This last week I read Magic Dark, Magic Divine by A.J. Locke, a free ARC provided to me by Entangled Publishing through NetGalley. I was beyond impressed with this first installment in the series, and I’ll give it away now: I really liked this book! As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own!
Quick rundown: bad-ass heroine, lots of magic, a swoon-worthy love interest, great friends and an engaging plot. We have Pennrae, our karate instructor slash secret magic-wielding female lead. She had been asleep for 300 years, a punishment handed down when magic was still alive and well. Now, magic is gone, and Pennrae is living a quiet life as a karate-instructor, until mysterious deaths start happening and everything seems to unravel. In the mix is Callan, her gets-under-her-skin rival instructor whom she swears she hates…until the sparks fly.
I love the diversity of characters, with both our hero and heroine as well as many of the side characters being POC. The story is face paced, with lots of great magical elements mixed in. I liked that we are introduced to all the magic and the world-building piece by piece through examples and plot lines. I do think you could feel that this was the first in a series as there was a lot more explanation and preparation for further books but I was still engaged throughout. I’ll definitely pick up the other books in the series and look forward to reading more from A.J. Locke.
Magic Dark, Magic Divine releases November 15th, 2021! #magicdarkmagicdivine #Entangledpublishing #NetGalley