Posted by I received this book in exchange for an honest review and I think it would most appeal to people who like coming of age/ya urban fantasy with a hard magic system.
To understand the main character you first need to know a little bit about the world building. This book has a serious superhero alternate-reality vibe to it. The magic system is based on the conditions of your birth, some people under the right conditions can develop a magic based on their birth environment. People who are born on airplanes can fly, people born near volcanos can use fire, people born on mountains get ice powers etc. SC was born in an illegal location, in space. Both he and his mother have to go into hiding because he isn’t supposed to exist, and if the wrong people found out he could be captured and killed.
SC’s mother is arrested by the police and he’s able to get away, however, after sitting and brooding about how he should have done something to help his mother, he explodes out of anger and guilt and uses his powers in a way he never has before, he ends up blowing apart his apartment complex.
SC is able to make “force points” which look like black marbles that draw everything around them towards the force point. It’s sort of like having the power to create mini black holes. Since he’s the only known space-born person his powers are unregistered and he sparks the interest of the authorities. They don’t know where he is, but they’re searching for him after he explodes his apartment.
A series of unlikely events leads him to a school for those who can use magic and while he’s there he’s disguising himself as a telekinetic. He still doesn’t want to reveal what he really is, and is doing a halfway decent job of passing off as a normal kid. He makes a few friends, one of them was born in Hollywood and he’s able to implant memories and feelings into a person. Another is named Ariel, born on a plane and able to fly, her father makes things complicated since he’s the one trying to hunt down the person who destroyed the apartment.
Something is wrong with the school he’s attending, however. His friends come to him with a theory that the school is implanting motivations in a similar way that Hollywood kid can, indoctrinating them to be loyal to the school for unknown reasons. They begin to investigate and things get complicated.
This was a single pov told in the first person from the main character, it was a very straightforward way of telling a story so it worked well for the audio.
This was a really fast-paced book, a ton of plot lines were being introduced in the first third of the book and then a larger one about halfway through. It’s also written in a way where you can really fly through it.
I do think this is a good book for the right target audience, I’m not usually a fan of young adult but the magic system in this one and the magic school both kept me entertained. I wish there was a little more character development, this was a plot and worldbuilding driven book.
Audience:
For people who like:
- hard magic system
- superhero-like abilities
- alternate world/urban fantasy
- single pov
- first person narration
- magic schools
- faster paced books
- audiobooks
Ratings:
- Plot: 12/15
- Characters: 9/15
- World Building: 13/15
- Writing: 11/15
- Pacing: 13/15
- Originality: 11/15
- Personal Enjoyment: 7.5/10
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