This book started out great! It was interesting the characters were great and I was very intrigued. A the story went on, it got more and more complicated as more characters were added and I found it hard to keep track of what was going on. I still loved Tessa, but I found myself getting frustrated. By the time I got to the end of the book, I was already frustrated and the ending did not help things at all!

This could have been a 5 star read for me if the story had been more streamlined.

I liked this book, but didn't love it.

I enjoyed the main character, Tessa, a sporty, slightly tomboyish, somewhat underachieving college student, though I'd have liked to see more of her regular life depicted before she (and the reader) got thrown headlong into the magical plot line. Some of the other characters are interesting, with very imaginative supernatural attributes, but there are A LOT of character for a book of this length, so their development gets spread thin. The bulk of the plot involves a sort of scavenger hunt for various magical objects, with the characters having various motivations for involving themselves. Tessa's crush on the local policeman (of the "more than he seems!" type) is endearing but feels a little out of place; her relationships with her parents are supposed to be complex but there is a telling-not-showing problem. My main issue is that the whole package is just... not very memorable? I guess I was just kind of bored a lot of the time. There's a lack of narrative tension.

The last few chapters went some ways towards redeeming the whole thing for me. Well done there.
I'd be curious to see if this author hones her writing in future series or standalone books, as she's got great ideas, but I'm not sure if I'd continue with this particular series.

I'm rather embarrassed that it took me so long to review this particular book (life just got in the way). While I wasn't personally enthralled with the work, I could easily imagine a number of my YA patrons who would appreciate it. I'm recommending purchase for my libraries serving patrons 15 and up.

Fantasy and magic and a phoenix? If any (or all) of that is of interest to you, we’ve got a new book for you to check out! This week, I’m sharing thoughts on a debut: The Late Great Wizard is the first book (and the first of a new contemporary fantasy series) from Sara Hanover.


The Late Great Wizard begins with a normal, intelligent high school girl going to school and dealing with mundane things like field hockey, work, and frenemies. But it quickly shifts as we learn about her father disappearing and a contrary old professor on her meal delivery route. There are a lot of characters, most of whom turn out to have some sort of connection to magic, whether they realize it or not. The characters’ motivations are not always as clear as you think they are, which keeps the book twisting and turning, albeit not in entirely surprising ways.

The Late Great Wizard and I didn’t start off on the right foot. I found it a little too trite to start and the pacing was off-putting. Over a third of the way in, though the action had been non-stop with numerous events, the plot hadn’t advanced much. Then halfway into the book, the pacing and plot movement seem to align and things felt smooth. All the young adult fantasy tropes are here, but I did’t mind them. Tessa and her new friends are likable and it makes you inclined to go along for the ride, even if it does seem a bit far-fetched now and then. And in the end, I found myself wanting to know what happens next and hoping for more development of key characters in the story. If I’m still thinking about what could happen next, I find it’s a book that was worth the read.

The Late Great Wizard is a light read with some intriguing aspects and kicks off what is sure to be an interesting series. Sara is already working on rewrites for the sequel, The New Improved Sorceress, so get reading to stay ahead of the story!

I’m going to admit up front that I had a hard time reviewing this book. I really did enjoy it overall, but there were a couple things that bothered me a little. First things first, the elements in this books weren’t the same old, same old, which I enjoyed. The book felt fresh, and I was engrossed throughout most of it. There really wasn’t too much action, but I still wanted to know what was going to happen next. Now, here is where the cons come in: I really, really found Brian to be annoying at times. So much so, I really wanted to yell at him, and not in a good way. For being sort of an old wizard, he sure acted like an immature kid (can’t say too much as I don’t want to put spoilers). And, there were times I was confused as to what was going on. These two things drew me out of the story, but I did like the book very much. If you like light urban fantasy with very little romance, give this a try. Recommend! I was provided the e-book which I voluntarily reviewed.

The Late Great Wizard was a good escapist read for a dreary weekend.

Other than having a father who mysterious disappeared, college student Tessa has a pretty ordinary life until she meets Professor Brandard while delivering meals to the elderly. The professor is a little strange, but Tessa doesn’t realize how much so until his house catches fire and she finds a naked young man cowering in the bushes in his backyard. It turns out that Brandard is a phoenix wizard capable of rejuvenating through fire, but the process hasn’t been completed, leaving his powers depleted. Scenting weakness, the wizard’s enemies start to attack, and Tessa and other magical beings try to help him escape their clutches. During their adventures, Tessa crosses paths with the hot young cop she has a crush on (who just happens to have his own secrets) and discovers what happened to her missing father, too.

The story is a standard urban fantasy tale in a lot of ways, but the author avoids the clichés that often come with the genre. Tessa isn’t a special girl with great powers. Yes, she has a few magical tricks up her sleeve, but she mostly gets by through a combination of bravery, good sense, and athletic strength. (Having a sense of humor doesn’t hurt, either.) There’s no love triangle; young Brandard is handsome, but romance isn’t on the table. And while Tessa has a crush, she doesn’t get sidetracked into schmoopy musings about her hot cop when she should be focused on getting things done, thank goodness.

My one criticism is that the plot seems a little overstuffed. There are several different antagonists, only one set of which is definitively removed from the action at the end. The characters also spend a lot of time running around to what sometimes seems very little effect. Still, I enjoyed Tessa's voice enough that I was willing to just go with the flow of the story.

This book would be a good choice for anyone looking for a fun light read to while away the time. A sequel is clearly in the works, and I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next to Tessa and her friends.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sara Hanover's debut is a fun story. It's chock full of magic and adventure and betrayals and a big scary villain. It's got ghosts and spirits and dwarves and phoenix wizards and magical relics. It's one of those books that I just expected to fall in love with.

Unfortunately, the book felt... incomplete, unfinished, lacking something. The plot was all over the place, and some of the events felt forced or shoved into the story just to have an exciting moment rather than making sense for the story overall.

I definitely think she was setting up a series, because this book spends 75% of the book or so setting up the main series villain before making a sharp turn into "here's the villain of THIS book" territory. It spent the rest of the book focusing on that before swapping back to the main villain after the climax.

Basically the dialogue and banter felt a little forced, the relationships weren't overly believable (I mean she knew them all of like a day before she cared deeply for all of them?), and the plot was kinda messy. It felt like part of a bigger story that was left unfinished. It *felt* like setup, world building, without any of the payoffs of it being a complete story on its own that just happened to also setup more.

I gave it three stars (more like two and a half rounded up) because I like the world she created and all the fun types of magic, and because I think she has potential, but if there's a book two, it's going to need to show major growth over this one for me to continue past that.

The Late Great Wizard by Sara Hanover

When I got this book I had such high hopes. The concept of this book seemed very interesting. At its basis this book was about the fantastical and magical world being a part of the modern-day world. I personally love books that bring magic into the everyday modern world but as I read the first chapter those hopes were reduced to nothing very quickly.

I believe that this book could have been amazing after all it had a great foundation and concept to build from, but there were several major issues I personally had with the writing and story telling aspects of this book.

The story is told from the perspective of Tessa. Tessa is a young woman who is attending college while living with her mother and aunt. Through out the story Tessa becomes entwined with the magical and mystical world. The issues that I had with Tessa/her perspective was that everything seemed to blur together. I had issues detecting where one thought ended and the next began, and some of the rather dangerous and scary situations that she is thrust into barely seem to faze her.

Brian (another main character) bothered me even more than Tessa. Brian is supposed to be a phoenix, but instead of acting like some great mythological creature he acts more like a whiny teenage boy. There was so much potential for his character but sadly Brian fell short as well.

Another big issue I had was the whole ordeal surrounding Tessa’s father and the way it was handled. For instance, when Tessa’s mother is tricked into believing that an Iron Dwarf is a mob cash collector she hardly acts the way one would expect in such a situation. It was little things like this that really bothered me and made it difficult for me to enjoy this book.

Overall I did not enjoy this novel. I think that if the characters reactions to situations was more genuine and believable I would have liked it more, however, I think the right reader could enjoy this novel. After all it does have a good foundation.

This was absolutely incredible for several reasons.

1) the narrative. Sara Hanover knows her way around the written word. You will know what I mean when you read it! The way she chose to describe things echoed the magic happening in the plot. It was beautiful.

2) at first you think you know where this story is going. There will be love and conflict because OBVIOUSLY the young wizard is the old man the heroine met. Obviously, right? I will not say whether or not this is true, but I will promise you will be surprised. All books are a journey; this one takes you further than most.

I absolutely loved this book. I can’t wait to buy a copy and put it on my bookshelf. Hanover is now on my list of “must buy”.