Reviews with content warning for Child death - Magia cierni

This was a good read! Not my favorite YA novel, and certainly not my favorite YA fantasy novel, BUT is was fun nonetheless. I enjoyed many of the characters (Silas the demon is my favorite), the setting and magic system is creative and immersive, but I felt like the main antagonist/ villain was.. meh?

Predictable reveal that lead to some things that felt unrealistic (and not in a magical-world way, more of a rich-people-getting-away-with-things-because-of-fame-and-power-and-money way..

Maybe it's the cynic in me, but I found it quite strange that these rich, powerful people were so willing to turn against another rich, powerful person.. I had thought there would be some sort of coverup, that these people were also in on this plot, etc

).

The climax dragged on way too long, and overall some of the pacing was slow. Also, some things are revealed about Elisabeth that just felt.. silly? She's the "chosen one" but it's not fully fleshed-out and feels haphazard in a way.

And a critique with the characters: I liked Nathaniel (I do love a grumpy character that starts as an enemy that develops into more) but I felt like his relationship with Elisabeth was a little shallow? I appreciate how it isn't front-and-center, but I wish we got more of their developing feelings for each other.

But Silas is 10/10 snarky and an absolute icon and I adore him. He really brought this book up a star-rating tbh.

I felt like this book could have been like, 50 pages shorter or split into two books, but at this point it's a potential standalone (a .5 coming out this year I guess?) and I'm okay with that. Though if a second one were to come out that revolves around my demon man Silas, I am all in.

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bexi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I have a few minor gripes with the writing but I simply love the story, the world, and the characters too much to give this anything other than 5 stars.

I was excited to read it every night. I didn't want it to end and I'm low-key sad that I finished it. There's a companion novella and yes, I am going out to the nearest bookstore tonight to purchase it.

Shoutout to booktubers for putting this book on my radar. And for comparing it to Howl's Moving Castle - that was the selling point for me. If you enjoyed HMC (book or movie), pick this up because I agree with the comparison.

Now somebody please adapt this into a miniseries for television because I wants ittt 😭

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rem_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I would sell my soul to Silias.

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lizgom's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I usually have a hard time getting into YA romance but this one was cute.
I really enjoyed Nathaniel’s personality and I think that’s why it was an enjoyable romance. He’s witty, sarcastic, humorous and flirty. Elisabeth is probably one of my favorite heroines. She’s everything I want from a main character. I have a tendency to dislike FMCs and I think this speaks volumes about how Elisabeth was written. She’s a girl who grew up in a Library full of grimoires and builds an immunity to magic. Her courage was something admirable throughout the book, I didn’t get the “god she’s so dumb” vibe I usually get from most female protagonists. (Feyre from ACOTAR I’m looking at you.) I genuinely rooted for Elisabeth. I often get frustrated by how naïve most FMCs are written. Hands down Elisabeth is my favorite character written so far.
The romance in this book wasn’t the main plot so if you’re looking for a specifically romance book then you might be a little disappointed because this is a very very light romance. The plot had quite a few things going on. However, it wasn’t overwhelming.

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