This story pulled me into a world ruled by magic. The Gutter Mage is the ultimate outcast who needs no one's friendship or care. A great story with a fantastic ending.

Gutter Mage by J.S. Kelley is a captivating urban fantasy set in a world run completely on magic…but at what cost? It’s a question worth considering, but not one for outlaw mage Rosalind “Roz” Featherstone, whose only concern is the next job that can line her pockets with coin, fill her cup with drink, or lure someone willing and eager to her bed. So when Lord Edmund’s infant son is abducted, and Roz is tasked with looking into the matter in exchange for the biggest payout of her life, she jumps at the opportunity. But as she works to solve the case, Roz uncovers a dark plot that could change her society—and magic—forever.

Roz is a dynamic main character with a few different levels to her, which makes her both relatable and exciting. She karate chops conventional gender norms in the face, actually karate chops baddies in the face, and has absolutely no filter—resulting in some of the funniest and crudest lines I’ve ever read. She proves several times over that you’d want her around when things get rough, but in spite of that, she’s a bit of a loner and doesn’t form many personal relationships outside the one with her partner and friend, Lysander. Roz has been outcast from her magical community as a result of a traumatic incident from her past, where a former mentor assaulted her, and then tried to use her to access a new form of magic. She struggles throughout the novel to process the lingering effects of that event since her mentor ended up dying, and Roz was the one who acquired the new magic. She essentially relives her trauma every time she uses it, and it becomes an interesting study of owning her trauma versus quite literally being controlled by it.

This is a character-driven book, and the plot moves forward with the introduction and interaction of new characters—a little like a video game. Secondary characters reveal information, help Roz and Lysander with details, or pose as obstacles they must overcome. Their NPC-like nature made Gutter Mage feel oddly interactive, like the reader is along for the ride as Roz and Lysander work on their case.

What I didn’t love so much was the main villain. His world-ending, apocalypse-producing actions were based merely on a hunch! It was a plot 15 years in the making, and in the end, it only takes one person to foil the entire convoluted thing. His motives are never really clear, and his actions simply don’t make sense. For all his monologuing, I thought the big bad villain arc would have more meat on its bones, and I thought it’d be a little bit harder to take him down!

By the end of the story, many questions are still left unanswered: An especially prominent character simply vanishes without any explanation or concern, we never get a firm answer on Roz and the identity crisis she suffers about halfway through the book following a rather startling revelation, and we have no indication if there will be any lasting consequences resulting from the villain’s actions. In spite of the main arc involving Lord Edmund and his missing baby being resolved in this book, I felt the novel was missing a satisfying resolution and left entirely too many loose ends.

Overall, Gutter Mage is a quick and easy read, and I firmly believe that’s largely because Roz is so engaging. Kelley provides an intriguing introduction to a fascinating new world and characters, and I could picture future books really expanding Roz’s story—particularly the lore involving magical spirits. While there’s no news of a sequel on the horizon, don’t let that stop you from diving into this fantasy romp. It’s a great choice for those seeking something adventurous and fun with a dash of the unconventional.

I was really interested when I originally heard about this book, but sadly I don't think it's for me.

Words like "dickless," "knucklehead," "harping," and "chickie" harken back to a more old-fashioned, good old boys era. The whole thing has a bit of a Dresden feel. A despondent hero down on her luck, grimy setting, highly capable magicks (but holding back).

For my personal interest, however, the writing feels like it's trying too hard and that the main demographic it's meant to appeal to is pre-teen boy. (Maybe teen boy, idk). It's crude, but in a way that leans immature. So for me, this is a miss.

Gutter Mage
What a fun and entertaining book to read. It was a different vibe than lots of books I have read lately with a female main character. Roz is so many things but the one that stands out the most is that she is human, and she deals with dilemmas both moral and personal. This book might not be for everyone because Roz has a very filthy mouth on her, she is crude and crass. This book was easy to get into and was a great quick read. There was one thing that I did not like about this book and that was the cover, I think they can do better. I read this book in one sitting and I feel bad that it took me so long to write my review.

PS: I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read. Roz is such an irreverent arcanist with a badass power and she solves cases? I like that a lot! There is quite the mystery with this new case with Lord Edmund and not all is what it seems. This book touches on the spirit world and hints at other mysteries while Roz and her partners try to find the missing "baby" and I hope that the author writes more because I want to find out all about, especially more about Saraph.

fabulous book by a new-to-me indie author …. “Gutter Mage” by J.S. Kelley was a magical story filled with intrigue … absolutely recommend

Stars: 4.5 out of 5

This was such a nice surprise of a book! It reads like urban fantasy... in a fantasy world instead of a slightly reimagined modern world. Since I love the urban fantasy vibe, this worked well for me. In order for me to enjoy a book, I need to either be swept away by the story, or fall in love (or hate) with the characters. Some rare gems manage to give me both, but I don't particularly count on it when I start a book. As long as either one of those is present, I am along for the ride.

Well, I'm happy to say that I got both with Gutter Mage. The worldbuilding is complex and expertly done. We are introduced to the world gradually, without unnecessary infodumps, but I never felt lost. The author gave me just enough information to understand what has happening and dolled out further revelations in measured doses. Which kept me interested and invested in the story. 

And the characters, oh the characters! I love Roz with all her flaws and jagged edges. I love how real she feels. She'd been through a very traumatic event and the damage it had done to her both physically and psychologically is still there. It defines a lot of her reactions and interactions with others. But Roz never uses it as an excuse for her shitty behavior, and that's what I like about it. She doesn't play the victim. She knows she is broken in many ways, but she is resolved to not let the past defeat her. 

The trauma of what she'd gone through prevents her from forming normal trusting relationships with others, because as soon as someone gets too close to her, she panics and does everything to push them away. So her relationship with Nye is even more important to her - he is her only friend. The person she trusts with everything. Implicitly and without question. So what happens later in the book is a punch in the gut for both Roz and the reader. 

I also loved the secondary characters who both helped and hindered Roz in her quest. I didn't, however, love the main villain. He suffered from the biggest flaw of the villain world, in my opinion - he loved to monologue too much. Also, his motives for doing what he was doing weren't entirely clear. Yes, he wanted to show the world that enslaving spirits was wrong, but what was the end game for him? He didn't sound like someone ready to give up his unlife for an ideology without some kind of personal gain.

That quip aside, I really loved this book. It was an excellent introduction to this new world and characters. I really hope that more books will follow, because while the main story ark is resolved in this book, the ending leave a lot of questions and loose ends to be developed in future books. 

PS: I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Foul mouthed, bad attitude females are really in vogue right now, and this one has just the right amount of ersatz to keep my attention. I found the character to be relatable, and the plot was not what I was expecting at all. I mean, yes, you knew the job wasn't going to be the job, but I didn't expect where it went. Totally looking forward to the Roz's next adventure!

I thought this book was entertaining. I liked the main character for the most part. I wish she had been a little less crude. The magic system and the world were interesting. I wish they had been expanded upon more. I was hoping to get more books in this world to explore the magic and the characters more. Overall I found it to be a fun read but not mind blowing. I gave it 3.5 stars

I struggled with this book. I read the reviews that DESTROYED it so I eagerly returned to it as EXPECTING it to be bad and really, thoroughly enjoyed it. I would love this to become a series.

Murder, mystery, and magic. What an utterly thrilling combination. I went into this book knowing almost nothing about it except at the cover was gorgeous and I'd been wanting to read this author. I was hooked from the very first chapter and could barely put it down. Not only was the magic system fascinating but the mystery was complex and deliciously twisty.
Full review to come on YouTube.

I feel so bad because I received an ARC of this book and am late reviewing it. It was a really good book too, the main character Roz aka the Gutter Mage is one kick butt character, she’s crass, no holds barred, goes head first into trouble without thinking. In most books I’ve read recently its the male character leading the charge and the female character not being so forward in language or fighting. Roz was almost a breath of fresh air compared to most main female characters you don’t see them like her in most books.

I loved the world building in this book, the magic system was so unique, especially as more of it unraveled throughout the book. Different Mage class systems, that Roz doesn’t want to be a part of, and they use spirits to power everything including magical items. I enjoyed almost all of the characters even the smaller characters like the inn keepers or people she met along the way. I won’t mention my favorites because there may be spoilers in that. This doesn’t say book one but I feel like it might be a book one. Either way I really enjoyed it and would definitely read more from this author.

Gutter Mage does an interesting thing in combining two fantasy genres of urban fantasy and more "traditional" fantasy. This does a great job of making the reader familiar with the setting while still adding to the genre. So the setting and world-building choices are excellent. Roz is definitely rough around the edges and abrasive to almost everyone in the book. Many times her humor didn't really land with me. The many twists in the story kept me flipping the pages. I just had to know how it ended. So I came for the Roz, but stayed for the twisty plot.

Very enjoyable adventure with a refreshing anti-heroine.

Roz Featherstone is most adamantly NOT a mage! but she IS obscenely powerful and at an early time in her life an eager student of magery. That was before her professor offered her some extra-curricular activities. Activities that would change Roz's life forever in ways she has yet to figure out or comprehend.

Now she and her partner Lysander are for hire to anyone willing to pay. They'll right wrongs, wrong rights (for the right coin) and generally mercenary for hire. Just don't refer to her by the epithet 'Gutter Mage' if you want to keep your teeth in your head. Then they are approached by the Major Domo of one of the regions most prestigious Lords to retrieve a kidnapped baby...and the price is definitely right! But, the job keeps having queer events happening and Roz is starting to think that all is NOT as it seems. (she's right)

Roz is a hard drinking, filthy mouthed brawler with esteem issues and a hoot to follow thru the twists and turns of the story. I highly recommend and look forward to further adventures of the Gutter Mage.

J.S. Kelley's Gutter Mage is a great, quick romp into a fascinating universe that feels ripe for expansion. Their characters show authentic growth and development, and I'm always a sucker for interesting magic systems that are understandable without too much exposition but allow for serious depth as the reader or characters learn more. Kelley's world feels expansive, even though the story takes place in just a handful of locations - their light touch at dropping in just enough detail to create the world for their reader is masterfully done. I really hope we get to see more in this world, but even if not, Gutter Mage is a definite read from me.

This was a great, quick read once I was able to take the time to read it. I could have finished it in one sitting, because it held my attention so well. There wasn't much attention to detail. I usually enjoy that in a book as it allows me to focus more on the characters and less on drudging through 'words that don't add much to the storyline.
I would be interested to read more based in this world.
Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a free and unbiased review. It was great!!!

Rosalyn Featherstone - "Roz" to her friends, the "Gutter Mage" to her detractors, is a rough-hewn arcanist (don't call her a mage!) who, along with her partner Lysander (Lye), works as a mercenary for hire. Things are going well - or as well as usual, anyway, when Lye brings in a new customer - chamberlain to Lord Edgar, who is searching for his lost son. The situation is nothing like it appears, and Roz and Lye are quickly caught up in events that go far beyond their original assignment.

TIghtly woven, fast-paced, and original, The Gutter Mage was a fast, fun read, about an original character in a world with a unique take on magic. Suggested for adults only due to profanity and sexual encounters.

What a great book! This almost like the better of the Dresden books. Fun , fast paced and a feirce main character? This book is wonderful.

While a student at the Mage Academy, Rosaline was subjected to a banned arcane ritual which forever changed her. She evolved into a foul mouthed hard drinking individual resolved to never be that vulnerable again.. . She and her only friend . Lysander form a magical investigation firm .garnering her a detested nickname the "gutter mage."". When Lord Ariel hires them to recover his kidnapped infant, they discover all is not as it seems and uncover a nefarious plot that would forever damage their world and its people..Roz is an unusual and unlikely heroine dealing with personal and moral dilemmas. Set in a very interesting world which the author's prose makes easily visualized this noir fantasy thriller has a lot to offer. It utilizes a unique magic system and a unique plot premise. I hope the author has more magical investigation adventures waiting in the wings as I would gladly revisit the characters.

Gutter Mage
by J. S. Kelley
⚡️ I was provided an e-ARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
🌟: 2 / 5
📚: When the son of a Lord is kidnapped and all clues point to a secretive circle of mages, a magical outcast is hired to solve the crime.
💭: To be completely blunt, I really did not like this book. I requested this book because I was like, oh cool, a fantasy noir mystery, let me give this a shot. However, I should have let the bad cover art be my gut check on this because the inside made my cringe even harder than the outside did.

The writing tried so, so hard to be edgy and dry that it came off stilted, and I think that the tone was juuuust the tip of the iceberg for me. I get that a sarcastic antihero is a trendy lead to have right now, but I think that this book almost proves how hard it is to make this archetype actually succeed at being likeable but still not a good person. Not that it doesn’t try, so many elements that could possibly contribute to them being complex are brought to the table and are just kind of left there. While Roz isn’t the perfect lead, which is kind of the whole point, they’re just an actively boring character who can basically be boiled down into a bullet pointed list of traits that are never truly shown in a way that makes her dynamic or even likeable. And in hindsight, a few hours after finishing the book, I’m not entirely sure what Roz’s motivations even were? I think they were to have money to pay rent and to abandon their nickname of “Gutter Mage,” and truth be told, I don’t honestly know what ANYONE’S motivations were in this book.

And not to have an entire section of this review be spoilers, but like, ahem— [SPOILER] I just really want to know what the fuck was up with like the entire back third of this book being what was essentially a really poorly thrown out there villain speech? My biggest pet peeve in any book, but in mysteries especially, is when foreshadowing, redirects, and lead-ins are so poorly done that the end feels out of left field, and I think that this very well might be the worst of the worst I’ve read. Usually in mysteries, you can kind of give the author wiggle room because you can make assumptions based on how people act in the real world, but because this is a fantasy book, the bigger what and why of the mystery was world building that is genuinely NEVER explained.

Like, not to put this book on blast completely, but I actually felt like I was dumb for not grasping plot that I don’t think was actually there to begin with (actually after writing that sentence, that is what I’m doing because I don’t think there were any redeeming factors for me?). What this book comes down to is that the main character’s former mentor assaulted and used her to try a new type of magic that gives her power instead of the normal magic that everyone in this universe has access to that requires study and practice. In doing this, he summoned a spirit that inhabits her body without her or the spirit being aware of it, and he dies in the process. THEN his ghost tries to usher in the apocalypse 15 years later by putting a who-dun-it mystery into play to get said former student to go to where his scheme is taking place. The teacher recruits her best friend slash hot sidekick to get her to go along with it, and then when the best friend slash hot sidekick’s betrayal is realized, he just disappears. Like, he is not in the rest of the book, and there is no explanation until the end when the main character considers that she has no idea what happened to him. Anyway, the reason that literally all of this went down, and is somehow extremely quickly foiled by one person, despite it being a plot that has been in play for FIFTEEN YEARS, is because the mentor’s ghost fell in love with the spirit that may or may not (it is NEVER CONFIRMED) be inhabiting the main character as he summoned it and immediately died. This book made me feel like I was losing my grip on my sanity because I could not make it make sense or care about any of the characters, and I just have come to the conclusion that it is a terrible book. [END SPOILER]

Another thing that probably only bothered me very specifically is within the concept of, the main character, Roz’s ability to control fire. The fact that she uses it in combat and is able to reduce an enemy to ashes in seconds was presented so early in the book that it absolutely, truly threw me off for a good chunk of the book. Like, the fact that it takes multiple HOURS at approximately 1800ºF to cremate a body, and the story expects me to just roll with the fact that this character JUST SO HAPPENS to get fire even hotter than that from their hands? This book is 100% someone’s two player character DND game, but even DND has a fragmentary grasp on the laws of physics, which is much more than this book does.

Again, I hated this book. It includes my noir mystery pet peeve where the villain just gives away their whole plan at the very end and throws in info that barely makes sense and reminds me of creative writing that I did in middle school, as well as my other pet peeve, which is a hot but can’t be bothered woman who was clearly written by a man.

Anyway, I guess the TL;DR of this book is that you don’t have to waste your time reading books with bad covers if you don’t want to. The cover is there to sell you on the book, and sometimes it’s pretty telling of the content inside too.