Mageborn: An absolutely gripping fantasy novel (The Hollow King)

Love this...I'm looking forward to the next one! Thank you! Really good read..I'm ready for what's next..here we go...bam! Like it..

Only the very end of the description hints at the fact that this becomes a significantly descriptive romance. That's not necessarily a bad thing but not my kettle of fish. -1 star for not having a clearer indication that it was going to devolve into a 2 character romance where everyone else is secondary, and where the resolution of the plot is a sex scene.

Mageborn is a perfect example of how new life can be breathed into old cliches. There's nothing unusual about this book in terms of its themes, plot or characters - orphan girl searching for her past and her purpose, handsome and brooding prince with untold power, societal class feud between those with magic and those without, and the magic system itself, where users can control one element or aspect such as fire, water or music.🪞Yet it still felt fresh and exciting, a cleverness that came not from original ideas but how they were woven together. Tension and loss and hope and discovery - the world was rich and the characters inspiring. It was a truly phenomenal first half or so, and I was ready to give it five stars.🪞Unfortunately it only gets four, because of this little thing called 'romance'. And yeah, sue me, but it makes me grumpy when it doesn't feel natural to either the characters or the plot, and this was one of those. This exciting tale of political scandal, magical exploitation, the almost-rape of a royal prince, chases through tunnels and streets and...oh yeah, lots of gazing into each other's eyes adoringly. Heartfelt declarations. Descriptions of how the other completes them. Meaningless sacrifices and boring paragraphs when to me, the romance should have been only secondary to the action. It deflated the tension and undermined the climax, and I felt a little let down after such a great build up.🪞There were also a few moments where things were either over-explained to death, or entirely under-explained/inconsistent. It was as if huge chunks of text had been edited out after reading, and sometimes I struggled to understand things that may be presumed obvious by the writer, while others were coloured as 'revelations' when I could have sworn we'd found out about them several chapters earlier.🪞A good book, but with the potential to be a great one. But the author's writing style and imagination may be enough to entice me back for the sequel...

I wrote a review of the other book in this duology. This one was the same...griping, addicting and interesting. Truly fantasy with some unique takes on the motivations of both villains and heroes. I loved that the predictable romance was a slow burn and kept my anticipating. There were some surprises, too! It's really hard to take me off- guard. I keep it general when I review a book as to not give away much, so let me just say the vivid description of people and places will truly make you feel like you know these characters and see these settings. Really good read!

I'm so let down by this book it hurts.I loved the romance, I loved he didn't cheat, I loved the magic and his superior power. Loved the enemy and storyline.But it all was WASTED with two of the weakest pussies I've ever read in a book! He's supposed to be the most powerful mage in the land- ok. So he has family issues, and can't remember his life before 6 or 10 years ago. You’d think he would know who he can trust by now. He let's people hurt him, come on to him, betray him, drug him, use magic on him, try to assassinate him and he gives them all these ways out.He never gets mad and kicks butt. He rethinks it over and lets it continue.A randy queen who won't take no and he's just sitting there letting her crawl on him and drug him.And the heroine, Grace- gawd- get that so called spine of yours and drag him out of there. Stand up to Kane, the Queen, Do something! Both of them dumb as rocks, get a fing plan.I know I'm ranting a bit too hard, it's just if they're so all powerful then injustice right in front of their faces should not be allowed regardless of who is behind it.I kept wishing that the hero would bitxhslap the queen and punch out Kane and woe to anyone who backed them. But ...no. they always played by the rules made by other people. Bad people.Fyi - I'm only at 60% but I will finish because I love romance fantasy between magical couples.

3.5 stars!Mageborn was a pretty good read. My very first from this author. It’s fantasy read set in a magical medieval feeling world. There’s an ailing king, some magical mythology, and sort of a corrupt royal agenda.I enjoyed the main plot of the story. And I liked most of the characters. These people who sort of edge the line of good and evil. Honestly most of the characters in this book do bad things, but they also have somewhat good intentions, or they are only doing what they believe is the right thing. I mean there are true bad characters in this story, but it’s difficult at times to weed them out. I enjoyed the heroine, Grace. She’s loyal to the crown and the Academy she fights for, but she also has secrets and an unexplainable connection with the Lord of Thorns. Bastien is said Lord of Thorns, a mageborn, who is also the heir to the crown as the ailing king has no children. Anyway. I don’t want to give the entire story away, so I’ll just give a few opinions. I think the bones of this story are good. There is so much potential for a GREAT story, and I can’t wait to see if that comes in book two!

I really enjoyed this book. Grace works in the academy hunting done bad mageborns. She has her own secrets she is keeping. Grace and her team are sent to the palace. Grace is tasked with protecting the Lord of Thorns. Bastien is the prince of the mageborn. He helps them when he can. Someone is out to kill him. Grace and her team must find out what is happening to all the mageborn who end up dead. Something happens and Bastien and Grace and team must leave. This book has lots of twist and turns and plot twists. When Bastien gets his memory back. You find out who certain people really are. Things you don’t see coming until the end.

An easy to read book with no complications. Spent a couple of pleasant hours reading it

I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down, got so engrossed! I am looking forward to the next!

I started reading Mageborn not knowing what to expect because unlike other books I have read lately the cover doesn't give much away and has a Beauty and The Beast feel to it. Turns out it was an addicting read and I struggled to put the book down. This is a perfect read for fans of magic, fantasy, romance and plot twists.The characters were alluring and Grace is a kick-ass heroine we all need. She is strong, smart and knows her mind. Whereas Bastien, the Lord of Thorns, doesn't seem to know himself and is still in the process of figuring things out with Grace's help.This book one in a two-book series and I can't wait to get my hands on book two because this book has lived up to my expectations. I can't wait to dive back into Grace's and Bastien's story!

The amount of positive reviews baffles me. The story had great potential that wasn't fulfilled, thus far at least. I'm currently 38% through this book and I constantly find myself scratching my head at the lack of world building, the lack of decriptions regarding the characters and their surroundings, their actions and the choppy 'flow' of conversations with characters often going through several emotions within seconds of reading.I find a lot of their actions unbelievable and rushed, without much logic or sense behind them. The love aspect between the protagonist Grace and her apparent "enemy" Bastien is being pushed too quickly and without depth. We go from her seeing him as scary enemy Nr 1 to someone she constantly feels pulled towards with hints of her attraction towards him whenever possible.This is a subtle spoiler, but just to prove a point... we have Bastien being drugged up by some apparent friend and a not so lovely lady to suggest he is being 🍇ed and SA'd to force an heir to the threatend Throne... yet two seconds later, we find Bastien saved out of the Palace and away from the perpetrators in Graces headquarters and in his daziness he just randomly kisses her for no reason and immediately after some sleep thats all they keep referencing back two? With Grace talking about how she could just lean in and kiss him as well and then slap herself on the wrist for the thought when just before the "attack" she hated him and everything he represented...The relationships are so unbelievable and we are constantly confronted with words and forms of magic and different kinds of mageborn without ever getting a proper explanation as to what they are or do. I find this book a real struggle to read, and I'm used to complex, high fantasy stories spanning over several books in a series. I will try and finish this book but I will definitely not purchase the second book. If something changes my mind in the next 60% of the book then I will update this review.For now, meh. Reading once and in a few days probably forgotten about.

This book couldn’t have been more up my street if it had been written specifically with me in mind. It is full of all my favourite things, and to cap it all, it’s the first book in what promises to be an excellent series.I know there is a lot of debate about prologues, but I love them, and the one in this book positively drips with sinister images and intrigue. I was hooked from page one and couldn’t put it down!There are so many wonderful characters in this book who, despite the fantastical setting, remain deeply human and relatable, each flawed in their own way. Jessica Thorne’s skill at creating these characters meant that my heart broke for one character despite only having known them for a few pages. Bastien is a character that led to many conflicting emotions that I obsessed over like a teenage fangirl even when I wasn’t reading. I fell for him at first sight, and desperately wanted to discover that he was not the feared Lord of Thorns, but was in fact misunderstood, but I have been hurt by literary characters before who turned out to not be what they seemed after I fell for them, and I was scared that Bastien was going to turn out the same way. Whether he did or not, I will leave for you to find out for yourself.I loved the premise of magic being outlawed for the masses, but stolen and treated as a game by the nobility. I loved all the twists and turns, and non-stop action.