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A review by xabbeylongx
The Magician's Secret (Illusions of Power,#1) by Charles Townsend

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

0.5

Spoilers Ahead: 
I’ve never read an adult fiction book about a magician before, so I was really excited to read this book. However, unfortunately, I felt I was let down a little bit throughout. Honestly, I can’t tell you much about what happened in the book, only that Delvin was being blackmailed into helping a few princesses, one of them turns out to be an imposter, there’s a magic crystal that can change people’s thoughts and they are trying to stop a war. I can’t tell you much other than that, lol. 
In the nicest way possible, it felt a little bit like it had just been rushed to just hand in and submit, done and dusted. There were a ton of spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes, and these only got worse towards the end, reiterating the idea that it had been rushed. There were commas missing, and often these commas were crucial in making sure the sentences flowed properly. It felt very blocky, and I had to keep stopping and starting to reread sentences that I didn't understand. Commas were left out of dialogue, making it sometimes impossible to work out what the author meant, and it took some of the enjoyment out of it. There was not enough scene setting in the beginning, and then too much by the end. There was no medium. The pacing was very off, in my opinion. One craft a writer must have learnt is the art of 'showing, not telling'. There was a lot of telling, and with everyone put in black and white for the reader, there wasn't really much room for imagination. There was so much going on in the plot, and the whole book was very confusing. There wasn't a lot of detail, and it was just one event followed by another followed by another with no breaks. I was confused half the time, and I had quite a lot of trouble picturing what was happening in the scene, because there needed to be a clearer picture painted. The characters themselves were really unlikeable, honestly. I couldn't bond with a single one of them. I think with a good book, there has to be at least one character that makes you continue reading, even better if they're a main character. Unfortunately, I just didn't like any of them. I thought Delvin had no backbone, and no qualities a main character should have. And the others were just downright nasty. Also, there were a few parts that came across as misoginistic, which wasn't great to read about either. Some of the events were heavily unrealistic as well. Having royalty at the fair is something that you wouldn't really expect, unless, maybe, for a PR event. And then royalty mixing with the public? It was all very confusing, very unrealistic, and I'm surprised I finished it. The plot itself was so good, if only the time had been taken to edit it before publishing! 
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