Twisted Magic

this such such a heart-warming read, i had such a good time with this.

the world-building really shocked me here, it was so immersive and i could visualise it so well.

korin easily became one of my favourite characters, he was so loveable. i loved the romance in this as well - my only thing is that i wish it was a little longer to really develop the world and the plot a little more.

i did have a really good time with this though and can’t want to read more from this author!

thank you so much to netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc 🫶🏻

Before beginning, I would just like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book!

In all honesty, this was a pleasure to read. It felt light and enjoyable, I was able to appreciate the lovable character and warm atmosphere. Although I did really enjoy that Webb added splashes of darkness, just to make the plot and characters that bit more interesting.

For such a short novel, the world was shockingly well-developed. I do wish more time however was spent explaining certain intricacies of the world. A world map would have been an incredible help in trying to visualise certain aspects in the book. Still, most importantly, the world felt alive.

The characters themselves were great as well! Korin was simply a lovely character. Even with side characters, such as Marta, I found myself growing attached despite their limited appearance. One of my favourite aspects of fantasy is combining the fantastical with reality. When a reader somehow relates to a tale about evil trees and magical knights, that to me is a sign of an excellent fantasy author.

I just loved the relationship between Korin and Adan, both combining to be a fun mix of trauma and hope. Once more my only critique is that I wish the book was extended. There were certain moments between the two that were so adorable and I wanted as a reader to sit in those moments and savour them. I felt the same with the plot also, while I could understand it well, I think it could have benefitted slightly with more detail. Simply to add to the depth of emotions the reader can feel as the story unfolds.

Nonetheless, I genuinely adored this book. It was charming, warm and authentic. A perfect read for those who want to immerse themselves into a cute love story and enthralling plot.

Thank you to Netgalley, Barbara.J. Webb, and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This would be a great book to start with if you are looking to dip a toe into fantasy. The plot was accessible and straightforward with queer romance, a little mystery, and a lot of magic. If you are looking for a 500-600 pager with ultra detailed world building, this may not be the one for you. That being said, the amount laid out in 188 pages was impressive and did not feel lacking.

By page 2, I was in love with Korin's wholesome demeanor despite the dark past he is trying to move forward from. I am all for a story with a mysterious blight, and healing magic being the primary focus was refreshing. Korin and Adan's relationship fell flat for me at first due to a lack of tension, but it grew on me as the book progressed.

Overall, even with some dark undertones and the suspense of the blight, this book gave me the warm and fuzzies. I look forward to book #2.

I requested this ARC with no expectations, I don't usually read novellas, but I ended up loving it so much! Could not put it down. Twisted Magic is such a sweet story, it reads as borderline cozy fantasy but has also some dark undertones and subtle social commentary. But ultimately it read as a story of love and redemption.

What I loved the most
-The love story was super cute! Korin was such a lovely MC and Ádan... I think I love him.
-The redemption story arc. Very well executed.
-The worldbuilding. The author managed to create a world with a lot of history and a cool magic system in such few pages while still mainly focusing on the characters.
-Boy, was it spicy! Caught be off-guard, but in a good way.

What I didn't like
-The author states that she has a non-traditional relationship with grammar, which I respect but do not enjoy. The prose is also quite simple and the sentence-by-sentence somewhat rough.

But then again, the novel is currently going through a last edit, so those things will likely be polished a bit.

All together, this was a great read! Didn't get boring for one second. I only wish the book would've been fleshed out, I felt like there was room for that, and I didn't want to leave the world and the characters behind so quickly. (That being said, I really respect that the author just wrote the story she wanted to wrote, how she didn't add any unnecessary fluff just to add to the page count.)
But luckily, Twisted Magic is the first in a series! The second part will be releasing in December.

Thank you so much for this ARC to NetGalley and author Barbara J. Webb.

Excellent book! Really draws you into the magical world. Fantastic plot twist that I didn’t see coming. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series in Dec 24

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and will look forward to book two. I'm seeing other reviews commenting on grammatical errors, which usually dump me out of a book (the errors, not the reviews), but I didn't notice an undue amount of problems. Yes, there were some plot holes, but I was having enough fun reading that I didn't dwell on them. Overall, I was invested in the POV character and I'll gladly read more about him.

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

I love this book. I actually found myself falling into it and just getting lost. The protagonist is wonderful and his humanity shines. It’s incredibly well written. I am now a fan of the author.

This book did more in its 156 pages than any other book I have read accomplished in easily twice that. We have a great story with a fully realized world and great characters. The only thing I think that could make this better is actually to make it longer. There was some scenes I would have enjoyed to read more fleshed out as there really wasn't anything that wasn't 100% necessary to plot. Some aspects could have been further explained as well- there were a couple of world building points that the reader is told that you just have to buy into. Either way, I absolutely adore these characters and their story and I cannot wait to read the next installment!

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic, 10 out of 10, loved this book. I loved it so much that when I finished the book I actually flinched in disappointment, something that has never happened to me before. I was captivated by the story and characters and fell head first into the world so easily. I love that we start after a big event happened and dealing with some of the fallout from that. I feel like I've never read a book with that framing device before and it was refreshingly enjoyable.

I will definitely be getting the next book in the series when it comes out in Dec 2024. This book gets bonus points for being a good representation of LGBTQIA+ people and relationships. My only con for the book is I wish it was longer! There's a sneak peek of book 2 at the end of this book which will tide me over.

#NetGalley #TwistedMagic