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Mages Rising
As a mage, Lyria lives in peace with the world around her. As demanded by strict laws, she cannot reveal her abilities to the Terrians--humans incapable of magic. But now civil war is brewing and both the Revolution and the Resistance agree on one thing: the laws need to change.
Lyria soon finds herself in the middle of the conflict, facing life-threatening encounters with fearsome creatures and dark magic. All the forces against her believe her blood is the key to returning Archaic magic to the world. But can Lyria overcome doubts about her power and skepticism about her ancestry, in time to stop the chaos that the mages wish to unleash upon the world?
Lyria soon finds herself in the middle of the conflict, facing life-threatening encounters with fearsome creatures and dark magic. All the forces against her believe her blood is the key to returning Archaic magic to the world. But can Lyria overcome doubts about her power and skepticism about her ancestry, in time to stop the chaos that the mages wish to unleash upon the world?
225 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2020
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 5, 2020
I needed a few days to ruminate over my review, but here it is.
The premise of the story is one that drew me to the ARC. A dystopian society, where those with magic are forced to hide their abilities. But a revolution builds and so does the conflict. This is a trope I honestly love.. the "Chosen One" where they rise and come into power.
Anyway, love of tropes aside, the characters were all right. I felt they needed a little more fleshing out, so they weren't as stilted, and while the core of the plot was solid, as it played out it felt a little convoluted in some areas.
Magic really was the hero of this book, which I think was the point anyway, right? ;)
The premise of the story is one that drew me to the ARC. A dystopian society, where those with magic are forced to hide their abilities. But a revolution builds and so does the conflict. This is a trope I honestly love.. the "Chosen One" where they rise and come into power.
Anyway, love of tropes aside, the characters were all right. I felt they needed a little more fleshing out, so they weren't as stilted, and while the core of the plot was solid, as it played out it felt a little convoluted in some areas.
Magic really was the hero of this book, which I think was the point anyway, right? ;)
March 25, 2022
DNF @ 61%
I ended up DNF-ing this book because it could not hold my interest and i found myself skimming alot. I think it has to do with that the characters don`t hold my interest, they seem bland and boring and not done yet. The magic was a little interesting, but since the characters were so and so, i lost interest. If the characters had more to them and built on the story like that, i might have liked it more.
I ended up DNF-ing this book because it could not hold my interest and i found myself skimming alot. I think it has to do with that the characters don`t hold my interest, they seem bland and boring and not done yet. The magic was a little interesting, but since the characters were so and so, i lost interest. If the characters had more to them and built on the story like that, i might have liked it more.
April 28, 2020
This was one heck of a confusing read for me. Let’s start with the positives, though:
What I Liked
The premise is a good one. A civil war between two mage factions. One of them wants to declare to the world who they are and the other obviously, doesn’t. However they claim about living in harmony with the humans after outing themselves, the first faction doesn’t let small things like collateral damage stop them.
The mechanics of magic were described neatly and in detail. It tells the readers that they have been well-thought-out.
What I Didn’t Like
The writing style isn’t for me. It seems to be at odds with itself and is jerky, making for bad reading. Events and thoughts of the main characters are described repetitively. For instance, the heroine is on the fence about which faction she sides with is explained ten times!
The book feels like it is a sequel — I looked it up but this is the first one in what seems will be a series. I do like when we are thrown in the midst of ongoing action right from the first line. But it must be done masterfully to work. That isn’t the case here.
The heroine has been brainwashed by a guy who claims to love her — and yet, has no qualms in bleeding her to death to open a magic portal. So, I get that she wouldn’t outright gut him everytime she sees him. But the wishy-washy attitude that she has only makes her seem like a spineless, helpless damsel-in-distress. I didn’t like that. One. Bit.
Sadly, this book wasn’t for me.
April 11, 2020
Mages Rising follows Lyria, a mage in disguise, from her small town shoppe all the way to Cuba on a much needed vacation. That trip, however, is bombarded by two powerful mages who are fighting opposite sides of a war, both needing her help. They also both happen to be her ex boyfriends.
I read this in about 3-4 days. It started as something I almost decided to DNF, but the storyline honestly did grow on me.
Characters: This story is the definition of a love triangle. Lyria is the confused, weak female lead who is easily swayed by the *~dreamy~* eyes of Darius and the *~captivating~* touch of Julio. (Eye roll. Where is the strong, badass female character when you need her?)
Plot: Okay, I’m conflicted here. I felt completely thrown in and confused when the book started, but slowly I got interested and had to know which side would win this war. Now I know. (props to not leaving a cliffhanger.)
My least favorite thing about this was the characters. I didn’t feel a connection to any of them, and to be honest, the main character I found to be needy and annoying.
My favorite thing about Mages Rising by Rosalina Stillitano was the magic itself. I’m learning that I’m a sucker for the fantastical, and I enjoyed reading and envisioning everyone’s powers.
I read this in about 3-4 days. It started as something I almost decided to DNF, but the storyline honestly did grow on me.
Characters: This story is the definition of a love triangle. Lyria is the confused, weak female lead who is easily swayed by the *~dreamy~* eyes of Darius and the *~captivating~* touch of Julio. (Eye roll. Where is the strong, badass female character when you need her?)
Plot: Okay, I’m conflicted here. I felt completely thrown in and confused when the book started, but slowly I got interested and had to know which side would win this war. Now I know. (props to not leaving a cliffhanger.)
My least favorite thing about this was the characters. I didn’t feel a connection to any of them, and to be honest, the main character I found to be needy and annoying.
My favorite thing about Mages Rising by Rosalina Stillitano was the magic itself. I’m learning that I’m a sucker for the fantastical, and I enjoyed reading and envisioning everyone’s powers.
May 6, 2020
*free copy received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Okay, so the premise of this book is so good! It's got magic, cool characters (minus the bad ass heroine, which was deeply missed) and evil wizards. Despite this, it fell a little bit through for me, because the pace felt a little bit stilted. It's very action packed in some places and reads as a guidebook for Havana in other places, which I usually love, but in this case I didn't quite see the connection.
I also felt that things weren't explained enough in some places and were overexplained in other places. There were times I had to go back a couple of sentences to see if I'd missed something because one sentence was suddenly ''I don't know if he would like it''. Who's ''he'' you may ask? I didn't know either, not after another page where it was then explained. Maybe that's just something that interrupted my reading flow, but it really bugged me.
The book grew on me, though. If you're not as nitpicky as me, you'll really like it!
All in all, I think it's an okay book, and the whole magic thing is the saving point.
Okay, so the premise of this book is so good! It's got magic, cool characters (minus the bad ass heroine, which was deeply missed) and evil wizards. Despite this, it fell a little bit through for me, because the pace felt a little bit stilted. It's very action packed in some places and reads as a guidebook for Havana in other places, which I usually love, but in this case I didn't quite see the connection.
I also felt that things weren't explained enough in some places and were overexplained in other places. There were times I had to go back a couple of sentences to see if I'd missed something because one sentence was suddenly ''I don't know if he would like it''. Who's ''he'' you may ask? I didn't know either, not after another page where it was then explained. Maybe that's just something that interrupted my reading flow, but it really bugged me.
The book grew on me, though. If you're not as nitpicky as me, you'll really like it!
All in all, I think it's an okay book, and the whole magic thing is the saving point.
June 22, 2020
Book Review-Mages Rising by Rosalia Stillitano
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Thanks @netgalley for this arc to read.
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The mage world is divided into those who keep their magic secret from the rest of the world and those who don’t care to. Lyria needs some space from her ex, who won’t stop bothering her. She is also suffering a recurring dream that makes her feel like there is something she can’t remember.
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I loved the idea of this story, but the execution was very messy. This was a multi-POV book but I think what could have immediately helped is if the POVs were by chapter. Instead this book was switching the POVs by the sentence and it was difficult to follow and didn’t allow me to really get the feeling of each character. I feel like the plot jumped around some too and gave too much away at first then would randomly volunteer information and didn’t make me work for it.
I really wanted to like this story. Almost anything magic is right up my alley. But this book was a little bit cringey for me. 2⭐️⭐️
.
.
Thanks @netgalley for this arc to read.
.
.
The mage world is divided into those who keep their magic secret from the rest of the world and those who don’t care to. Lyria needs some space from her ex, who won’t stop bothering her. She is also suffering a recurring dream that makes her feel like there is something she can’t remember.
.
.
I loved the idea of this story, but the execution was very messy. This was a multi-POV book but I think what could have immediately helped is if the POVs were by chapter. Instead this book was switching the POVs by the sentence and it was difficult to follow and didn’t allow me to really get the feeling of each character. I feel like the plot jumped around some too and gave too much away at first then would randomly volunteer information and didn’t make me work for it.
I really wanted to like this story. Almost anything magic is right up my alley. But this book was a little bit cringey for me. 2⭐️⭐️
July 20, 2020
ARC from NetGalley
I can't believe I finished this book. This is not a good book. It is not written well. Everything is stilted and awkward. I understand ARCs aren't always edited, but this was really not edited. It was bad. The author has a habit of writing did not instead of didn't and cannot instead of can't, which is fine in a medicolegal report but not fine in a novel. I want my time back.
I can't believe I finished this book. This is not a good book. It is not written well. Everything is stilted and awkward. I understand ARCs aren't always edited, but this was really not edited. It was bad. The author has a habit of writing did not instead of didn't and cannot instead of can't, which is fine in a medicolegal report but not fine in a novel. I want my time back.
July 5, 2020
This is the 1st book I've read written by Rosalia Stillitano; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I can’t wait to read more of her books.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
April 25, 2020
I found this book confusing. There are different characters all over the place & it's hard to keep track of them. #MagesRising #NetGalley
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews