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teresab78's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars!
I really enjoyed this! It is a different take on magic with both shamans guided by spirits, and magic users that use other methods. I liked Darren and Kavon as well as the rest of their team. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series!
I really enjoyed this! It is a different take on magic with both shamans guided by spirits, and magic users that use other methods. I liked Darren and Kavon as well as the rest of their team. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series!
sammy_lou's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the world and magic system created here. We get a lot of information about the different magic users, and I loved having a Shaman MC.
Darren and Kavon really fought their attraction because a Mundane can't be with a Shaman. The push and pull were lengthy, and it was a slowish burn. They really drove me nuts at times, but it was so worth the wait because they are magic together.
The talent team were fun secondary characters, especially Les. There's the start of a continuing plot, and it kept me intrigued; I really have to know what is going to happen next. I'm off to read the next one!
Darren and Kavon really fought their attraction because a Mundane can't be with a Shaman. The push and pull were lengthy, and it was a slowish burn. They really drove me nuts at times, but it was so worth the wait because they are magic together.
The talent team were fun secondary characters, especially Les. There's the start of a continuing plot, and it kept me intrigued; I really have to know what is going to happen next. I'm off to read the next one!
napkins's review against another edition
3.0
Mostly world-building and exposition for the magic system in place than an actual case/mystery or exploring the relationship between Darren and Kavon, but the implications and setup were nice.
It was hard not to feel frustrated at how clearly the case was not going to be resolved by the end of the book, however. There was a lot that felt 'well, we need to save this for revelations in later books, but here's some tidbits for now' in terms of both the case and Darren's magic.
It's hard to judge the case, since we only got a fragment of it, but I did like the separation of different types of practitioners.
It was hard not to feel frustrated at how clearly the case was not going to be resolved by the end of the book, however. There was a lot that felt 'well, we need to save this for revelations in later books, but here's some tidbits for now' in terms of both the case and Darren's magic.
It's hard to judge the case, since we only got a fragment of it, but I did like the separation of different types of practitioners.
rubyn's review against another edition
So I first tried [b:Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts|38617807|Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts (Claimings, #1)|Lyn Gala|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519035157l/38617807._SX50_.jpg|23962861] but it was a dnf. However, this series kept calling for me so I decided to try it on for size. I gotta say, if I hadn’t just ended [b:A Veiled & Hallowed Eve|57092008|A Veiled & Hallowed Eve (Soulbound, #7)|Hailey Turner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1629668368l/57092008._SY75_.jpg|89329048] this would have been epic but bias, you know
chloeinbooksland's review against another edition
It was so tedious! So much info-dumping, long and tiresome explanations. Shaman-this, Shaman that.
Romance what romance? A lot of telling, not enough showing.
The fact that not one of Darren's collegues believed him about Ben got on my nerves. It felt a bit like gaslighting. And the fact he was right and no one apologied for not trusting him! If I were Darren I'm sorry (not sorry) but I'd have been so vindictive.
Romance what romance? A lot of telling, not enough showing.
The fact that not one of Darren's collegues believed him about Ben got on my nerves. It felt a bit like gaslighting. And the fact he was right and no one apologied for not trusting him! If I were Darren I'm sorry (not sorry) but I'd have been so vindictive.
shazov's review against another edition
4.0
Another book that has been on my shelves forever, it seems. And again, why do I keep doing this? It was somewhat slow going in, and I was wondering if I'd missed a prequel, as I felt we were thrust into this alternate earth where magic, while not commonplace and accepted, is "normal". There are a lot of characters to get to know in a short time, and that made it a little more complex in the beginning. However, once I had worked out who was who, well let me just say, wow!
The author has created a fantastic story line, in a fascinating version of our world. It's so very different, whilst still almost exactly the same. The characters in the story are complex and multi-dimensional and the story itself is a great mix of suspense, humour and action.
It's not a cliffhanger, but it's definitely not finished when the book ends. There a lot more to discover and learn and I going to start the next book as soon as I've finished this one!
The author has created a fantastic story line, in a fascinating version of our world. It's so very different, whilst still almost exactly the same. The characters in the story are complex and multi-dimensional and the story itself is a great mix of suspense, humour and action.
It's not a cliffhanger, but it's definitely not finished when the book ends. There a lot more to discover and learn and I going to start the next book as soon as I've finished this one!
pam_h's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars
I'm really liking the magical mysteries investigation part of this series. I'm always drawn to procedural series even though I rarely follow them through past the first book -- either the romance ends up too sidelined to hold my interest or the way it bleeds over into the MC's professional lives feels too unrealistic. This one had the right balance for me, though, especially when you add in the interesting magical world.
The main plot here means Darren works well as an entry point into this world. Since he's learning all the details as we are, it keeps it from feeling like an overwhelming info dump. And I absolutely loved the way the shamans and their spirit guides relate/interact.
I also liked the dynamic between Darren and Kavon. I put this one off for a while because a lot of reviews made Kavon seem like a total ass, but their relationship felt spot-on and very realistic to me.
Darren knows exactly why he and Kavon have to keep their personal distance from each other, he knows they both still choose to remain together professionally for the very reasons they'd want to be together personally if they could and he understands how and why that leads to the constant push/pull from Kavon as his boss.
It's not ideal, but the other choice is to separate professionally, and they've both chosen to stick together where they can. Neither one is angsty about it, so this whole UST setup worked really well for me, especially since it moves along pretty quickly from where the book picks up. I got a little irked with some of the other agents, but I had no problems with Kavon.
There's not a major cliff-hanger, but there is an overarching plot to the series that continues from book to book. This one feels self-contained and satisfactory as a standalone, but I did like Book 2 even better. It got to benefit from all the setup achieved here and delve even deeper into the magic details. I'm excited to see where all this is heading.
I'm really liking the magical mysteries investigation part of this series. I'm always drawn to procedural series even though I rarely follow them through past the first book -- either the romance ends up too sidelined to hold my interest or the way it bleeds over into the MC's professional lives feels too unrealistic. This one had the right balance for me, though, especially when you add in the interesting magical world.
The main plot here means Darren works well as an entry point into this world. Since he's learning all the details as we are, it keeps it from feeling like an overwhelming info dump. And I absolutely loved the way the shamans and their spirit guides relate/interact.
I also liked the dynamic between Darren and Kavon. I put this one off for a while because a lot of reviews made Kavon seem like a total ass, but their relationship felt spot-on and very realistic to me.
Darren knows exactly why he and Kavon have to keep their personal distance from each other, he knows they both still choose to remain together professionally for the very reasons they'd want to be together personally if they could and he understands how and why that leads to the constant push/pull from Kavon as his boss.
It's not ideal, but the other choice is to separate professionally, and they've both chosen to stick together where they can. Neither one is angsty about it, so this whole UST setup worked really well for me, especially since it moves along pretty quickly from where the book picks up. I got a little irked with some of the other agents, but I had no problems with Kavon.
There's not a major cliff-hanger, but there is an overarching plot to the series that continues from book to book. This one feels self-contained and satisfactory as a standalone, but I did like Book 2 even better. It got to benefit from all the setup achieved here and delve even deeper into the magic details. I'm excited to see where all this is heading.
kaje_harper's review against another edition
4.0
This book begins a bit slowly, with a lot of world-building amid the action. The AU in which this is set has an established presence of Talented magic users, once persecuted but now a protected group, amid a mostly mundane population. Some are shamans, who either focus their magic via crystals and spells, or who, through a near-death experience, reach the spirit realm and find a spirit guide to help them and channel their abilities. Others are adepts, who balance out, add power and keep safe the shaman they work with. The magic system becomes clearer after a few chapters, at which point the story really begins to build strength.
Darren is a mundane, working on a team of Talents in the FBI. He's proud of the role he plays on the team, even though their team leader and strongest shaman, Kavon Boucher, has inexplicably been distancing himself from Darren for a while now. Darren has a crush on the guy, but he thinks he's handling it well and doing his job, until he starts suspecting that the new adept working with Boucher has it in for Darren in a petty, magic-prank way. He doesn't have time for this crap, in the middle of a case of missing, perhaps murdered adepts. But Boucher isn't listening because anything Darren says comes out sounding like petty jealousy... and then as the case heats up, Darren's mundane status becomes... much less mundane.
This is the first in a series. The ending is a temporary resolution, but not the end of either the full case, or the relationship that is just beginning. I enjoyed the world-building once I got the hang of it, and really liked the characters, the spirit animals, and the secondary characters. I look forward to the next book.
Darren is a mundane, working on a team of Talents in the FBI. He's proud of the role he plays on the team, even though their team leader and strongest shaman, Kavon Boucher, has inexplicably been distancing himself from Darren for a while now. Darren has a crush on the guy, but he thinks he's handling it well and doing his job, until he starts suspecting that the new adept working with Boucher has it in for Darren in a petty, magic-prank way. He doesn't have time for this crap, in the middle of a case of missing, perhaps murdered adepts. But Boucher isn't listening because anything Darren says comes out sounding like petty jealousy... and then as the case heats up, Darren's mundane status becomes... much less mundane.
This is the first in a series. The ending is a temporary resolution, but not the end of either the full case, or the relationship that is just beginning. I enjoyed the world-building once I got the hang of it, and really liked the characters, the spirit animals, and the secondary characters. I look forward to the next book.