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literarypenguin's review
adventurous
lighthearted
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? Yes
5.0
This was a series I stumbled upon by curiosity, the synopsis was too tempting for me not to give it a try. When I finished, I was amazed by how much I enjoyed this! This now inspired me to read the rest of this series in the near future!
The characters in Forged By Magic are so interesting and varied, so many different races and personalities. It made this island village that much more interesting and idyllic. The main characters Daella and Rivelin were both fascinating, the more you learned about both of them the more similarities that could be found. Daella was optimistic and tried to find the good in certain things despite growing up in horrible circumstances that were out of her control. Rivelin was sort of a loner at first, preferring to be by himself with a strong sense of protecting his village. Soon however we learn that he had a dark past that made him the way he is now and shaped his obsession with protecting his home. Both of them had undergone trauma in their life and were truly looking for something to make them happy, for them to have meaning in their lives. Their romance was so good and the steamy parts were perfection.
The village was so warm and cozy, I honestly wished I could live in this place! The village had so many different people and the people worked together to help their fellow villagers to support them was so heartwarming to see. Which made the idea of wanting to protect this place even more dire as a place like this, it would have been awful if something happened to it. It was wonderful to see people come together to protect their home.
I really want to get to the second book of this series! If the second book is as good as this one was then I will have a new favorite series incoming!
The characters in Forged By Magic are so interesting and varied, so many different races and personalities. It made this island village that much more interesting and idyllic. The main characters Daella and Rivelin were both fascinating, the more you learned about both of them the more similarities that could be found. Daella was optimistic and tried to find the good in certain things despite growing up in horrible circumstances that were out of her control. Rivelin was sort of a loner at first, preferring to be by himself with a strong sense of protecting his village. Soon however we learn that he had a dark past that made him the way he is now and shaped his obsession with protecting his home. Both of them had undergone trauma in their life and were truly looking for something to make them happy, for them to have meaning in their lives. Their romance was so good and the steamy parts were perfection.
The village was so warm and cozy, I honestly wished I could live in this place! The village had so many different people and the people worked together to help their fellow villagers to support them was so heartwarming to see. Which made the idea of wanting to protect this place even more dire as a place like this, it would have been awful if something happened to it. It was wonderful to see people come together to protect their home.
I really want to get to the second book of this series! If the second book is as good as this one was then I will have a new favorite series incoming!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Confinement and Death of parent
lunahale's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
this was perfectly cute and fluffy and mindless. no thoughts were required for this and that was exactly what i was searching for. it loses a couple stars for some grammar and pacing issues, but the story was great. i will definitely be reading the rest of this series the next time i’m in a slump!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Sexual harassment
karapillar's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Genocide, Deportation, Slavery, Confinement, Murder, Torture, and Physical abuse
Minor: War, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry
doahdancer's review
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Genocide
hobbithopeful's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
A cozy, light read full of magic, romance, and dragons, my only complaint it was over all too soon.
The world building and the lore in Forged by Magic is one of my favorite parts. The lush setting and extensive history makes the land and people feel real and vibrant. Daella and Rivelin have great chemistry, I love how they took time to get together and weren't instantly sleeping together. When they did get together it was STEAMY! Towards the middle and end I did find a bit of with the pacing. The ending and the plot felt rushed, I wish there was more of a chance for Daella to showcase her battle prowess and for a confrontation with the emperor. There almost felt like a bit of disconnect from the end and the rest of the book. The miscommunication that occurs also felt very out of character for the side characters.
There is another book in the series, and I will definitely be reading that next!
Overall this is a light and cozy read, and a perfect story for anyone looking for a sweet fantasy.
The cover is amazing! Honestly the whole reason I picked up this book through KU is because the cover caught my eye. I love the composition, color, and how well depicted the characters are.
The world building and the lore in Forged by Magic is one of my favorite parts. The lush setting and extensive history makes the land and people feel real and vibrant. Daella and Rivelin have great chemistry, I love how they took time to get together and weren't instantly sleeping together. When they did get together it was STEAMY! Towards the middle and end I did find a bit of with the pacing. The ending and the plot felt rushed, I wish there was more of a chance for Daella to showcase her battle prowess and for a confrontation with the emperor. There almost felt like a bit of disconnect from the end and the rest of the book. The miscommunication that occurs also felt very out of character for the side characters.
There is another book in the series, and I will definitely be reading that next!
Overall this is a light and cozy read, and a perfect story for anyone looking for a sweet fantasy.
The cover is amazing! Honestly the whole reason I picked up this book through KU is because the cover caught my eye. I love the composition, color, and how well depicted the characters are.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence
bellebookcorner's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.0
If you're looking for a simple cozy fantasy story with tropes like grumpy x sunshine, found family and enemies to lovers then you might want to pick this one up!
The world building is fascinating with a big world where there's a hidden magical island and several different creatures living together like Orcs, humans, dragons and elves which fantasy lovers would be thrilled to read about like myself.
This story has a dual POV from these two main characters which is a great touch to get to know the characters where they have their own agendas and see how they grow throughout the story.
The slow burn romance between Rivelin and Daella is delightful. I absolutely love the high tension and bantering between them which eventually leads to the spicy moments which is worth the wait.
However, as much as I like the people on the island and Riveliin (MMC) they were too quick to judge Daella (FMC) just because she was an outsider which really annoyed me sometimes.
Moreover, Daella kinda forgives too easy... I was hoping to see Rivelin grovelled his way back to Daella a little bit harder.
Nonetheless, this book was a heart-warming and enjoyable story with easy to read writing style, badass FMC and other elements inside which fantasy romance readers would love.
The ending also got wrapped up nicely and I'm looking forward to read the next book from this series!
The world building is fascinating with a big world where there's a hidden magical island and several different creatures living together like Orcs, humans, dragons and elves which fantasy lovers would be thrilled to read about like myself.
This story has a dual POV from these two main characters which is a great touch to get to know the characters where they have their own agendas and see how they grow throughout the story.
The slow burn romance between Rivelin and Daella is delightful. I absolutely love the high tension and bantering between them which eventually leads to the spicy moments which is worth the wait.
However, as much as I like the people on the island and Riveliin (MMC) they were too quick to judge Daella (FMC) just because she was an outsider which really annoyed me sometimes.
Moreover, Daella kinda forgives too easy... I was hoping to see Rivelin grovelled his way back to Daella a little bit harder.
Nonetheless, this book was a heart-warming and enjoyable story with easy to read writing style, badass FMC and other elements inside which fantasy romance readers would love.
The ending also got wrapped up nicely and I'm looking forward to read the next book from this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement, War, and Cursing
Minor: Sexual harassment, Murder, and Blood
renpuspita's review
adventurous
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The author said that Forged by Magic can be categorized into cozy fantasy that will left reader in warm and fuzzy feeling. However, after I finish reading, this book is not too cozy imho, more like the usual fantasy romance that I'd read although with much simpler world building, smaller setting (a little island) and low to medium stakes. It did have some warm moments, found family trope, and grumpy x (almost) sunshine pairing between Rivelin, a grumpy elf blacksmith with violence past and Daella, a reluctant half-orc mercenary. The fantasy setting feel like mix-mash of fantasy creatures. From elf, orc, demon, faeries, ice giants. Plus point, there's DRAGON. Dragons is always my catnips and I liked that the dragons also play important roles in the story. Although, the simple world building kinda have its drawback. See, the setting is just in one island, while the map show a world that seems complex. Also there's no more explanation behind Daella's half orc background. There's no description from what side she inherited her human side, since she's pretty much an orc and I believe her late mother were also orc. So maybe, her father was human? Sadly this tidbits didn't explained thoroughly.
There's also steamy sex scenes, so if you like your romance to be steamy or spicy, this might be up to your alley. But, if you prefer fade to black, maybe just skip it. This book is also pretty low in angst and the misunderstanding trope to add more drama is still bearable. Both parties are guilty since at first their relationship start by mistrusting each other so the misunderstanding after both realized their own feeling is kinda a given. The romance is pretty okay and I did enjoy reading how love blossom between Daella and Rivelin; that from his description alone, I suspect Wolfhart get his inspiration from Geralt of Rivera. Silver hair with huge and tall appearance. I just hope authors stop to write first PoV from both male and female, just focused to one side or maybe write it all from 3rd PoV. This is just a matter of my preference of course.
Forged by Magic is pretty much stand-alone although part of series. It's also the first book I read by Jenna Wolfhart and I looking forward to read more story from the Fables Island.
There's also steamy sex scenes, so if you like your romance to be steamy or spicy, this might be up to your alley. But, if you prefer fade to black, maybe just skip it. This book is also pretty low in angst and the misunderstanding trope to add more drama is still bearable. Both parties are guilty since at first their relationship start by mistrusting each other so the misunderstanding after both realized their own feeling is kinda a given. The romance is pretty okay and I did enjoy reading how love blossom between Daella and Rivelin; that from his description alone, I suspect Wolfhart get his inspiration from Geralt of Rivera. Silver hair with huge and tall appearance. I just hope authors stop to write first PoV from both male and female, just focused to one side or maybe write it all from 3rd PoV. This is just a matter of my preference of course.
Forged by Magic is pretty much stand-alone although part of series. It's also the first book I read by Jenna Wolfhart and I looking forward to read more story from the Fables Island.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Blood
readsbymoonlight's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement
robin_reads's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
4.75
Daella, a half-orc, was sent out to hunt Draugr and ends up washed up on an island where she meets Rivelin, a grumpy elven blacksmith. They end up working together reluctantely, trying to protect the island.
This was such a pleasure to read. Cozy vibes, lighthearted but still had a very nice plot and some stakes.
Wonderful read. I'll be picking up the second book as soon as it comes out.
This was such a pleasure to read. Cozy vibes, lighthearted but still had a very nice plot and some stakes.
Wonderful read. I'll be picking up the second book as soon as it comes out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, War, Grief, and Confinement
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