Spellhacker by M.K. England
Published 21st January 2020 by HarperCollins Children's Books
Star Rating - ****
Goodreads Challenge - 67/50
I was gifted an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis (from Goodreads)
In Kyrkarta, magic—known as maz—was once a freely available natural resource. Then an earthquake released a magical plague, killing thousands and opening the door for a greedy corporation to make maz a commodity that’s tightly controlled—and, of course, outrageously expensive.
Which is why Diz and her three best friends run a highly lucrative, highly illegal maz siphoning gig on the side. Their next job is supposed to be their last heist ever.
But when their plan turns up a powerful new strain of maz that (literally) blows up in their faces, they’re driven to unravel a conspiracy at the very center of the spellplague—and possibly save the world.
No pressure.
Which is why Diz and her three best friends run a highly lucrative, highly illegal maz siphoning gig on the side. Their next job is supposed to be their last heist ever.
But when their plan turns up a powerful new strain of maz that (literally) blows up in their faces, they’re driven to unravel a conspiracy at the very center of the spellplague—and possibly save the world.
No pressure.
My Thoughts
I haven't actually read anything by this author before however I was super drawn in by the synopsis and I'm pleased to say it delivered. I really enjoyed this genre blending book and all of the story that went along with it. There are elements of fantasy and sci-fi throughout this book, as well as it being set in a world with dystopian traits so there's definitely something for everyone in here.
The writing was fast paced and engaging and I finished this book in a couple of days and that's something I haven't done for a while so the story really did pull me in. I liked the magic system too, I thought it was quite unique and I liked how we didn't just have magic wielders and mundane people in this world but we also had the addition of something called a techwitch which is someone who can wield the magic, or Maz as it's known in this world, with the help of technology. It felt like the author had put a lot of thought into the magic system in this world, we had lots of different strains of Maz that all did different things, I also liked the addition of the glossary pertaining to the Maz at the start of the book, this was really helpful.
The characters in this book were great too. I loved all of the LGBTQIA+ rep and it didn't at any point feel like it had been shoehorned into the story to further the plot. It was natural to the story, which I appreciated. I also loved the friendship group and found family aspect that surrounded these characters. I loved how they looked out for each other and I enjoyed the commentary on found family vs blood family. The one thing I will say is that, as an adult, I did find Diz's character a little frustrating. She had a lot of anger and frustration pent up and a lot of her issues could of been solved if she had only talked to someone about them however, I think this will be very relateable to a lot of teenage readers.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. The plot was fast paced and I really enjoyed the magic system and the blend of genres within the story. The characters were great to and I really appreciated the diversity throughout. I will definitely be adding this authors other books to my TBR list.
The writing was fast paced and engaging and I finished this book in a couple of days and that's something I haven't done for a while so the story really did pull me in. I liked the magic system too, I thought it was quite unique and I liked how we didn't just have magic wielders and mundane people in this world but we also had the addition of something called a techwitch which is someone who can wield the magic, or Maz as it's known in this world, with the help of technology. It felt like the author had put a lot of thought into the magic system in this world, we had lots of different strains of Maz that all did different things, I also liked the addition of the glossary pertaining to the Maz at the start of the book, this was really helpful.
The characters in this book were great too. I loved all of the LGBTQIA+ rep and it didn't at any point feel like it had been shoehorned into the story to further the plot. It was natural to the story, which I appreciated. I also loved the friendship group and found family aspect that surrounded these characters. I loved how they looked out for each other and I enjoyed the commentary on found family vs blood family. The one thing I will say is that, as an adult, I did find Diz's character a little frustrating. She had a lot of anger and frustration pent up and a lot of her issues could of been solved if she had only talked to someone about them however, I think this will be very relateable to a lot of teenage readers.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. The plot was fast paced and I really enjoyed the magic system and the blend of genres within the story. The characters were great to and I really appreciated the diversity throughout. I will definitely be adding this authors other books to my TBR list.
Overall Rating
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