Review of 'Ruthless Magic (Conspiracy of Magic) (Volume 1)' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
It's pretty rare that I don't finish an advance review copy because I'm not a big believer in reviewing a book I have not completed. But this book just plain lost me about halfway through. I continued to muddle through around two-thirds of the way before I gave up. Ruthless Magic has a great premise but it bogs down in so much trial and tribulation that it sucked all the joy out of reading. There was not enough character development for me to care about the outcomes of the lesser characters, and the shifting perspective between the two protagonists didn't work for me. We're supposed to get one chapter from the point of view of a white boy who isn't very good at magic but came from a prominent family, and then the next from the point of view of a poor Latina girl with great skills but no privilege. …
It's pretty rare that I don't finish an advance review copy because I'm not a big believer in reviewing a book I have not completed. But this book just plain lost me about halfway through. I continued to muddle through around two-thirds of the way before I gave up. Ruthless Magic has a great premise but it bogs down in so much trial and tribulation that it sucked all the joy out of reading. There was not enough character development for me to care about the outcomes of the lesser characters, and the shifting perspective between the two protagonists didn't work for me. We're supposed to get one chapter from the point of view of a white boy who isn't very good at magic but came from a prominent family, and then the next from the point of view of a poor Latina girl with great skills but no privilege. Yet each chapter sounded like the same narrator most of the time. This book needed a tougher editor to give it shape, focus, and pacing.