Sunday, March 27, 2016

Britt's Review of The Black Mage Series (1-3) by Rachel E Carter


Black Mage Series

Where do I start with this? Well first off I'm going to say Lurrrved it. Second, I'm going to mention that after a week or so of my Twin telling me I HAD to read this series, I picked it up. And guess what?! I didn't put it down. One and a half days, that's what it took for me to read book 1, 2, &3. Not because they're short, but because I neglected life to find out what's on the next page!

Since I didn't stop to write between books I'm going to review them as a set, as I can't recall where one ended and the next began lol.

Rachel sets us off into a world that may seem familiar. Kingdoms of magic users, knights, and commoners & rebels, fighting over power. But, even though the storyline is generally predictable, she definitely puts a new spin on things I felt was refreshing.

Ry, our female lead was on my good side for the first two books. But in book three I really want to yell at her! She's grown so much, but the decisions she makes in the end peev me. I understand she's got to make mistakes for the drama of the story, and to be able to have something to fix but jeez Ry! True love means NOT keeping secrets. I want to beg her to reconsider. But that's all I'm going to say about that!

Darren on the other hand, I had a pure unbridled hate for, I mean pigs blood.. Really?!. Until I understood him better, that hate was unwavering..its starting to waver though. I'm a pretty big grudge holder, (Ask Blake, from the Dragonian series, he's earned forgiveness too but I'm not giving it.) so I'm still not 100% TeamDarren yet.. But it's hard to stay mad at him when the heroine is starting to take his place. He slowly earns your trust back, and makes you want one just like him.

The cast, aside from the main characters are fantastic. Alex is perfect logical, and even headed... Until he's not. Ella is really a perfect best friend figure. Even being born to privilege she's very down to earth. I fell in love with poor Ian, even with the turn of events! His feelings seem so genuine even after you find out where his allegiances lie. Priscilla is the perfect rich and snooty 'plastic' frenemy. You can tell she thinks she's alpha bitch, but you also see a lot of it is just to protect herself from Highborns expectations. I felt bad for all she lost, but she should've worked harder, and maybe been a better person. And Derrick.. I don't want to talk about. I'll cry. I was really rooting for him :(

All in all the story line is great and creative. I'm a very impatient reader so a lot of the information provided during anticlimactic scenes seemed a bit much, but was worth reading through when you did get to something awesome!

If there were editing errors, I didn't find them! :) Although I can say my attention was firmly on the story, not the grammar. A lot of my review may sound as if I didn't like it, because of the characters. But, I most certainly love ANY book that can evoke those emotions from me -good or bad- for the characters. Rachel does an amazing job of making me FEEL, and that is so important to a good story.

The Cover art was nice, it didn't hold my attention. But, I also have no complaints about them, theyre beautifully done. I enjoy seeing the Authors interpretation of their characters! And I feel they do project the right images for each book :).

I'm super excited to read The Last Stand. I NEED to know how this ends. Will it be a Happily Ever After? Who is going to die before this ends? Will family bonds be broken forever or will they find a way to mend? I. Cannot. Wait! So if you haven't read The Back Mage Series yet I'd highly suggest you get caught up before this fall ;).

My personal rating is 4/5 stars. I enjoyed the story, it was well written and any complaints I have are personal pet peevs and have no reflection on how this book deserves to be rated. It didn't knock out any of my top 5 favorites, but it definitely made top 10. And when you read a book a day, I'd say that's quite an accomplishment! Congrats Rachel E Carter, you've earned yourself a new fan for life.


Peace Love & Happy Reading Ladies & Gents
Brittaini Over & Out

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