Reviews

Magic Dark, Magic Divine by A.J. Locke

ines911's review

It's not bad per se but it's too crowded. I read about 100 pages and felt like I was on the third books in the series. Too much is happening all at once. Maybe I'll give it another chance one day, for I love pnr and moreover with a black lead written by a black author. To me, the ideas were good but the execution is lacking. The edition job was not good enough. 

hgoravec's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

neuroqueer's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Protagonists

• [ ] Hot garbage
• [ ] Boring boring boring
• [x] Serviceable
• [ ] Likeable leads
• [ ] I love them so much

Side Character

• [ ] Every character is terrible
• [ ] Characters commit sin of being boring/generic
• [x] Enough interesting characters to balance out the few terrible ones
• [ ] Likeable side characters
• [ ] Amazing characters all around

Antagonist(s)

• [ ] Hate them for the wrong reasons
• [x] Cliché as hell
• [ ] Serviceable
• [ ] Sympathetic or likeable enough that I don't want to hate them
• [ ] Love to hate them

Plot

• [ ] Average, generic plot
• [ ] Average plot made interesting with creativity
• [ ] Crazy plot that is either so bad it’s good or just plain bad
• [x] Unique plot that keeps you interested

Writing

• [ ] Terribly written
• [ ] Very simple but effective language
• [x] Average writing that does the job
• [ ] Beautiful but accessible writing
• [ ] Challenging

Short summary:

This book makes me feel…..conflicted.

The story takes place on an alternative Earth where magic once flourished in the past. There were magic users of different types: Shapers can create objects from the world, Temporals can created rips in time and space, etc. After a cataclysmic event, magic and the majority of magic users were wiped out but the history still carries on into today. Our magical warrior lead Pennrae has survived the event and has woken up in this new world, hiding her magic from everyone. That is, until a new magical evil surfaces, threatening the world and those she cares for.

Pennrae as a lead is fine. She has personality. She isn’t a wilting flower that needs to be saved by a man when things get too rough. She’s a bad ass. She has a caring side. She’s likeable enough.

Her friends and sidekicks are fine as well. I love Ashe a lot and wish she was my familiar.

This alternative magical Earth setting is pretty cool. I liked the idea of different types of magic, that it was lost and may be possible to bring back again.

Yet, this book makes me feel…..conflicted. While I was reading, I felt off. I wanted to finish it but at the same time, I felt disengaged.

I think another review said it best when it feels like there’s 3-4 books crammed into one.

You have the main story with the big bad causing trouble with magic.

You have the mystery of Toji’s heritage.

You have the romance between Callan and Penn which I did not care for.

Note about the romance:

I don’t like how Callan didn’t take no for an answer when asking Penn out the first time. There are other ways to get them together without the icky “no means yes” shit.

And few other things that I don’t want to include due to spoilers.

Because it feels like a mashing of so many books, my first thought was “Oh, this seems convenient.” Because so many things were tied together, it felt like things were solved due to coincidence. I don’t think this would be an issue if this were split up into different volumes and given time to simmer.

It’s very weird. The book feels rushed yet so long at the same time.

Overall, I liked the concept, the characters were fine and the writing was decent. Not sure yet if I’ll read the next book.

romanceschmomance's review

adventurous mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

So, I went into this book blind, which I regretted quickly because I became a little confused. I definitely liked the idea of this fantastical story, but I had a bit of trouble of following along.  There was just a lot of things happening and I couldn’t quite get all the visuals of what everyone was and some of the creatures. Now I loved many elements and wished it was explored more because it was so fascinating. 

The romance felt like it was sidelined and I think I would have been happy with the romance at all. But their banter was so comical!

I’m definitely interested to see what happens since things are a bit open-ended, I had so many questions! 

nicolewhopickedthisbook's review

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Really loved the epic fantasy and world building. It did feel kind of drawn out and dragged in some places but all in all, fantastic. Can’t wait for book 2!

bookfortbuilder's review

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Death

grlmoon78's review

4.0

Finally a paranormal book with a kick-ass black heroine great story about magic. I loved the world building the dialogue an the great characters.

alanadcr's review

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

kmcruz's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

courtsbooknook's review

3.0

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for an e-arc of this book!

3.75*
Magic Dark, Magic Divine was the first installment in a fantastical romance series by A.J. Locke. I wish there was a bit more romance but I loved the build up between certain characters. I thought the magical elements were super cool and I really enjoyed how the events of the story progressed. I was on my toes, didn't know who I could trust and was intrigued by the cast of characters. I also loved the found family trop between Pennrae, Gideon, Toji and Callan. Friendship was a really strong theme here and that was something I loved seeing within the story. Pennrae had incredible character development and it was great seeing her let others help her in the journey she was facing. This was a really unique type of story and I'm excited to see what will happen next.