I was just like come on get to it already. This series has been compared to Harry Potter...I'm not getting those vibes yet. Yes their are witches and spells, but The world that JK created was tangible and I still feel like I don't have a real grasp on what this world is like. However, I like Harley's spunk, having a strong heroine helps with its mediocrity...3.5 stars...
I read this book as it had been compared to Harry Potter in reviews. I grew up with Harry Potter and those books have shaped my childhood. While the Harley Merlin series was an enjoyable, quick read, it has nothing on Harry Potter. I found that the author focused on the outer appearance and as with almost all teen novels nowadays they could all be found on runways in real life and the main character has two gorgeous guys vying for her attention. Instead of carving out characters that are not caricatures of real life stereotypes, she stays superficial and does not add the intricacies that J.K. Rowling had for all of her characters. I appreciate strong female characters, but here the protagonist gives up her independence after having been harassed by a guy. In comparison to this, J.K. Rowling once stated I believe, that Hermione Granger never compromised her intelligence for anyone, never gave up her studiousness for beauty and even though she was portrayed by the beautiful Emma Watson, she was never supposed to be known for her beauty, but her intelligence. If this author had created characters of more depth, this could potentially have come close to Harry Potter, but alas it does not...
Edit: I read a bunch of Bella Forrest's Sagas and felt I really had to add this point to this review. In all of her books and there are many, every pairing is always between the different sexes. This is especially astonishing since one of her storylines (not Harley Merlin) literally spans universes, and in all those universes, somehow everyone is straight?! After having read 3-4 books of hers they become incredibly predictable, badly edited (spelling mistakes) and quite frankly boring, because the same things happen again and again and you guessed it, AGAIN! I cannot over stress this, as she has authored over 100 books, if you have read one of them, you have read them all essentially.
As I mentioned before, she also does never create characters of any depth. None of them are ever anything less than beautiful and if they are, then they are likely the bad guys, unimportant or will miraculously become beautiful once they find their significant other.
Edit: I read a bunch of Bella Forrest's Sagas and felt I really had to add this point to this review. In all of her books and there are many, every pairing is always between the different sexes. This is especially astonishing since one of her storylines (not Harley Merlin) literally spans universes, and in all those universes, somehow everyone is straight?! After having read 3-4 books of hers they become incredibly predictable, badly edited (spelling mistakes) and quite frankly boring, because the same things happen again and again and you guessed it, AGAIN! I cannot over stress this, as she has authored over 100 books, if you have read one of them, you have read them all essentially.
As I mentioned before, she also does never create characters of any depth. None of them are ever anything less than beautiful and if they are, then they are likely the bad guys, unimportant or will miraculously become beautiful once they find their significant other.
I highly enjoyed this book it is a great start to an interesting series. I really liked the characters especially Harley and Wade they have an interesting relationship that could at some point change to how it is currently. I also really liked how Harley wants to be independent and I like that she is not a high school student. I really liked the plot it starts out with a young woman using her powers to find cheaters in a casino and it moved on to finding out about magic and many other very interesting things along the way. So overall I really liked this book and will continue the series at some point.
I came across this series in recommended Kindle Unlikited read in the Romance section of all places. I am not entirely sure why its in the romance section, while I can see the romantic relationships developing in books further in the series, there was no real romance taking place, but it was a fun fantasy read.
Harley Smith has some strange abilities. She's always had these abilities, but learned to hide them from a young age as she was passed around the foster care system. Now as an adult, working in a casino, she comes across Wade battling a strange creature with powers of his own. He introduces her to his coven in the hopes that she will join. But the secrets of Harley's past, specifically her parents, are something she needs to learn more about if she wants to stay safe in this new world that has discovered her.
There were definitely bits influenced by Harry Potter in this series although it is written for an older crowd with older (read young adult) characters. I could see other Harry Potter fans enjoying this as well. The characters are interesting and I am invested enough in them to read the second book in the series to see where it is going.
While it is definitely influenced by Harry Potter, the writing and world building did not hold the same magic for me. I assume that more will be revealed in the books that follow, but the writing, while good, did not grab me and make me feel magical like Harry Potter did the first time I read it.
I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes, especially since there are 21 books! It was always disappointing that the Harry Potter books ended at 7 when I just wanted them to go on forever. Maybe with series, I will finally get my wish.
Harley Smith has some strange abilities. She's always had these abilities, but learned to hide them from a young age as she was passed around the foster care system. Now as an adult, working in a casino, she comes across Wade battling a strange creature with powers of his own. He introduces her to his coven in the hopes that she will join. But the secrets of Harley's past, specifically her parents, are something she needs to learn more about if she wants to stay safe in this new world that has discovered her.
There were definitely bits influenced by Harry Potter in this series although it is written for an older crowd with older (read young adult) characters. I could see other Harry Potter fans enjoying this as well. The characters are interesting and I am invested enough in them to read the second book in the series to see where it is going.
While it is definitely influenced by Harry Potter, the writing and world building did not hold the same magic for me. I assume that more will be revealed in the books that follow, but the writing, while good, did not grab me and make me feel magical like Harry Potter did the first time I read it.
I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes, especially since there are 21 books! It was always disappointing that the Harry Potter books ended at 7 when I just wanted them to go on forever. Maybe with series, I will finally get my wish.
.. I loved the characters in this book! Each character has a lovely defined voice so there’s no having to try and work out who’s speaking or doing anything. The flow of this book was just lovely. I was enchanted by Harley from the get-go. This is definitely a good read
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What a great read! I love the storyline and this is very much a Harry Potter-esque story. Young woman who doesn’t know she’s magical, goes through trials and tribulations while discovering herself. I do highly recommend this to fans of Harry Potter.
My reasoning for three stars is the vocabulary used, as well as the banter. While Bella does an amazing job in describing the characters and scenery, she seems very focused on their actions. I felt as if every other word was “smirk”, “crossed my arms”, or some version of it. Lots of “shrugged”, “shrugging”, “pointed”, “jabbed”, etc. I think a thesaurus would have done well when writing this story, however the lack of decent verbiage doesn’t really take away from the plot or the enjoyment.
With the banter, or even just the general conversations, they seem more like responses you might come up with while ruminating on how you should have responded to someone. The lines come off as cheesy or almost comedic, definitely not what you would say in daily conversation.
The writing is a little less mature than that in Harry Potter or even Artemis Fowl (it seems that “mature YA” is only because of the protagonist being 19) but don’t let that scare you away from this wonderful tale. I’m reading the second book already and it seems to be along the same vein vocabulary wise, but with just as good of a plot. I am excited to see what Bella Forrest will come up with for Harley in the future!
My reasoning for three stars is the vocabulary used, as well as the banter. While Bella does an amazing job in describing the characters and scenery, she seems very focused on their actions. I felt as if every other word was “smirk”, “crossed my arms”, or some version of it. Lots of “shrugged”, “shrugging”, “pointed”, “jabbed”, etc. I think a thesaurus would have done well when writing this story, however the lack of decent verbiage doesn’t really take away from the plot or the enjoyment.
With the banter, or even just the general conversations, they seem more like responses you might come up with while ruminating on how you should have responded to someone. The lines come off as cheesy or almost comedic, definitely not what you would say in daily conversation.
The writing is a little less mature than that in Harry Potter or even Artemis Fowl (it seems that “mature YA” is only because of the protagonist being 19) but don’t let that scare you away from this wonderful tale. I’m reading the second book already and it seems to be along the same vein vocabulary wise, but with just as good of a plot. I am excited to see what Bella Forrest will come up with for Harley in the future!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Forrest does a great job building up this magical world around the main character, Harley, but Harley feels one-dimensional as a character. The novel doesn’t feel cohesive at all and Harley comes off as a strong woman but then turns around and calls the men around her “alpha males”. There’s not much here to interest me in the next part of the series.
Exciting and magical. Harley is a complex character and her story begs me to read the rest of the series to find out more!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes