Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Such a great book! I enjoyed reading this one so much! I highly recommend this book. Side note: the cover!!!!

This story was kind of difficult to read at times, and slow from the get go, but I was personally intrigued by the world-building and all the magical creatures! I'm personally a sucker for them.

English/Spanish

Thanks to netgally for letting me read this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Magnified is a story of fantasy, here we have vampires, wizards, werewolves, secret societies, demons and a mystery to resolve

The story goes around Yani, just before her grandma passes away she reveals the secret of how she, her kids and her brother Yakov got away form the second world war. They were housed by a vampire who fell in love with Yakov. She ran away to the United States where she could have a quiet and peaceful life while her brother stayed behind with his lover.
Some years later after Yani heard the story from his grandma Yani contacted Yakov for the first time. It happened after Yani was kidnaped by a group of hunters who mistaked Yani for a Vampire. After that Yani gets involved in a world he didn't know existed and now he has to learn how to live in it.

Talking about my opinion, the idea is great. A story of fantasy in the actual world was just amazing and what I wanted, but as I was getting into the story it was getting less interesting and tiring to read. Everything happened just because it was convenient for the story and not because it was the consequence of some previous events. At some point I stopped believing everything that was happening.
Also the characters are a lot plane, i didn’t care anymore what happened to them. I just wanted to know who the villain was, that’s the reason why I continue reading. In addition I had a lot of interest in the main relationship but it was given for free and I couldn’t enjoy their romance

Finally the way the main problem was resolved didn’t make a lot of sense to me, they had a villain so powerful from whom they escaped just by luck and because it wanted them to go. I understand it is because there is another book, but really I don’t have the interest to keep going. 2/5 stars
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Spanish

Gracias a Netgally por dejarme leer esta copia a cambio de una opinión honesta.
Magnfied es una historia de fantasía donde tenemos vampiros, magos, hombres lobo, sociedades secretas, demonios y un misterio por resolver.
La historia gira en torno a Yani, justo antes de que su abuela muriera, ella decide revelar el secreto de cómo sobrevivieron durante la segunda guerra mundial. Ella, sus hijos y su hermano Yakov fueron hospedados en la casa de un vampiro, el cuál se enamoró de Yakov. Ella huyó a los Estados Unidos donde pudo tener una vida tranquila y criar a su mientras que su hermano encontraba felicidad con su amante inmortal.
Varios años pasaron desde que Yani escuchó la historia de su abuela, Yani nunca contactó con Yakov hasta que fue raptado por un grupo de cazavampiros, Yani contacta con Yakov y descubre que las personas que conocía no son lo que parecen, ahora Yani se ve envuelto en el mundo sobrenatural y tiene que aprender a vivir en el.

Hablando directamente de mi opinión la idea es increíblemente atractiva, una historia de fantasía en el mundo actual, querer ver cómo se desarrollaba la historia era lo que me mantenía leyendo, sin embargo la novela deja mucho que desear, todo se da por absoluta casualidad que ni siquiera llega a ser creíble, los personajes no tienen chiste y hasta cierto punto me dejaron de importar, solo quería saber quién era el villano eso era todo. También la relación principal me interesaba pero todo se daba por hecho que ni siquiera disfrute el romance que metieron en medio de toda la investigación.

Finalmente la forma en cómo se desarrolla el conflicto final tampoco tiene mucho sentido, tenían a un villano increíblemente poderoso del cual se escaparon por pura suerte y capricho. Entiendo que es por que hay otro libro que va a continuar la historia pero a este punto no estoy segura de querer saber cómo terminará 2/5 estrellas

this was a unique take on werewolves and vampires, I enjoyed what this book created, It worked as a first chapter and I enjoyed getting to know the characters.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. The first part of the book set in Nazi Germany was actually very engaging. Unfortunately the rest of the book was too slow and boring, and I quickly lost interest.

The story felt slow. There was so much info about the religious worship and traditions, and this information should have been part of the story instead of a set of facts. I was quite surprised that I didnt like it, because I have read other books by this author and really enjoyed them. This one was simply not for me.

Copy provided by Nine Star Press in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this book ARC. My words are purely my own and I may disagree with others.

This cover is beautiful. I'm a sucker for a good cover with a fantasy element. This was an amazing start to a series. Do I remember what happened? Not really no. But I will definitely be purchasing this to read again and I will be reading the rest of series.

3.5 ⭐
Can we all just appreciate this cover? 😍
It's so gorgeous and giving me total Snow white vibes!!❄️

This book has so many supernatural characters and beautiful plot! This book was surprisingly easy to read and I connected with almost every character.
This book qad unique in its own way!
It wasn't a perfect read but I enjoyed reading it.
It also includes Jewish family history, so it has historical aspects too!

Overall,I liked the story - it was thought provoking, and very refreshing read.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Vampires. Werewolves. Incubus. Oh my?

Magnified definitely flew by for me. First off, the cover is absolutely gorgeous and makes me really hungry at the same time. Second, everything within this book was just completely easy to devour. Or maybe it's just me and I connect with books differently. Not sure but I definitely enjoyed the heck out of this beauty.

Now this book has a ton of supernatural characters which can sometimes work with or against the plot. Somehow everything flowed pretty easily for me since I wasn't confused or lost at any certain part within the book. Other than that, I shipped certain characters together and really enjoyed the representation. I do, however, wish I got more from certain characters than others. Just because I really wanted more growth from them.

I also really liked diving into Gramma's Jewish history in the beginning. I just think it really tied things together before the book ended. In the end, I definitely enjoyed and devoured the book but I am hoping to get more from certain characters in the next book.

An okayish read. For some reason, Mell Eight and I have a very funny relationship - I adored Kelpie Blue, but for some reason, A Little Fairy Dust did not appeal to me.
And this book, well... This is a mixture of both. Vased on the apple on the cover, I was expecting Snow White. The story gave me Little Red Riding Hood vibes. I am confused, but I decide not to question it.

I loved that this was two stories in one, even though i liked the grandmother's narrative better. Usually, NS is a huge trigger for me and I was slightly uncomfortable while reading this book,but I managed to struggle trough it. The supernatural element of this book really helped with that.
So I am giving this book a solid three stars. It wasn't all bad, but I don't think it was as great as Kelpie Blue.

I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher with providing me a free copy of the book for an honest review.

I didn't really know what to expect when I went into this book, but I can honestly say I really enjoyed it, the Urban fantasy setting with links to the Jewish Holocaust were defining elements to this book. With the dynamics between Yani's uncle Martin and Yakov being a key part to the story and the relationship between Yakov and Yani being central to the story. I hadn't yet read a book that included an LGBT relationship between supernatural creatures such as the ones within this book and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect. One thing to note is Id have liked to have seen more of Martin and Yakov's relationship especially in the beginning of it, when they first met and the first few years after the war and how that power dynamic changed, but other than that I still really enjoyed the book and would probbably give it 3.5 stars.

I liked this one. It wasn’t perfect and had a few plot holes, but I still enjoyed it.
I enjoyed going back into the past for Yanov and Martin’s story at the start of the book but felt that the momentum of the story suffered a little when we transitioned to the present and continued with Yani’s story, understandable because the new characters, Yani and his friends and family, all had to be introduced for the story to continue. Once I got past this lag in the storyline the story continued on well and kept me entertained. I liked that Yanov and Martin returned and that they were both still protective of Yanov’s descendants.
Looking forward to the continuation of Yani’s storyline in the next book

This book was not what I expected, but it was still really fun.

I appreciated the Jewish representation and I know this will be fab to a lot of readers.

The cover is also gorgeous and I enjoyed Yani and Aaron’s relationship - I found it to be really fleshed out and believable, even in this short book.

I gave it 3 stars, not because it’s a bad book, but because it’s not entirely my cup of tea, but I deffo think that someone else will enjoy it. I found it a bit predictable in places and the plot seemed to have two separate stories instead of one cohesive one, which was a little jarring, but apart from that, was an overall really great story that I know a lot of people will enjoy.

I’m becoming quite the Mell Eight fan lately. Other than the fact that I like her writing style, I think a lot of that has to do with the variety of stories she’s written. From her adorable dragons in her Supernatural Consultant series to the mysterious and sometimes dangerous Fae in her Out of Underhill series, I know I’m always going to find a unique and entertaining story. The Magnified series is off to a good start and promises more of the same.

I’ve always been moved by stories of the Holocaust. It’s such a dark part of world history and it’s hard to believe it happened not so long ago. That was enough to draw me into Yani’s story. Add to that the paranormal aspect and I found Magnified hard to put down.

Readers were swept into the past as they learned about Yani’s family history, both their time surviving the Holocaust and the paranormal link that they shared. Honestly, their family history would have been intriguing enough without their tie to vampires, but it made their story even more interesting. Eventually Yani’s past caught up with his present and the mystery and danger continued. It soon became clear that nothing was exactly as it seemed and reality changed. It also became clear that Yani was more tied to that supernatural aspect than he ever expected.

Yani and his friends’ story is far from over by the end of Magnified, although the first book does come to a satisfying end. The next book in the series is Justified, which will hopefully be re-released soon because I can’t wait to find out how the story continues.

The concept of Magnified is certainly an interesting one and one which, from the synopsis, seems fast paced, exciting and filled with twists and turns, amplified by the historical aspects which are fairly unusual in this style of writing. However, this is where the good points end.

The prologue kicks us off in a way which feels clunky to the reader, and almost creates a disconnect to the rest of the story. This may be down to the fact, however, that the rest of the story - and the characters - all seem completely static, moving from one event to another without any real development or catharsis.

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.”
Al though the premise was interesting, this book just drug so much it was hard to stay engaged. I finished it yesterday and I am having trouble remembering details already.

Magnified, by Mell Eight, is obviously the start of a series.
The book is about the nephew of a Concentration camp survivor which sounded like an interesting premise. However there is just a bit about this storyline at the start and then it turns into a homosexual vampire story, sort of. Now I'm fine with various relationships when things are mixed up-
i.e., some straight, some gay, etc., but this was just too much for me. ALL the couples are homosexual males, and there are NO heterosexual couples, which just feels a little misogynistic to me.
Nothing wrong with it, if that's what you're looking to read, then this might be a great book for you.
The book also turns into a tale revolving around all kinds of fantastical imaginary creatures, vampires, werewolves, incubi, and djinn. It was just a bit too all over the place for me.
I can't really recommend this, but it might be a great read for someone into creatures and homosexual men.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC - my opinions are my own.

I received an e-arc of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is another example of the cover catching my attention more than anything. Based on the cover, I assumed it’d be a Snow White retelling, and it piqued my interest because I do love a good retelling. Because I jumped in with no other knowledge than what I assumed from the cover, I was surprised to jump into a world of werewolves and vampires. I was even more surprised to lear of Yani’s great grandma’s history.

This is also another example of a concept that is unique and sounds interesting, but it also again fell short of what it could’ve been.

This book has two separate stories. It starts with Yani’s great grandmother’s story of how she got out of Germany and it eventually moves into Yani’s story. The first story felt a little awkward but was overall pretty interesting and unfortunately over sooner than I would’ve preferred. But then we get into Yani’s story, and it’s just hard to stay interested. Nothing really happens, and it would’ve been a lot more interesting just to hear more about his GG. This all felt like an unnecessary push of two stories that really could’ve stayed separate.

The first thing I want to say about this book is I liked the concept. I think the idea behind what this book was based on was pretty cool and had some interesting twists and turn. The historical aspects mixed with the supernatural ones is an interesting idea. Unfortunately, it was not well executed any further than that.

The story starts with a prologue which should have just been a chapter in and of itself. However, I felt there should not have been a need for that prologue other than maybe the first few pages. I think the prologue could have been successfully weaved through the rest of the story instead of it being a whole chapter. The story is very choppy and seems to just jump from major event to major event.

I really wanted to like the main character, however, I don’t feel he was developed enough. None of the characters had any development. It was the same with the story where it just jumped from event to event without any thought to their growth as people. There was also an issue with how the story would jump perspectives for no reason. It jumped from Yani (the main narrator), to the Uncle, and even to the antagonist. All of it left me a little confused as to why the Uncle’s perspective and the antagonists perspective were even needed to be stated.

I think if there were more character growth, one narrator, and some more information between events where they were all dealing with their trauma rather than jumping around from story to story, then I would have enjoyed this book very much. However, I felt a lot of whiplash when reading, confused with each turn of event.

trigger warning
<spoiler> antisemitism, genocide, torture, trauma, grief, being kidnapped, being drugged </spoiler>

Yani discovers that the story his grandma told on her deathbed about an uncle falling in love with a vampire is true as he is kidnapped by vampire hunters - who think his resemblance to his uncle has to mean he's a vampire.

Okay, yes, normally I would go on but imagine the scene: <spoiler> a guy, shackled and disoriented, being blinded by the light as the electrical roof is opened and sunlight floods in and - <i>nothing</i> happens. He is released after he shouts he has to go to the bathroom. I wonder what Pratchett would have made of this scene, had he written it. </spoiler>

So we have contemporary Boston but there's vampires and possibly other creatures. My tags tell you you can expect werewolves. Really, this is this whole paranormal romance thing, but the protagonist is both jewish and gay. Jewish culture plays a big role, being a student, being gay.

Sex is there but offscreen enough to not make me uncomfortable.
If I get the chance to, I'll read on, simple as that.

The arc was provided by the publisher.