Mages Rising by Rosalisa Stillitano
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Mages Rising by Rosalisa Stillitano fell short of expectations. While the premise of magical powers intrigued me, the execution lacked depth. The characters felt underdeveloped, and the pacing was inconsistent, which hindered my engagement. Despite its imaginative world-building, the plot felt predictable and didn't deliver the captivating twists expected in fantasy novels.

"Mages Rising" by Rosalia Stillitano is a captivating fantasy novel that transports readers to a world of magic, intrigue, and adventure. Stillitano's richly imagined universe is brought to life through compelling characters, intricate world-building, and a gripping plot that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

Set in a realm where magic is both feared and revered, "Mages Rising" follows the journey of the protagonist, a young mage named Alessa, as she navigates the dangerous politics and power struggles of her world. As Alessa grapples with her own burgeoning magical abilities and uncovers long-hidden secrets about her past, she must confront formidable foes and make difficult choices that will shape the destiny of her people.

Stillitano's world-building is masterful, with lush descriptions of fantastical landscapes, ancient ruins, and mystical creatures that leap off the page. The magic system is intricately detailed, with different types of mages wielding unique powers and abilities that add depth and complexity to the story.

At its core, "Mages Rising" is a story about identity, courage, and the enduring power of hope in the face of adversity. Stillitano deftly weaves together themes of friendship, loyalty, and sacrifice as Alessa and her companions embark on a perilous quest to save their world from darkness.

The characters are well-developed and multi-dimensional, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and motivations. Alessa is a compelling and relatable protagonist, her journey of self-discovery and growth resonating with readers as she faces formidable challenges and learns to harness her inner strength.

"Mages Rising" is a spellbinding tale that will appeal to fans of epic fantasy and coming-of-age stories alike. Rosalia Stillitano has crafted a richly imagined world filled with magic, mystery, and intrigue, inviting readers on an unforgettable adventure that will leave them eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series.

DNF @ 61%
I ended up DNF-ing this book because it could not hold my interest and i found myself skimming alot. I think it has to do with that the characters don`t hold my interest, they seem bland and boring and not done yet. The magic was a little interesting, but since the characters were so and so, i lost interest. If the characters had more to them and built on the story like that, i might have liked it more.

I loved the plot of this book which drew me to the book however I found the writing style to be difficult to read and I didn't love how the characters were developed. The heroine didn't seem certain on her opinion of the guy and ends up being a damsel in distress which didn't sit well for me. All in all I think the premise of the book is really good and definitely worth persuing however I don't believe it was executed very well.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of MAGES RISING.
When I read the premise of this book, I thought I would absolutely love it. The execution was, overall, a bit confusing. What bothered me the most was the overall repetition.

ARC from NetGalley

I can't believe I finished this book. This is not a good book. It is not written well. Everything is stilted and awkward. I understand ARCs aren't always edited, but this was really not edited. It was bad. The author has a habit of writing did not instead of didn't and cannot instead of can't, which is fine in a medicolegal report but not fine in a novel. I want my time back.

Based on the description, I thought this was a book I would love. Unfortunately, I did not.

While the magical elements were interesting, the characters were not. They were very one dimensional. The men were overbearing and egotistical while the main female character wàs too weak for my liking.

The style of writing was jerky, The transitions between various POVs made it difficult to engage.

I received a free ARC. I am leaving my honest opinion

This was an ARC from netgalley.

I did enjoy parts of this book, but it was hard to get into, and the dialogue felt forced. Maybe because it more young adult than I am used to. However, I like the concept though and I hope the author continues to write,

The magic in this book was really well thought through, the premise of it was something I enjoyed. I thought it seemed really cool, and the plot had a lot of promise, but it honestly just fell a little flat for me, unfortunately.

The pacing was a little weird, and it didn’t flow super well. I really wish this book had been done better than it was because it seems a shame that the issues with this one made me like it less than I wanted to. I would probably still read a sequel just to see if the story redeems itself.

Things that I liked about this book:
-I liked the idea of the story. I love me a good story about people who can do magic. The idea of a child who is magically strong being sent sometime into the future to stay hidden was super intriguing to me.
-The memory loss plot is a great idea. People shows up and she doesn’t know them or why she is important.
-That this seems like it will be a series, because of how this book ends. I love fantasy series.
Thing I did NOT like about this book
-The execution of the storyline. I loved the idea of the story and the basic plot but the way it was written made me struggle with reading it.
-The writing style had the POVs jumping around a lot, from one paragraph to the next. This made it difficult for me to follow along and kept me from really sinking in and connecting with each character.

Overall I gave this book 2 stars. I wanted to like it but it was a struggle to read and despite the sudden cliffhanger ending I am not really motivated to read the next book.

I wanted to love this book, because I really liked the description, but the overall book just was not great. The idea of magic users and non-magical people coexisting in the modern world, but magic is not known about by the non-magical people is very interesting.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley to review.

I Received a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review
I attempted this book as a last resort. It initially held my interest but then it faded. I couldn't just set it down though and admit defeat so I finished the book with little enthusiam involved.

*free copy received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Okay, so the premise of this book is so good! It's got magic, cool characters (minus the bad ass heroine, which was deeply missed) and evil wizards. Despite this, it fell a little bit through for me, because the pace felt a little bit stilted. It's very action packed in some places and reads as a guidebook for Havana in other places, which I usually love, but in this case I didn't quite see the connection.

I also felt that things weren't explained enough in some places and were overexplained in other places. There were times I had to go back a couple of sentences to see if I'd missed something because one sentence was suddenly ''I don't know if he would like it''. Who's ''he'' you may ask? I didn't know either, not after another page where it was then explained. Maybe that's just something that interrupted my reading flow, but it really bugged me.

The book grew on me, though. If you're not as nitpicky as me, you'll really like it!

All in all, I think it's an okay book, and the whole magic thing is the saving point.

This was one heck of a confusing read for me. Let’s start with the positives, though:

What I Liked

The premise is a good one. A civil war between two mage factions. One of them wants to declare to the world who they are and the other obviously, doesn’t. However they claim about living in harmony with the humans after outing themselves, the first faction doesn’t let small things like collateral damage stop them.

The mechanics of magic were described neatly and in detail. It tells the readers that they have been well-thought-out.

What I Didn’t Like

The writing style isn’t for me. It seems to be at odds with itself and is jerky, making for bad reading. Events and thoughts of the main characters are described repetitively. For instance, the heroine is on the fence about which faction she sides with is explained ten times!

The book feels like it is a sequel — I looked it up but this is the first one in what seems will be a series. I do like when we are thrown in the midst of ongoing action right from the first line. But it must be done masterfully to work. That isn’t the case here.

The heroine has been brainwashed by a guy who claims to love her — and yet, has no qualms in bleeding her to death to open a magic portal. So, I get that she wouldn’t outright gut him everytime she sees him. But the wishy-washy attitude that she has only makes her seem like a spineless, helpless damsel-in-distress. I didn’t like that. One. Bit.

Sadly, this book wasn’t for me.

I found this book confusing. There are different characters all over the place & it's hard to keep track of them. #MagesRising #NetGalley

The beginning of the book was slightly confusing for me. Although, I do have to admit that I don't usually pay attention to dates at the beginning of Chapters. Once I started to pay attention, it helped me track the story. It feels like most of the story takes place on one day. The heroine goes through so many challenges that I struggled with the pacing and took a few breaks before continuing on with the story. The characters were well thought out. The storyline is clean, although there was one moment when I had serious doubts that it would stay that way.

As I got to the end of the book, the pacing increased and the heroine began to get answers. This was my favorite part and I hope that the sequels carry with the pacing at the end of the book. It definitely ended with a cliff hanger that left me wanting to know what was next.

I would recommend this book to lovers of fantasy and magic, whether young or old.

Mages Rising follows Lyria, a mage in disguise, from her small town shoppe all the way to Cuba on a much needed vacation. That trip, however, is bombarded by two powerful mages who are fighting opposite sides of a war, both needing her help. They also both happen to be her ex boyfriends.

I read this in about 3-4 days. It started as something I almost decided to DNF, but the storyline honestly did grow on me.

Characters: This story is the definition of a love triangle. Lyria is the confused, weak female lead who is easily swayed by the *~dreamy~* eyes of Darius and the *~captivating~* touch of Julio. (Eye roll. Where is the strong, badass female character when you need her?)

Plot: Okay, I’m conflicted here. I felt completely thrown in and confused when the book started, but slowly I got interested and had to know which side would win this war. Now I know. (props to not leaving a cliffhanger.)

My least favorite thing about this was the characters. I didn’t feel a connection to any of them, and to be honest, the main character I found to be needy and annoying.

My favorite thing about Mages Rising by Rosalina Stillitano was the magic itself. I’m learning that I’m a sucker for the fantastical, and I enjoyed reading and envisioning everyone’s powers.

Mages Rising caught my attention with it’s beautiful cover and description. There are mages living among us, but they are at war with each other and one woman is caught in the middle. Starting out in Montreal, Lyria just got over a bad break up and decides to take a vacation in Cuba. There, she is caught between her ex-boyfriend and another guy with familiar amber eyes, and the two sides they are on. I enjoyed this book, but the beginning was very confusing and I felt like I had missed something. Eventually everything came together so I could continue the story and it turned out really well. It ended like there may be another book and I’d like to continue the story.

I am sorry to say but this book is going to go to my "not finish" pile of books. It doesn't happen a lot but sometimes you find a book that you take a chance on and it disappoints you. This is my case with this book. I started reading it and at the very beginning, it seemed kind of interesting, presenting some info, not saying everything and giving the reader an opportunity to guess some facts of the story. But later on, it started to slow down. And for me, a book that is to slow is really difficult to read. The promise of action, of emotion, of things happening, was what got me, but when the main character takes a vacation and there are chapters where the main and only focus are descriptions from the trip and the emotional state of the character, it got boring.
Moreover, for me a little guess is good, but the omission of important keys or names when the book advances its a no go. You can say him or her to refer to someone that cannot be named up to a point, but you cannot keep it up for long, because that and the big omission gets the reader really lost and fed up. That was what happen to me. A lot of descriptions from chapter 6 and on and a lot of missing information for the reader. Al that added to the fact that the story got slow made me give up and abandon the book.
But I will try to read other books from this author because the writing is good and she has the ability to trap you, the beginning of the book can attest to that.

Lyria is a mage, and cannot reveal this to the nonmagical Terrians. The Revolution and Resistance believe that law needs to change and that Lyria's blood is key to returning magic to the world. But she doubts her ancestry and wants to stop the chaos that the mages plan to unleash.

Mages hiding their magic from mortals isn't a new idea, and it was fairly late in the book that we got even a hint of why they had to hide their skills. I appreciated some of the features of the magic system in this book, such as storing energies for later use in quartz, different colors associated with the different spell types, and that there were alternate dimensions that time and space mages could create. Having Lyria's vacation in Cuba also gave me a glimpse into a different country with the descriptions of the resort and some of the historic tours that she went to.

I really, really wanted to like this book, but ultimately I didn't. The groups fighting each other had similar names and kept accusing each other of terrible things. Julio was a stalker from the first and kept overriding Lyria's wishes, so I didn't like him. Other characters were annoying or caricatures and even the bloody climax of the novel didn't leave me feeling as though we reached a real ending because of the cliffhanger closing.

I would have much rather had a self-contained novel with hooks a sequel could pick up on when a second novel begins.