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Lost Talent
Not yet published
Expected 3 Apr 26At Oakward Academy, Mina was told she was 'a mage of no particular talent.' After graduating, she is stuck working in Burgamont & Mandragora's Arcane Emporium and wondering what happened to her childhood dreams.
Everything changes when one of her school friends suddenly disappears, accused of smuggling magic to the 'untalented.' Mina and her friends have to scour Britain's hidden arcane society in a desperate attempt to find him and clear his name before they lose him forever.
To succeed, Mina will need more than just magic… she will need to overcome the repressive lessons of her time at magic school and the shadow that it continues cast on her life.
Everything changes when one of her school friends suddenly disappears, accused of smuggling magic to the 'untalented.' Mina and her friends have to scour Britain's hidden arcane society in a desperate attempt to find him and clear his name before they lose him forever.
To succeed, Mina will need more than just magic… she will need to overcome the repressive lessons of her time at magic school and the shadow that it continues cast on her life.
- GenresFantasy
298 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 3, 2026
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March 24, 2026Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the eARC!
Let me start off this compliment sandwich by saying that, despite the book being prefaced with the fact that it was not professionally edited and that ARC readers would essentially be acting as proof readers, I found the writing to be very competent. I did spot some typos, but there were never any sentences that I didn't understand because of them. While I do hope these typos are correct when this goes out to print, I don't think they detract meaningfully from the experience.
Lost Talent is a book full of brilliant ideas! Ideas I, as a former Potterhead (ugh), have played around with many times in my own creative writing ventures and maladaptive daydreams. The classism and racism inherent to the concept of a magic private school, particularly one based in the UK. The lives of magic users after they graduate. I was charmed by the occasional chapter that was set during the main characters' school days, each named with the same conventions as the series-that-shall-not-be-named, even if I found that they, at times, took me out of the story. I wouldn't say the magic system was particularly well fleshed out, but I found it worked nonetheless. The main friend group is very diverse, which I love. The LGBTQ tag applies to Beryl, who is non-binary, and to Mina, who is asexual. There is a lovely transitioning scene for Beryl, which, yeah, this IS how some queer ass teens would use their magic if they could.
Still, I think Lost Talent suffered in execution. I never found myself understanding the characters. At times, they blended into one another, so no one really stood out. This is not a very long book (my ARC copy was 231 pages), but the plot dragged. Very few things happened in comparison to the amount of pages. There was a lot of exposition, which is inherent in a magic school book, but much of it felt irrelevant by the end. Especially because the main setting isn't a magical school.
The twist was fine. It was predictable, despite having very few hints, due to the lack of suspects. Yeah, it would have to be the guy who's been mentioned more than once or else who would care? I think the motivations of the villain made sense, but how Soloman reacted (I'm not entirely sure how to talk around it to avoid spoilers) didn't totally track to me.
I think this book deserved a bit more time. Time for me to get to know the characters and time for the themes to culminate in something. It makes me wonder if it will get a sequel. There's a lot of potential here! There were a couple of moments that were summarized that I would have loved to see played out, rather than been told about them. M S Palmer has got a lot of great ideas, they're definitely an author to watch!
Let me start off this compliment sandwich by saying that, despite the book being prefaced with the fact that it was not professionally edited and that ARC readers would essentially be acting as proof readers, I found the writing to be very competent. I did spot some typos, but there were never any sentences that I didn't understand because of them. While I do hope these typos are correct when this goes out to print, I don't think they detract meaningfully from the experience.
Lost Talent is a book full of brilliant ideas! Ideas I, as a former Potterhead (ugh), have played around with many times in my own creative writing ventures and maladaptive daydreams. The classism and racism inherent to the concept of a magic private school, particularly one based in the UK. The lives of magic users after they graduate. I was charmed by the occasional chapter that was set during the main characters' school days, each named with the same conventions as the series-that-shall-not-be-named, even if I found that they, at times, took me out of the story. I wouldn't say the magic system was particularly well fleshed out, but I found it worked nonetheless. The main friend group is very diverse, which I love. The LGBTQ tag applies to Beryl, who is non-binary, and to Mina, who is asexual. There is a lovely transitioning scene for Beryl, which, yeah, this IS how some queer ass teens would use their magic if they could.
Still, I think Lost Talent suffered in execution. I never found myself understanding the characters. At times, they blended into one another, so no one really stood out. This is not a very long book (my ARC copy was 231 pages), but the plot dragged. Very few things happened in comparison to the amount of pages. There was a lot of exposition, which is inherent in a magic school book, but much of it felt irrelevant by the end. Especially because the main setting isn't a magical school.
The twist was fine. It was predictable, despite having very few hints, due to the lack of suspects. Yeah, it would have to be the guy who's been mentioned more than once or else who would care? I think the motivations of the villain made sense, but how Soloman reacted (I'm not entirely sure how to talk around it to avoid spoilers) didn't totally track to me.
I think this book deserved a bit more time. Time for me to get to know the characters and time for the themes to culminate in something. It makes me wonder if it will get a sequel. There's a lot of potential here! There were a couple of moments that were summarized that I would have loved to see played out, rather than been told about them. M S Palmer has got a lot of great ideas, they're definitely an author to watch!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I really enjoyed the concepts of this book, and if you can get past the grammatical errors and inconsistencies, it’s an excellent story with a well thought out plot, exploring LGBTQ+ themes and magic in a new and intriguing way!
The use of multiple POVs and flashback chapters was very well done, and the story as a whole was engaging to read.
The use of multiple POVs and flashback chapters was very well done, and the story as a whole was engaging to read.
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