I truly enjoyed reading this book. I am fascinated by alternate universe books; especially ones hat exist alongside out mundane realm. That duality is exactly what we have here in Club Arcana as Angus, our MC finds himself in at the crux of a world filled with magic, a world in which he feels himself a pawn rather than a player.

I enjoyed the slow world building Jon Wilson created for us as well as he mystery surrounding it. Having Angus’ POV made me feel just as ignorant, skeptical, fearful, and amazed at the world surrounding him as he felt. While frustrating at times, because I want to know everything, not knowing served it’s purpose for this book and this initial world building.

At times, Angus feels himself caught in a world of his own making, seeing his drawings come to life. At others, he feels like his family lacks his best interests at heart. And yet at others, he marvels at what he is now capable of doing. He manages and mismanages to get himself out of trouble, all the while trying to figure out whom to trust and what others want of him.

The writing was excellent. The plot could have moved along at a better clip, but this being what appears to be the first in a series, I can forgive the pace in exchange for a solid foundation for future stories.

Overall, I very much enjoyed reading this. Although the cover could use some spicing up! I know this review is a bit vague, but so much happens that I didn’t want to give away any spoilers. Would I read the next in the series? Most definitely, although I would reread this in order to reacquaint myself with the characters and story arc. I would LOVE to have this in audiobook!

*An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.*

Angus is a librarian. He lives a quiet life with his mother and sister and works on his novel in his spare time. Life is quiet until one fateful day when everything turns on its head and Angus is plunged into the world of the supernatural and magic, strange creatures and vicious attacks by strange creatures. He finds out his mother is a witch, his uncle a wizard and all his neighbours are somehow in on it too.

Before Angus can catch his breath and say goodbye to his sister he is hustled off on train journey to meet his uncle. He doesn't even get to say goodbye to his boss in the library. And so Angus' adventure begins and he gets to discover magic, all kinds of mayhem and new friends who can or can't be trusted.

I do like urban fantasy and paranormal stories but this one didn't really hold my attention. It was written in the present tense which was a bit off putting and it just felt as if it took a long time for the story to actually progress. It wasn't until around 65% that I had a handle on the characters and the pace of the story and by that time I was bored.

I did like Angus though. The story ends on a cliff hanger which seems to be the opening for the second book in the series. If you like urban fantasy or paranormal stories then you might like this one. It just didn't really work for me.

Copy provided by Bold Stroke Book via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.