Mages Rising by Rosalia Stillitano

by MK French

Lyria is a mage, and cannot reveal this to the nonmagical Terrians. The Revolution and Resistance believe that law needs to change and that Lyria's blood is key to returning magic to the world. But she doubts her ancestry and wants to stop the chaos that the mages plan to unleash.

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April 2020; ebook; fantasy

Mages hiding their magic from mortals isn't a new idea, and it was fairly late in the book that we got even a hint of why they had to hide their skills. I appreciated some of the features of the magic system in this book, such as storing energies for later use in quartz, different colors associated with the different spell types, and that there were alternate dimensions that time and space mages could create. Having Lyria's vacation in Cuba also gave me a glimpse into a different country with the descriptions of the resort and some of the historic tours that she went to.

I really, really wanted to like this book, but ultimately I didn't. T
he groups fighting each other had similar names and kept accusing each other of terrible things. Julio was a stalker from the first and kept overriding Lyria's wishes, so I didn't like him. Other characters were annoying or caricatures and even the bloody climax of the novel didn't leave me feeling as though we reached a real ending because of the cliffhanger closing.

I would have much rather had a self-contained novel with hooks a sequel could pick up on when a second novel begins.

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Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever. 

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