First, I'd truly rate this 4.5 stars, however I didn't want to short Walls, so 5 it is.
The plotline is good, not great, but it is good overall- Walls has set up room to grow, so I'm hopeful for future books to take this to the next level, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Character development was great. I'm not a huge fan of Rune as of yet, as I cannot really relate to her. I relate more to Grey, her male protagonist counterpart. I think Rune is a bit to angsty for my taste - but this is YA so that's to be somewhat expected. The dynamic between the characters is very well written, you can't help but go through this journey with them. I like Verida (spoiler alert - daughter of dracula, that's pretty cool!) the best so far. There is good chemistry between all the characters.
I love Walls' writing style, very descriptive and draws you in and takes you to the setting of this alternate dimension.
One thing I will say is that I would never have picked up this book on my own (I saw an ad for it on facebook) as I have no idea what a venator is, and unless you're well versed in Latin, I doubt anyone else would either. I think this could hurt gaining readership- I also am not sure if I'm saying it correctly in my head. Is it Vee-nay-ter, veh-neh-tor, veh-nay-tor? No idea, and google has differing opinions on this as well. It's not a huge drawback, but since it's the title of the book, I'd definitely like to see a glossary added in the next book, especially for any other creatures we may soon encounter.
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Reviews with images
Fast-paced but had some issues
TW: Sexual Assualt, Child Abuse, Abuse, mention of slavery, mention of forced prostitution, Victim blaming verbiage.When I was approached about this book tour, I knew I needed to jump in. Magic Unleased is right up my alley, and I couldn't wait to get started. I ended up low on time, so I snagged the audiobook so that I could read it while reading a few other books in between. The narrator did a good job of portraying the characters, though, at times, his voice bordered on monotone.Devri Walls sure knows how to write a vast world. The descriptions were great, and at times I felt like I was walking around with Rune & Grey. The setting itself was well done, and I liked to see the author's interpretations of the supernatural characters. My favorite was how the fae were portrayed. They weren't sweet, helpful things but tricksters. I just loved it.The characters were also well done. I wanted to get to know more about Grey and Rune, and I liked seeing how they interacted with all of the characters. I enjoyed the side characters, as well. It seems like everyone, for the most part, was three dimensional. I will admit, I struggled with how young Grey & Rune acted though this is more of a me issue and not a book issue.The one thing that didn't sit well with me was some of the victim-blaming verbiages in a specific scene. I felt that the character had every right to be upset, and I feel like she was gaslit because she didn't just accept that something "had" to happen. This scene soured me on the book, and I have to admit, I almost DNFd right then and there. After that scene, I started to notice just some of the ways that Rune was treated, and I hated how she was consistently berated instead of helped.Though I did find some faults with this book, I ended up pushing through. In the end, I enjoyed the world that created. It was fun to see a more sinister side of faeries, and I enjoyed how fast-paced the plot was. I'm not sure that I will continue in the series, but I do understand why so many people have enjoyed it.
