I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Mageborn by Jessica Thorne Also by this author: Nightborn
Series: The Hollow King #1
Also in this series: Nightborn
Published by Bookouture on 18th February 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Love & Romance, Magic, YA Fantasy
Pages: 303
Format: eARC
Source: from Netgalley
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A dark and addictive fantasy read for fans of Graceling and Sarah J. Maas. The life of an orphan soldier becomes entwined with that of the mysterious heir to the throne, whose very presence draws out the secret magic living inside her: a magic that breaks every law she is duty-bound to uphold…
The room is small and dark. Row upon row of jars line the shelves, each one sealed with blood-red wax. The seal’s mark is a twisted circle of briar with gleaming, gold-tipped thorns. And in each jar a flicker of forbidden magic dances… beautiful, but deadly.
Sold to the Crown in the aftermath of the Last Great War, Grace Marchant has never known her parents. Now, she trains as an elite soldier tracking down mageborn – those born with an ancient and long-outlawed magic – and destroying them if they don’t surrender their power to the Crown.
The mageborn who submit are collared, then handed over to the King’s cousin and heir: the elusive Bastien Larelwynn, Lord of Thorns, locked away in his shadowy workshop deep inside the castle. What becomes of them is hard to say – the Lord of Thorns keeps his secrets close.
Grace has always fought the voice inside her that questions whether the law is truly just – but when her closest friend is next on Bastien’s list, Grace’s loyalties are tested to the limit. Confronting Bastien – searching his strangely compelling obsidian-black eyes for answers – Grace is shocked to feel herself begin to change, to show the first signs of the wild magic she so fears.
Only the Lord of Thorns has the power to save her and the rest of the mageborn – if he doesn’t destroy them all first…
Thank you to Bookouture for letting me take part in this tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley. I love a good fantasy novel so I jumped at the chance to join in with this tour.
This is the first book I have read by this author but I do have her previous books on my TBR pile. This is one of the things that drew me to the book and of course the absolutely gorgeous cover and intriguing blurb.
Our main character is Grace Marchant. Grace is an officer of the Academy. The Academy hunt down rogue Mageborn that are essentially hurting others. I really liked Grace. While she clearly has a troubled past she has a good sense of right and wrong and will stick to her morals even in some of the most perilous circumstances.
This book took quite a while for me to really get into it. I think I spent a good few days just getting to 30%. Once I got past that I really raced through it but the beginning was slow going. It took a while to work out who was who and what was going on. I think the world-building could be improved here to help with this. It was all so confusing for a while. Once I did work it all out it was a very addictive read.
The story is full of action, twist and turns along with a sprinkle of magic. Everything you need for a good fantasy tale. I can’t wait to see where Jessica takes this series next.
About Jessica Thorne
Jessica Thorne saw Star Wars at an impressionable age and life was never the same. She’s loved fantasy, romance and science fiction ever since and spends her time looking for adventure – in the pages of her books.
Sometimes she is Ruth Frances Long and won the European Science Fiction Society Spirit of Dedication Award for Best Author of Children’s Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2015.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
@bookouture @JessThorneBooks thanks!