Reviews

Junk Magic by Karen Chance

Only show reviews with written explanations

cplumma3's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.0

jrdbrook's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This is a spin-off and reads like one. I’ve only read the first Cassandra Palmer book and so long ago I can’t really remember anything. This was on offer and the premise was my sort of story but it really felt like you were starting halfway through. I quite like a training/school plot, so thought that it would be a bit of the main character winning over the kids and bringing the best out of them. There was none of that. Think I made assumptions of what to expect as even though she is their trainer, she does zero training in this book. Whenever the kids rise to a challenge it has nothing to do with the main character and she barely spends any time with them.

Some previous storylines were touched on but all the relationships were established and since I’d read none of the others, I was not invested in any of it.

Frankly, I was a bit bored by it. There was an already established romance but again, I was not invested. It felt flat, lots of assumption that you knew what was going on.

It did pick up a little bit towards the end but the surprise twist didn’t really make a huge amount of sense. There was a few satisfactory scenes but I just wanted to get to the end.

Basically, if you’ve read the previous series then this will probably work a lot better for you. If you haven’t then don’t start with this book.

tori395's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

sophiarose1816's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging lighthearted tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

After encountering Lia as a minor character in earlier Cassie Palmer series books and as the main character in a few urban fantasy anthology novellas, I was more than primed to see her get her own full-length book. Karen Chance has written some great women action heroines over the years and Lia is one of them.

Junk Magic is a side jaunt off the main Cassie Palmer series and assumes that readers are familiar with the world of those stories though this does begin a wholly different plot path. I think the only crossover character is her partner, Caleb.

Lia is the hard-nosed half mage half were who can’t shift and that’s her biggest secret shame. She lets the dangerous supernatural world believe she doesn’t show her were side because she chose to be a mage and getting furry is frowned upon in the Circle. But, in actuality, she walks a perilous line of not admitting this weakness. She’s already a disliked rebel in the were community for having an outcast were as her boyfriend. Cyrus is a good guy and has created a pack of fellow outcasts mostly young males.

It is one of these males morphing into a monster that launches Lia’s adventure into discovering what and who is behind it. This launch goes into a furious pace of fight scenes, taking care of the young weres who are a numerous menagerie, dealing with more than one big baddie, getting knocked down and picking herself up many times and not a deep breath taken until the end when, as usual, I was left on overload and wondering what I’d just listened to.

One would think I’d learn. It has been years since I first encountered the Cassie Palmer-Dory Basarab world and I’ve gone on several roller coaster reads or listens that left my head spinning and no clear idea what I just experienced- lots of color, supernatural wonders, fast and furious fights, and a smidge of plotting and intrigue. I’ve got a love-hate, okay nothing so divided in feeling, but something like it when it comes to this writing style. But, I picked this up and got shocked by more of the same stuff. I secretly was hoping for a more coherent plot like those older, shorter pieces featuring Lia.

My love part of it all is just how imaginative Karen Chance can be with a supernatural setting, snappy dialogue, tone of bold adventure, fight action description, and engaging characters. While I’ve been slowly following out of love with Cassie and remain steady in my love of Dorina, I was ready for a new central female figure to emerge and Lia is a sensational urban fantasy heroine.

Traci Odom is not a new to me narrator, but new to me for narrating Karen Chance books so I had a good time encountering her voicing Lia’s story and showing her versatility voicing all those parts and the furious, fast-paced plot.

Will I pick up the next book knowing I’m in for a dizzying lulu ride? Of course I will. I can’t help myself when it comes to Karen Chance’s urban fantasy world.

iamtais's review

Go to review page

challenging tense fast-paced

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

3.25

millie_rose_reads's review

Go to review page

1.0

Junk Magic is the second spin-off in Karen Chance's Cassandra Palmer universe. A welcome addition after I found out it was about a war mage with a plot that has little connection to the vampire and fae politics that's mired those series. It seemed like the refreshing perspective this universe needed.

The first several chapters do just that. Lia's world is miles from Cassie or Dory, but the war mage experience I was excited for lasts only the first few chapters. Then the Were side of the story takes over. Lia is a Were, but one unable to transform; her boyfriend is an outcast Were, nurturing other outcasts in his makeshift clan. The foundation is workable until the Were antics overwhelm the war mage mentor antics by a large margin.

And I sort of hated it.

Nothing about Weres in this universe interests me—at least not how they are written here. Lia's past trauma feels sorely underdeveloped, Cyrus is remarkably disposable, and the group of teenagers Lia's supposed to train are too numerous to fully invest in one in particular, let alone all of them. I was bored through a lot of this book and the only thing that kept me reading is my overall love for Karen Chance. I'm not mad, just disappointed.