In this fantasy novel from debut author Jeff McIntyre, readers are taken on a fast-paced journey featuring the return of magic to our world. Blending Arthurian legend, old world folklore, and mythical creatures, this book provides interesting twists and turns throughout.

The author introduces many characters, so pay attention! The way the lives of the characters intertwine is satisfying. The plot is intricate without being overwhelming. There were a couple of subjects introduced that I thought would be important later but were not brought up again – maybe the next book will resolve this? The cover and title of this book are a little underwhelming compared to what the story actually contains. I’d love to see a more eye-catching cover and title as it was the book’s blurb that drew me in. Excited to see where this story goes!

Super cute and cozy. Tells a lovely cozy tale, full of wonder. The cover alone is just perfect ! I adore every characters and every twist of tyhe story

Started it. Read a couple of dozen pages. Stopped. The writing is so painfully bad that I could not stand to go any farther.

I must start by thanking both NetGalley as well as the publisher Loki Press in exchange for my honest review.
An interesting mix of science and magic. As others have said, a book not to be judged by its cover. Totally unique and kind of odd, what will this become? Only reading the series thats coming will tell.

The Garden Gnome, Theory of Magic book 1 by Jeff McIntyre will keep you reading until late into the night. It is a unique book with some original concepts with magic returning after being unheard of for so long. Well, except among a few. Some of which don’t want it to return.

Great blend of science and magic, old ways and the contemporary world in which we are familiar. Good pacing and strong plotting in this book. Sometimes you know what to expect but others not so much. By the end having unexplained things come to light is great. Hope that there is more to come.

It took me a while to get into this story, about 60 percent of the way through the multiple POVs finally started to come together and got pretty interesting. I'm glad that in the end I stuck it out, as I could'nt put the book down once things started to fall into place.
Some chapters I was just skimming to get through, there was alot of FBI, military, and tech CEO backstory and jargen that my brain just wasnt interested in. The family that the main plot point is based around had my favorite chapters and Brian's story pleasently suprised me in the end.

A blend of history, mythology, and spy thriller, this was set up to be a really fascinating story...the premise looked great! However, for me, the writing was just very difficult to get into. It was super-detailed, but not in a way that pulled me in as a reader. It feels like it needs a re-write, maybe a co-author would can take a really good premise and breathe more life into it to make it more captivating and relatable to the reader.

The Garden Gnome has an intriguing story with characters I enjoyed, magic, and mystery that feels a bit sci-fi. The writing style, though, made it hard for me to read. It’s very descriptive, but there is too much “telling” and not enough “showing,” or taking us into the story. This is especially true in the first half of the book with a long buildup to the action. I found it easy to pick up and put down, and I did a lot of skimming because I found the writing to be distractingly unpolished.

This book wasn't quite what I thought it would be but it pleasantly subverted my expectations. It's a fascinating blend of contemporary fantasy, techno thriller, Arthurian legend and spy fiction; which made for one damn interesting story that I had a hard time putting down.

The story follows several different connected characters who become either intentionally or inadvertently involved in the resurgence of magic in the world.

It was a well written and easy read with a fairly quick pace. Overall I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next in the series.

Thanks to Loki Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions provided are my own.