by Logan Byrne
Series: Awakened Spells #1
Narrator: Nikiya Palombi
Length: 7 hours and 8 minutes
Genres: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Source: Narrator
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Narration: 4.5 cups
When you’re a thief trying to get by on the scraps of your labor, life is anything but easy.
Lexa Blackmoon is a low-end magical thief with a penchant for taking things others won’t miss. An orphan haunted by the memory of her murdered parents, she lives her life just trying to get by, only looking out for herself. When a shadow mage unexpectedly confronts her and tells her she’s meant for something greater, she can’t help but feel he’s telling the truth.
Taken to a secret resistance camp outside the city, Lexa learns that not only is she a mage, but she possesses the Mark of Merlin, a magical power greater than she’s ever dreamt of. She joins the resistance, training her powers to infiltrate the ranks of M.A.G.I.C., a magical police force tasked with cleaning up the streets from crime and keeping the magical realm a secret from normal humans.
But when the sinister president-turned-dictator, Kiren Nightstorm, attempts to take over the realm, Lexa knows she has to hit him where it hurts: by defeating his secret crime syndicate aimed at enslaving the magical race.
Awakened Spells by Logan Byrne is the first in the series by the same name. Currently, there are four published books being made into audiobooks, narrated by the lovely, Nikiya Palombi. A low-end magical thief discovers she has the mark of Merlin when she joins M.A.G.I.C., a magical police force. Not a bad start to what looks to be a fun series.
Magic, Wands, and Cadets
Caffeinated Aspects:
- While the central story of a girl who doesn’t know she has powers and secret magic police forces aren’t knew, Byrne offers fun elements from wand selections to action-packed cases.
- The motley cast of characters who train with our petty thief, Lexa Blackmoon, were fun, each brought a different skill set and left me excited to work cases with them again. Notice I said work. Byrne allows the reader/listener to slip into the fast-paced story and become caught up in the world and different realms.
- I think while not nearly as complex, fans of Harry Potter, schools of magic etc will enjoy this series.
- The story is a fast-paced and actioned-packed allowing you to become quickly immersed in the story.
- You will find supernatural creatures from elves, gnomes, vampires, shifters and mages in this world.
- The characters are adult, but youthful making this perfect for fans of NA or those transitioning.
- The cases the team work were exciting from cringe worthy villain to secret crime syndicates trying to take over the realm.
- It looks like each book will feature an action-packed case while it develops the characters. It has great potential.
- Lexa is already showing signs of being quite the kick-ass officer and I am looking forward to seeing her growth.
- Nikiya Palombi did a wonderful job of narrating and I appreciated not only the voices she created but her ability to capture their emotions from annoyance to fear.
Decaffeinated Aspects:
- The world is fun, and elements were familiar, but things happen quickly without a lot of world-building or development. Since this is the first book, I will pick up the second audio and see if it develops more.
- I loved the narrator, but occasionally I stumbled across an author who uses “he said”, “she said” at the end of sentences in conversation excessively. Now when I read a book, I barely notice, my eyes slip right over these identifiers, but on audio it’s annoying. Scream worthy annoying. They can change it and I hope the author works on this even if they only tweak the audio versions. I think Palombi’s voices are enough. Another author I love John Scalzi had books like this on audio, and he changed the way he writes because it annoyed him too.
Awakened Spells was a fun beginning to this urban fantasy series and I look forward to the next audio.
A low-end magical thief discovers she has the mark of Merlin when she joins M.A.G.I.C., a magical police force in Awakened Spells by Logan Byrne #iloveaudiobooks #paranormal #fantasy Share on X
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram
Jen
I’ve not heard of this author or series; it sounds fun. I look forward to seeing what you think of the second book. And as for dialogue tags — SO ANNOYING if an author writes with them in high frequency. I feel your pain!
Kimberly
Agreed, thankfully it’s an easy fix.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra
Awakened Spells sounds so good. I could definitely see fans of Harry Potter (like me!) getting into this series. I hadn’t heard of it before, so thanks for putting it on my radar.
Kimberly
Happy to share Suzanne! It is fun putting books on your radar 🙂
Mary Kirkland
That actually sounds pretty good. I could see myself liking this one.
Kimberly
Glad I go to share it with you.
Teresa Mary Rose
This sounds like a fun concept. I always like secret magic worlds and what not. Great review!
Kimberly
I am the same 🙂
Lorna
Oh, the dreaded he said, she said on audio. I know I listened to one that drove me batty and I did mention it on my review. This book sounds pretty good. I think I’ll wait and see what you think of the second one.
Kimberly
Yes, I am waiting for the next audio, we shall see.
Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts
This kind of reminds me of Three Mages and Margarita, which I finished recently! I love the cover of this one though and the synopsis, but I agree, he said/she said being used on audio constantly can get annoying since you can’t skip them like you can with a book.
Kimberly
I will look that one up Sophia!
Stefanie
Hmmm…a maybe on this one for me. It does sound a bit intriguing though. Amazing how there are already four installments in this series and the first book was published in just 2017.
Kimberly
Yes, the audios are trailing behind.
Adriana@BooksOnHerMind
I thought about the first portion of the decaffeinated aspects when I was reading the summary. I thought it went really fast into being the chosen one to fighting the villain in no time.
I like that there are so many supernatural creatures and that it is so fast-paced to an extent because sometimes I’m in the mood for fast paced reads.
Also, this is such a beautiful cover!
Kimberly
Yes, and I think reading this would have gone much smoother, it was very fast-paced and action packed. Having said that, the narrator was stellar it just didn’t translate smoothly.
Debbie Haupt
sounds like you liked it in spite of it’s issues Kim. This looks like something I could sink my teeth in too
Kimberly
Yes. It was a good storyline.
Sophia Rose
I do enjoy seeing a story that takes an obscure person and shows they have hidden depth and talent. The training time and interactions sound great.
LOL, the ‘he/she said’ gets to me on a few audios, too. I do know it can be altered because a couple books I’m part of were altered a little for their audio editions.
Kimberly
Yes, I have seen authors tweak them. Sometimes I notice the changes when I read along while listening.
Northwoman
It sounds really interesting. And yes, I’ve notice a few where every time they speak it’s he said, she said and it is totally annoying on audio. Anne – Books of My Heart
Kimberly
LOL, glad I am not the only one.
Angela
Sounds interesting. Thank’s for the review!
Kimberly
Thanks Angela!
Heidi
Oh gosh, the He said she said on audio would drive me nuts too. I would have to read this not listen.
Kimberly
It is an easy fix too,. Hopefully feedback is listened to, because the story is good,
Tanya @ Girl Plus Books
Sounds like a promising start to the series. Hopefully the next book will develop the world and answer some question. And maybe the author will have dropped the overuse of the identifiers. So annoying in audio!
Kimberly
Very. I am hoping it is fleshed out more. I will try the next one before deciding whether to continue.
Melliane
I saw this one on another blog ans well maybe one day
Kimberly
Ysy, I hope you get to try it.
Nadene
Thief turns cop, I wonder how that transtion worked for her.
Kimberly
Spoilers darling 🙂
Ailyn Koay
does our Lexa miss being a thief? Sometimes I think life was far simpler being a low- end thief than a big ass cop
Kimberly
Or maybe she is putting those skills to good use *winks*