Author: Megan Crewe
Series: Conspiracy of Magic #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy/YA/Magic
Publisher: Another World Press
Publication Date: May 30th, 2018
Edition: Kindle Edition, 352 pages
Source: NetGalley
Purchase/Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble
Synopsis:
In the contest to keep their magic, the only options; die... or kill.
Each year, the North American Confederation of Mages assesses every sixteen-year-old novice. Some will be chosen. The rest must undergo a procedure to destroy their magical ability unless they prove themselves in the mysterious and brutal Mages' Exam.
Disadvantaged by her parents' low standing, Rocío Lopez has dedicated herself to expanding her considerable talent to earn a place in the Confederation. Their rejection leaves her reeling—and determined to fight to keep her magic.
Long ashamed of his mediocre abilities, Finn Lockwood knows the Confederation accepted him only because of his prominent family. Declaring for the Exam instead means a chance to confirm his true worth.
Thrown into the testing with little preparation, Rocío and Finn find themselves becoming unlikely allies—and possibly more. But the Exam holds secrets more horrifying than either could have imagined. What are the examiners really testing them for? And as the trials become increasingly vicious, how much are they willing to sacrifice to win?
This is the second book I have read by this author. The first book was about four years ago, and I don't really remember it very well other than I found it a little boring.
This book is much better. Her writing has vastly improved since then, and I also just find the plot of this book to be more interesting.
I really enjoyed this book, for the most part. The characters are really interesting and well developed. The plot was interesting, but the worldbuilding was a little weak, and the magic system isn't explained all that well. It's sound based, so the magic involves singing, but it's not really explained why. There's a real-world element that was added as a plot device that I don't really care for, they could have made up an event, and not use the one they did. There was also that with the story being told in dual POV first-person, it was sometimes hard to tell who was narrating. Our two main characters didn't really have very distinct voices.
The side characters are, for me, sadly forgettable. This book has a lot of "The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" comparison, and while I do see that to a degree the side characters who died in The Hunger Games were more memorable than the side characters in this book. Even the nameless characters from Hunger Games (Fox-face).
The trials, while interesting, were also sadly a little boring. The sense of urgency wasn't really there for me. Aside from some minor injuries, there didn't really seem to be that much danger, the group we are with during the course of the book get through the challenges fairly easily.
This book has potential, there are just some issues that kept me from loving it.
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