In the Midst of Magic
by Christian Cura
Published May 23, 2022
★★★☆☆
Kara is a woman with a fractured past. After a traumatic magical event where her brother is killed, she has sworn off using her magical abilities in an attempt to live a normal life. While working a assignment in an attempt to uncover the underbelly of DC, Kara has a run in with a demon hunter, which sends her world spinning as she dives back into the magical realm.
When the person who killed her brother escapes imprisonment, what once was a fight for normalcy turns into a fight for her life.
This book is a whirlwind of activity right from the start and continues to be jam packed with action and drama. As is common with most urban fantasies, In the Midst of Magic doesn't have to rely on copious amounts of world-building in order to be a solid story.
I won't lie - when I first picked this up, I was a bit concerned about the fact that it was based solely on a female perspective, but was written by a man. I've had some cringeworthy experiences with men trying to write women, but I was pleasantly surprised by the way Christian crafted this story without overly sexualizing his female leads. In fact, he proves that he is skilled in writing strong women, but not making them so perfect that it's unbelievable. Each character has their flaws, whether it's being too willing to bend over backwards for others and sacrifice their own wellbeing, or having a hard exterior that won't let anyone close. The growth in each of his characters is well-worth the read.
The setting of the story is split between coasts: Vancouver and the Vancouver Mystical Penitentiary, and DC. In both locations, there are those in the human population that are Mystics: individuals with magical abilities. I actually quite enjoyed having Canada be represented in this story (yes, it's that Vancouver). I did find that having such a start division in location caused the story to be slightly fractured - more like two storylines running parallel.
I did like the way the author dealt with tough topics. Kara exudes an accurate display of grief and guilt after the death of her brother. She believes that her inaction in the conflict between herself and her former friend caused his passing, and she lives with this daily. The guilt impacts her so greatly that she felt as though she couldn't live with her magical self anymore, and sought to lock it away in silent defeat.
There were aspects of the story I really enjoyed - particularly the game of strategy that works under the events and lives of the other characters. Little pieces of information are revealed along the way, but not enough to give it away to the reader. There are some revelations in the story that caught me quite unaware, but this added to the richness of the plot. There was aspects of political intrigue throughout, as the structure of magical rules (what is allowed and what is forbidden) and the survey of status (the "good" citizens and the criminal underbelly) is used as a pinpoint for the tension exhibited in this book.
The interactions between characters, especially in romance or tension, was done well. Watching Kara come out of her shell and seeing Serene break down her walls was an amazing point to the character development. The romance pieces were strong, but not strong enough to overshadow the main events of the book.
As I mentioned before, this book is rife with action. Every chapter, every interaction is faced with demon-slaying and vendettas. The fighting sequences were done well in the fact that they were easy to follow, but I did feel like there was almost TOO much of the same thing. A lot of the fights felt repetitive, with similar words or phrases being used continuously throughout. This really drew me out of the story at times, as I had to make sure I wasn't reading the same paragraph or page multiple times.
The writing overall was good. Emotions, actions, and intention was easily understood and the words flowed. It made for an easy and quick read. That being said, I did find that there were some grammatical errors throughout, as well as some word or idiom usage that didn't quite make sense for me.
I would be interested to see if there is a chance to see more of the backstory of the other characters, as well as see what sort of options this story has for sequels, prequels or spin-offs.
This would be a great book for those that enjoy Urban Fantasy - it is very similar to the Shadowhunters, and it is even coined in the book as a "hybrid of Harry Potter and Robocop". It is fast-paced, action-packed and carries a lot of good messages.
Get your copy of In the Midst of Magic today!
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