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A review by ruthsic
Get Real by Tellulah Darling
3.0
Francesca Bellafiore is a good Jewish girl, living up to family expectations that she use her magic to heal others. Underneath, she’s a wannabe badass with her heart set on becoming a detective and solving magical crimes. But nice girls don't disappoint their moms. Party boy Rafael Muñoz does everything possible to publicly disappoint his high profile father. Privately, it's a different story. His carefully crafted bad boy reputation masks the fact he’s a master illusionist, forced into solo covert ops. The role is wearing thin and Rafael longs to be part of a team.
When Francesca meets Rafael at a friend's party, she's taken by the sexy stranger. Until he speaks. Beautiful plumage doesn't compensate for spectacular ego. Rafael finds Francesca's sweetness a turn-on. For about five minutes. Judgmental golden girls are more trouble than they're worth. Then a terrified girl with reality warping powers, locked and loaded on their destruction, whisks the pair to Manhattan. Francesca and Rafael are caught in a web of magic, minions, secrets, and enough sexual tension to power NYC. Desperate to prove themselves, their only chance to save the city and survive is to team up, trust each other–and maybe even fall in love. Provided they don't kill each other first.
I have read Tellulah Darling's Blooming Goddess series before, and it had a pretty good romance, so I was interested in how the author would fare in the new adult genre. Granted, I haven't read many in NA but that's more due to the plots not appealing to me. Get Real sets a brilliant world in which magic is a part of life; there are humans who have magic, called Sapiens and those who do, called Cadabras. Not the most intelligent naming, if you ask me, including that of the magical types and MAGE. So, the story revolves around these two freshly graduated teens who by some chance, get involved in an unknown girl's magic. Instead of going back to the MAGE and letting the pros handle it, they are determined to prove themselves to their respective families and so they set out as mystery solvers.
Now while they are on the run, being hunted down by this powerful girl, they have time to initiate a romance (of course) and much of it is hot glances and vague attempts at flirting, and some getting each other off. The attraction between them seemed forced at times, and the rest of it was mostly him being a douche and trying to create superficial obstacles. Was I really supposed to root for them? The secondary characters were more interesting than their romance! As for them, they are really a great group of friends - the perfect gang to hang out with, having each others' backs and being perceptive of others' feelings. The antagonist(?) of the story, Minna had a few chapters devoted to her, but it gave no indication as to why she was trying to freaking kill them. Deter them - I understand, but she sent katana-wielding minions after them, man! And nobody has a problem with that, even until the end! Also, the added Spanish and Italian words just caused redundancy when followed with the English words. Speaking of unnecessary, the details were focused in wrong places, like clothes (every outfit described!) and backstories, which don't fit with a first-person POV.
In summary, good world-building (definitely has potential) and general plot, but suffers from bad writing and not clear delineation of obstacles.
Received a free galley from Te Da Media via Netgalley; this does not influence my opinions or review.
When Francesca meets Rafael at a friend's party, she's taken by the sexy stranger. Until he speaks. Beautiful plumage doesn't compensate for spectacular ego. Rafael finds Francesca's sweetness a turn-on. For about five minutes. Judgmental golden girls are more trouble than they're worth. Then a terrified girl with reality warping powers, locked and loaded on their destruction, whisks the pair to Manhattan. Francesca and Rafael are caught in a web of magic, minions, secrets, and enough sexual tension to power NYC. Desperate to prove themselves, their only chance to save the city and survive is to team up, trust each other–and maybe even fall in love. Provided they don't kill each other first.
I have read Tellulah Darling's Blooming Goddess series before, and it had a pretty good romance, so I was interested in how the author would fare in the new adult genre. Granted, I haven't read many in NA but that's more due to the plots not appealing to me. Get Real sets a brilliant world in which magic is a part of life; there are humans who have magic, called Sapiens and those who do, called Cadabras. Not the most intelligent naming, if you ask me, including that of the magical types and MAGE. So, the story revolves around these two freshly graduated teens who by some chance, get involved in an unknown girl's magic. Instead of going back to the MAGE and letting the pros handle it, they are determined to prove themselves to their respective families and so they set out as mystery solvers.
Now while they are on the run, being hunted down by this powerful girl, they have time to initiate a romance (of course) and much of it is hot glances and vague attempts at flirting, and some getting each other off. The attraction between them seemed forced at times, and the rest of it was mostly him being a douche and trying to create superficial obstacles. Was I really supposed to root for them? The secondary characters were more interesting than their romance! As for them, they are really a great group of friends - the perfect gang to hang out with, having each others' backs and being perceptive of others' feelings. The antagonist(?) of the story, Minna had a few chapters devoted to her, but it gave no indication as to why she was trying to freaking kill them. Deter them - I understand, but she sent katana-wielding minions after them, man! And nobody has a problem with that, even until the end! Also, the added Spanish and Italian words just caused redundancy when followed with the English words. Speaking of unnecessary, the details were focused in wrong places, like clothes (every outfit described!) and backstories, which don't fit with a first-person POV.
In summary, good world-building (definitely has potential) and general plot, but suffers from bad writing and not clear delineation of obstacles.
Received a free galley from Te Da Media via Netgalley; this does not influence my opinions or review.