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The Shadow Portal #1
Fractured Magic
A broken portal. Fading magic. And a perilous quest for the truth.
After five years in hiding, Raina Raeyelle, heir to the Light Fae court and ex-spokesfae of Human-Fae relations, returns to New York City to salvage her fading magic and learn the true fate of her people. But with the only link to her realm gone and the city overtaken by Dark Fae who would kill her in an instant, she has little hope of finding the answers she seeks.
If things couldn’t get any worse, the Academy and Museum of Fae Metaphysics—a Dark Fae institution Raina knows is intended to spread lies about Fae history and turn the human world against her kind—was built directly over the ruins of the Light Fae portal.
The portal they destroyed.
Desperate to know the truth, Raina conceals her identity so she can join the Academy and do whatever it takes to find out the truth... Even though she fears the worst.
Her people are either trapped in their realm with no link the outside world, or her home is destroyed and the entire Light Fae race has perished. If the first, she intends to find a way home at all cost. If the second, she intends to avenge her people and set the lies straight.
Either way, she has no intention of playing nice.
★★★★★
"Raina Raeyelle is a perfect lead. Strong enough but not all-powerful, smart enough but not all knowing, lucky at times and unlucky at others, she knows what she needs to achieve and does her best to get there despite the odds against it. Set in an urban fantasy world that works beautifully[...] A world where even some of one's enemies (the dark fae in Raina's case) can include good people seemingly worth befriending. An excellent story. Highly recommended." ★★★★★ Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer, Top Contributor: Fantasy Books.
Fractured Magic is part of THE FANTASTIC GOLDEN EGG HUNT: A scavenger hunt in ten different fantasy books with ten hidden easter eggs. Join the hunt and start searching for clues today! Find out more at www.nmhowell.com/tfgeh.
Publisher's note: Fractured Magic was previously released as Portal in 2017. We hope you enjoy the newly revised and extended version, written by N.M. Howell and Eric Turowski.
After five years in hiding, Raina Raeyelle, heir to the Light Fae court and ex-spokesfae of Human-Fae relations, returns to New York City to salvage her fading magic and learn the true fate of her people. But with the only link to her realm gone and the city overtaken by Dark Fae who would kill her in an instant, she has little hope of finding the answers she seeks.
If things couldn’t get any worse, the Academy and Museum of Fae Metaphysics—a Dark Fae institution Raina knows is intended to spread lies about Fae history and turn the human world against her kind—was built directly over the ruins of the Light Fae portal.
The portal they destroyed.
Desperate to know the truth, Raina conceals her identity so she can join the Academy and do whatever it takes to find out the truth... Even though she fears the worst.
Her people are either trapped in their realm with no link the outside world, or her home is destroyed and the entire Light Fae race has perished. If the first, she intends to find a way home at all cost. If the second, she intends to avenge her people and set the lies straight.
Either way, she has no intention of playing nice.
★★★★★
"Raina Raeyelle is a perfect lead. Strong enough but not all-powerful, smart enough but not all knowing, lucky at times and unlucky at others, she knows what she needs to achieve and does her best to get there despite the odds against it. Set in an urban fantasy world that works beautifully[...] A world where even some of one's enemies (the dark fae in Raina's case) can include good people seemingly worth befriending. An excellent story. Highly recommended." ★★★★★ Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer, Top Contributor: Fantasy Books.
Fractured Magic is part of THE FANTASTIC GOLDEN EGG HUNT: A scavenger hunt in ten different fantasy books with ten hidden easter eggs. Join the hunt and start searching for clues today! Find out more at www.nmhowell.com/tfgeh.
Publisher's note: Fractured Magic was previously released as Portal in 2017. We hope you enjoy the newly revised and extended version, written by N.M. Howell and Eric Turowski.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 12, 2019
18 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
N.M. Howell
15 books85 followersN.M. Howell is a USA Today bestselling author and all-around nerd from the Pacific Northwest. She has an obsession with coffee, spicy food, and the rain, and she absolutely hates sleeves. (Seriously, they're like little fabric prisons!) When not locked away in her writing cave, you'll likely find her either wandering the world, lost in the woods, or fighting with her micro-wolf pup over who gets the best spot on the couch. Hint: the dog wins.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 20, 2019
Princess Raina is the heir of the Light Fae Court, however since the portal to the human world has been shattered she has been stuck on the human side, whilst the rest of the light fae are in their own realm in another dimension. She has been away from New York City for the last five years trying to stay in hiding because the dark fae who had ruined the portal were surely out to get her and because she could not face to see the site where the portal had been. However, now she has returned and she has enrolled at the magic academy which has been erected by the dark fae in the same spot as the portal, hence rubbing salt into her wound. She is nearly depleted of all magic as she needs to replenish her magical strength in her own realm. She is angry, and needs revenge, but even more so she needs to know how her family had fared after the tragedy. The dark fae had lied about the light fae and now humans were on their side, and the slogan they were using was, Kill the Light. This is a fast paced adventure story, where battles are fought with magic. A great start to a new series. I love the characters of Raina and Jax and Trini sort of grew on me too! Raina falls for a dark fae called Jax and in so doing she starts to discover many things she did not know and never expected, about their two races who had more in common than they knew and she realises hate is not the answer! Can Raina do the job she is meant to do? To know this we will have to wait for the next book in the series!!
May 21, 2019
A little spoiler alert here
I thought it was a pretty good book. We have a light fae princess who has been cut off from her dimension. A bunch of dark fae extremists blasted the portal and without all the magic flowing through the light fae were massacred and the dark fae don't realize that severely cut the flow of magic. I got confused at points where I felt the authors were saying the magic had been cut off making it so the dark fae had to scrounge and hoard the magic they could find (yet you see them using it freely and Willy nilly) then at the end there is apparently mini portals (?), But I digress. I loved the little rabbit that was used to get the heroine attention. For me, it was hard to keep track of the names of spells and which ones did what because there were so many but that was an interesting aspect of the book in a Harry potter esque way. The writing itself was good but there were a few typos and errors. This is the second time it has been published from what I understand, years later, so that shouldn't have been an issue. Years later and there is no follow up book either. While there is a few dates in this book I wouldn't say it is a romance and there is certainly no sex or cussing for those who like that but there's a good amount of action and stuff going on. It wasn't my all time favorite but a big part of that is because it is unfinished w what looks to be no plans of doing so.
I thought it was a pretty good book. We have a light fae princess who has been cut off from her dimension. A bunch of dark fae extremists blasted the portal and without all the magic flowing through the light fae were massacred and the dark fae don't realize that severely cut the flow of magic. I got confused at points where I felt the authors were saying the magic had been cut off making it so the dark fae had to scrounge and hoard the magic they could find (yet you see them using it freely and Willy nilly) then at the end there is apparently mini portals (?), But I digress. I loved the little rabbit that was used to get the heroine attention. For me, it was hard to keep track of the names of spells and which ones did what because there were so many but that was an interesting aspect of the book in a Harry potter esque way. The writing itself was good but there were a few typos and errors. This is the second time it has been published from what I understand, years later, so that shouldn't have been an issue. Years later and there is no follow up book either. While there is a few dates in this book I wouldn't say it is a romance and there is certainly no sex or cussing for those who like that but there's a good amount of action and stuff going on. It wasn't my all time favorite but a big part of that is because it is unfinished w what looks to be no plans of doing so.
April 21, 2019
For a book lover there are few things better than a new series by a beloved author. N.M. Howell is such an author, though I admit to having some trepidation as her latest, The Shadow Portal series, is co-authored by someone I have not read previously, Eric Turowski. I don’t know how they split up the writing, but I’m happy to report that it works both seamlessly and beautifully in the series first book, Fractured Magic: Academy of Fae Metaphysics. This is a heck of a story and Raina Raeyelle is a fantastic character. It’s only the first stage of the story arc so there’s no HEA but there is an exciting tale with fantastic world-building and superb characters. Totally great fun. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review to my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises. The book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
April 22, 2019
Raina Raeylle, heir of the light fae court, feels her magic weakening and has come to New York City to see if she can do anything to restore the Portal opening to her world and save her family and people who may be trapped. When she reaches New York, she sadly discovers that the dark fae have built the Academy and Museum of Fae Metaphysics over top of the Portal she is seeking.
Raina finally decided that she would need to infiltrate the dark fae’s Academy to see if there is any way to get to the buried Portal to find her way home. Along the way, to her surprise, not all of the dark fae are against her, not all believe the lies. Will the dark fae be able to stop her? Will she find the portal completely demolished? Are her people still alive?
This was a very well written book with a great story line and intriguing characters. The story contains fantasy, magic, fae, dragons, and adventure set in a fast-paced world. Join Raina in her quest to save her people.
Raina finally decided that she would need to infiltrate the dark fae’s Academy to see if there is any way to get to the buried Portal to find her way home. Along the way, to her surprise, not all of the dark fae are against her, not all believe the lies. Will the dark fae be able to stop her? Will she find the portal completely demolished? Are her people still alive?
This was a very well written book with a great story line and intriguing characters. The story contains fantasy, magic, fae, dragons, and adventure set in a fast-paced world. Join Raina in her quest to save her people.
May 9, 2019
Raina is a Light Fae princess stranded on Earth when the portal to her dimension was destroyed by unknowns, but her suspicions lie with her enemies the Dark Fae. After five years in hiding she is back in New York city to find a way to reopen the portal. This is a great adventure as Raina finds allies old and new to help her in her quest. A dangerous one as a plot is uncovered to exterminate the Light Fae. There is even a romance brewing between Raina and a Dark Fae and Raina discovers shocking new information about her true genetic roots. Very intriguing story that ends in a cliffhanger ending. Looking forward to the next book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 24, 2019
We start this book 5 years after the portal to Raina's home and family was destroyed, she finally returns to New York City to try and find a way back to her family. I really enjoyed how I connected with Raina straight away and how the other characters including Derek, Trini and Jax really grow on you as you get to know them. There were some great surprises and twists I didn't see coming and these were the icing on the cake and now I need to know what happens next!
April 19, 2019
Raina is losing her magic and hides in the massive city of New York until she can set things right. Fractured Magic is an excellent tale with vivid world building and an engaging storyline. I highly recommend your reading this novel.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 10, 2019
I enjoyed this book a lot. I love reading books about Fae and magic, and this one hit the spot. I am looking forward to reading the next in the series (hopefully there is one). I hate leaving short reviews, but I don't want to spoil anything either.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 21, 2019
This book is easy to read and is based on fairies. This is a book on good v evil and if you can mix with people you thought you would never.
Great story and enjoyable all the way through.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Great story and enjoyable all the way through.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 29, 2019
Awesome!
This book was sooo good! I love the characters and the twists and turns! I can’t wait to see what happens next!
This book was sooo good! I love the characters and the twists and turns! I can’t wait to see what happens next!
January 4, 2024
When I first started reading this, I was not too sure if I would enjoy it. It sounded more like something a die-hard fantasy reader would be interested in, with clever technical names for the spells and stuff like that. But I decided that since I did ask for an ARC, the least I could do was to see it through, and I was very glad that I did. The story sucked me in, into an exciting tale of exclusion and exile and a longing to return home. A story of doing the right thing when you are scared and finding allies where you thought there were none. And most importantly, a good storyline, that kept me reading. I enjoyed it very much, and thanks to the authors for the free ARC. This is my honest opinion and am looking out for the next instalment.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews