The Immortal City is a fascinating book that hooked me and I could not out of down. The writing is good and I loved the characters.

In the heart of Venice, a woman is sacrificed to a forgotten god, sparking a mystery lost for thousands of years.
Dr. Penelope Bryne is ridiculed by the academic community for her quest to find the remnants of Atlantis, but when an ancient and mysterious script is found at a murder site, she flies to Venice determined to help the police before the killer strikes again.
Penelope has spent her entire life trying to ignore the unexplainable and magical history of Atlantis, but when she meets the enigmatic Alexis Donato, everything she believes will be challenged. Little does she know, Alexis has spent the last three years doing his best to sabotage Penelope’s career so doesn’t learn the truth—Atlantis had seven magicians who survived, and who he has a duty to protect.
As Alexis draws her into the darkly, seductive world of magic and history, Penelope will have to use her heart as well as her head if she is to find the answers she seeks.
With the new MOSE system due to come online, and Carnivale exploding around them, Penelope and Alexis will have to work together to stop the killer and prevent dark magic from pulling Venice into the sea.

This book is definitely a piece of escapism and made a welcome change to the books I generally read.
It has its dark and grisly moments but also a sprinkling of romance with very interesting magicians.

The historical aspect is fascinating and very thorough and rich in detail.

The plot is fast and well developed, I was gripped from start to finish.

The characters are generally well developed, the romance between the hero and heroine perhaps a bit cliched but still a lot of fun.

A lot of work has obviously gone into this book and it brought back wonderful memories of Venice which is such a magical city it is the perfect setting for this book.

I would recommend as a book to get lost in, and aren't they the best?

A very unique take on the mystery of Atlantis. There's a little bit of everything included in this tale, mystery, magic, murder, humor, romance, history, and drama, all beautifully woven together to create an intriguing story that takes place in the alluring city of Venice.

Overall, an enjoyable read that kept me up late wanting to know what happened next. This story is certainly a stand alone, with a solid ending, but I'm greedily hoping for more stories about the Immortal City!

Wow! What can I say about this book??? I loved it. I have always been intrigued by the legend of Atlantis. This story combines both present day Venice and the myth of Atlantis flawlessly. Full of mystery, danger, intrigue, Magic, and romance-you will keep turning the page wanting more! Complex characters with depth, and all too human emotion. Fast paced with a great flow! I anxiously await the next installment.

The Immortal City
by Amy Kuivalainen
Book details
Hardcover, 324 pages
Expected publication: September 19th 2019 by BHC Press
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This book was received as an ARC, from NetGalley, In exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own


Genre:
Fantasy, Mystical Realism , Mystery, Fiction, Adventure fiction, Contemporary fantasy

Synopsis:

In the heart of Venice, a woman is sacrificed to a forgotten god, sparking a mystery lost for thousands of years.

Dr. Penelope Bryne is ridiculed by the academic community for her quest to find the remnants of Atlantis, but when an ancient and mysterious script is found at a murder site, she flies to Venice determined to help the police before the killer strikes again.

Penelope has spent her entire life trying to ignore the unexplainable and magical history of Atlantis, but when she meets the enigmatic Alexis Donato, everything she believes will be challenged. Little does she know, Alexis has spent the last three years doing his best to sabotage Penelope’s career so doesn’t learn the truth—Atlantis had seven magicians who survived, and who he has a duty to protect.

Penelope Byrne, is the lead protagonist. Who, is not really excepted by her peers in the academic world,
Penelope is contacted by a the lead detective in a homicide case in Venice Italy. To use her expertise in Atlantean history and help decipher some glyphs at Ritual Murder Scene.
The Immortal City, is an engrossing and at times dark cat-and-mouse mystery, thrill ride where the writing is detailed and rich with magical realism .With the perfect amount of romance, dynamic characters, skillful character development, and masterful, yet at times harrowing plot makes for a gripping and wonderful read and if you love anything that is Atlantean , then I definitely recommend you read this one!


Oh by the way Amy Kuivalainen , has done her research. This is not a copycat Book . Very original
Thevetat, Thevetata An ancient king of one of the divisions of Atlantis, the submerged continental system of the fourth root-race (SD 2:222). He is instanced as one of the natural born adept-magicians who neither learned nor acquired knowledge, but who knew all without being initiated. "Under the evil insinuations of their demon, Thevetat, the Atlantis-race became a nation of wicked magicians" (IU 1:593).

The author delivers a rapid-paced, suspenseful, gripping, well-written and perfectly executed fictional fantasy/ thrilling mystery

I can highly recommend this book and I will be waiting anxiously for the next book in this series!

Amy Kuivalainen
“The Magicians of Venice is a three-book series and is the culmination of many weird pieces of ancient history and personal passions finally coming together. While The Immortal City (book one) is mainly a magical, murder mystery, Sea of the Dead (book two) and The King’s Seal (book three) have a treasure hunt feel. As a student of ancient history, “

Author :
Amy Kuivalainen is a Finnish-Australian writer that is obsessed with magical wardrobes, doors, auroras and burial mounds that might offer her a way into another realm. Until then, she will write about fairy tales, monsters, magic and mythology because that's the next best thing. She is the author of The Firebird Fairytales Trilogy and The Blood Lake Chronicles series that mash up traditional tales and mythology in new and interesting ways.

I was provided a copy by NetGalley for an honest review of this book.

The premise of this book made it sound like it would be a really cool adult, urban fantasy. However, when I started reading it, I found that it was as sophisticated as I originally thought. I loved the introductory chapters. It set up a really cool mystery that had a basis in Greek mythology. I find mythology fascinating so I figured that I would immediately connect with the main character, who was a scholar. She was a researcher and I love research, so I thought it would only be natural.

However, I found her to act very young. She got herself stuck in so many situations that, if she would have either brought someone along or trusted them enough to actually tell them, would have been better. I also didn't really enjoy the book once we actually encountered things from mythology. I wanted it to stick with the murders and get more in depth. I think this book would have been better had there not been any fantastical element and instead stuck to a series of cult murders who believe in the fantastical things.

When I started this book I wasn’t really into it, something just didn’t click, but before I knew it I was hooked.

I absolutely ADORE anything related to Atlantis and would definitely recommend this book.

I wish I could have liked The Immortal City more than I did. It has a great premise with plenty of potential, and it was a fast-paced, quick read. However, I found Penelope hard to fathom, as she acted a bit 'young' at times. I also would have liked a little more menace around the murders, as I never really felt that concerned about any of it. Every time she got captured, I wanted to roll my eyes at her stupidity, but I was never truly worried. The foreign-language use nagged at me, too, as the Italian wasn't always correct. In one sentence there was a random Spanish word, instead of Italian, for example. If you are going to include foreign text, it does need to be properly checked for accuracy. That said, this was entertaining enough as stories go, so I am still giving it three stars as it will appeal to readers of fantasy mystery or Atlantis fans. It certainly wasn't unreadable; however, it could have been better.

I'm awfully glad I picked this book up on a whim, and the author has earned a place on my list of new releases to track. I love scholarly chick lit (which, since I enjoyed this and Discovery of Witches, is apparently a genre, and one that I am quite into.)

Dr. Bryne is a historian facing a fair amount of ridicule in her field after declaring she had found real evidence of the existence of Atlantis and wanted to pursue it further. While otherwise maligned for her interest in the subject, she does find herself called to Venice to advise on a murder case where the murderer seems to have used symbolism seen in her research.

Having lived a rather mundane life until this point, she is startled to encounter in Venice what can only be described as magical phenomena, and recurring through it all is a handsome man she saw once in a dream.

The two of them must work together through dangerous circumstances to stop the killer before he strikes again, while discovering that the lost secrets of Atlantis aren't so lost at all.

This could have been a good urban(ish) paranormal thriller. But it isn't. It's full of problems. The plot: a scholar of Atlantis is drawn into a conspiracy to raise old and bad gods when she's called to consult on a murder case in Venice. She inserts herself into the case and then meets a nearly-immortal Atlantean man into whose meditation she has astrally projected. He turns out to have been instrumental in wrecking her career as an academic, but they fall in love anyway. There are police folks involved, but their roles are to flatter the scholar and to serve as a comparison point for her. The author's treatment of academia is unbelievable, as is the police reaction to the scholar, and let's not even get into the scholar's idiotic behavior. Also, everyone is "hot"--the cop, the scholar, the immortal, his friends.... and the gender politics of the book are a mess, with the scholar constantly being useless/needing to be rescued/bait and the other female characters being either foils for the protagonist's perfection or more beautiful immortals. There's rape and torture of women, a woman's self-sacrifice for men, and more. The initial idea--that a scholar who had found a forgotten alphabet was called on to help decipher more of that same alphabet, which was being used in ritual killings--is fine. The rest is a disappointment.

4 pleasantly surprised stars

To be honest, I wasn't really sure what I would get into with this book. I do, however, have an obsession with extinct cultures and legends, to name the Celts and Atlanteans, to give you an idea. Naturally, I had to request this book, when it was up for Review on #NetGalley and I couldn't be happier that it was approved. #theimmortalcity is a fast-paced and well-written piece about a series of ritual murders in Venice.

In the middle of it is an Australian-Irish academic, Penelope, whose career is somewhat questionable. A while ago she found a tablet in the Meditarennean Penelope identifies as Atlantean heritage. While some colleagues certainly have an open ear for her theory, the biggest part of the academic realm, however, sees nothing more but the wild fantasies of a woman. Pen is contacted by Marco, the inspector responsible for the homicides in Venice. The second she lays eyes on the pictures of the crime scenes she is sure: this is connected somehow, maybe even only loosely connected to the tablet she found. Pen doesn't even have to think about it, just jumps on the next best plane to Italy, thereby putting her right in the middle of the investigations...and the focus of a couple of Atlanteans, some of them eviler than others.

Amidst in one of her calming meditations, she finds herself opposite a mysterious man she also runs into in person the following day. As she gets caught up more and more in this mess, the mystery man even saves her life. He pretty much pulled her back from the dead. It is then she fully comes to comprehend that her passion for Atlantis, a lost civilization advanced in so many ways even 10.000 years ago, is definitely real. Because Alexis, her saviour, is an Atlantean magician, thousands of years old and pretty easy on the eyes.

Also, Alexis and his fellas live in this amazing palazzo, including archives that are filled with texts and artefacts. Goes without saying, that our academic geek is absolutely smitten by Alexis. To be honest, I would luuurvee to have a look at this library (and the sexy Atlanteans) as well....

He and his friends got wind of the murderers and recognized it as the ritual doings of the priests of Thevetat, a demon that, once he got through with the necessary preparations, would wreak havoc over La Serenissima. And these priests have their eyes on Penelope: several attempts on her life and a couple of abductions prove that Thevetat's priests will not stop until they got everything they want.

As if this weren't stressful enough already, Penelope and Alexis cannot deny there is a pull between the two that makes it pretty much impossible for them to stay away from each other. But is it love? If so, can they both survive to enjoy it? She is human and he is pretty much immortal, after all...

If you have an open ear for fantastic tellings of civilizations who have fascinated us since the dawn of time, then this is definitely for you. Time flies by with this fast read.
_______________________________________________________-
Writing Quality + ease of reading = 4*

pace = 3,5*

plot development = 4*

characters = 5* (sorry, a girl can only resist so many Athlanteans...)

enjoyability = 3,5*

insightfulness = 2*

I’d like to thank both BHC Press and Netgalley for giving me an eARC of The Immortal City in exchange for an honest review.
I read this in a day and a half, and barely noticed the time fly by. Fantasy is my happy place, I read a lot of it, but I’ll throw this out there -- I haven’t been this happy with a fantasy since I was 15 and given Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten.
Why? Well, my first and most important though on this is that the novel is incredibly well written for the genre. It’s obvious Kuivalainen is familiar with fantasy. The pacing is also great, with things happening as and when they should. The descriptions are clean, clear and full of imagery. She’s obviously put hours of research into this, and that mixed with her effortlessly natural writing style, she’s nurtured a novel where the reader can both sit back, enjoy and learn something. From clothing, to jewellery, to languages and relics, Kuivalainen diligently brings the real world into fantasy, in a breath-taking way. Also, importantly, at no point did I feel lost within the world Kuivalainen created. Rather, I wanted to know as much as she’d tell me, and then still needed more.
I also enjoyed the lack of gender roles, and complete balance amongst the characters. They’re all badass, beautiful, and respect one another implicitly. The dynamics were great, and I can’t wait for book 2 already.

I love all things "lost city" so when I read this blurb and saw the word "Atlantis" I knew it was a book I needed to read.
It was quite different than I was expecting, but I loved this new take on the lost city. The addition of magicians was brilliant. The heroine was smart and strong (Loved that!), the book was filled with magic and took a legend and turn it on it's head in a wonderful way. The author's prose worked wonders to pull me in and not let me go until the book was finished.

Wow!
This book was WOW!
Quick paced, witty characters and a murderous plot to uncover.

Penelope Byrne, after being laughed out of the academic world, an expert in Atlantean history is taken on to help decipher some glyphs at a murder/sacrificial scene in Venice.

This then takes Penelope on a wild ride!
Being stabbed and almost drowning to being rescued by a very very hot (that’s how I imagined him) stranger, but Penelope isn’t one who needs saving! She is no damsel in distress! She is Ms Indiana Jones, ready to fight her way through whomever she has to, especially if answers are behind them.

I don’t know how to explain this without spoilers!

So badass, smart woman + super hot mysterious fella + magic + plot to destroy Venice + Atlantis. Plus a whole lot more hotness!!!!

I can’t wait for the release date so I can get a physical copy, that cover is stunning!!!

I want to thank BHC for the ebook via NetGalley, I received this free in exchange for a truthful review