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Beware the Magician*
Marginally Better than the First Book
While I didn’t particularly like the first book of the series, I always give authors a chance or two beyond a first bad impression to see if they can change my mind about their work. So I started reading this book with low expectations. I am happy to say that the author did rise a little in my estimation, but unfortunately, there are still issues with the story.
So, what did the author do right in my opinion? Once Ben and Stella finally engage again, I found the story of the Ben-Stella-Tyler triangle to be well written, better than the first as there actually complications involved.
What didn’t I like? I didn’t like the big information dumps at the start of Stella’s and Ben’s respective first chapters. I also didn’t like is that Ben had this sudden meteoric rise to magical fame; it is necessary for the story, but it is so implausible that it just makes me shake my head. So, to me, the foundation of the story was rocky. Given what we knew of Ben from the last book and what he reveals himself to be in this book, it is out of character for him as well as atypical for the industry. Tyler is clearly a manipulative jerk, and I don’t like Stella’s reaction to him. Honestly, I just don’t understand it.
There’s just one more book in the series, I think, and I am curious to see how Ben and Stella’s relationship evolves because it has been quite a rocky road. But if that book has as many issues as these first two, I won’t be reading more from this author.
