Scan barcode
A review by multicoloredbookreviews
Defense Magic by Nika Gray
2.0
In my review of the previous book, Sparking Magic, I'd said that even though the book was super rough, the intrigue built throughout had been enough to compel me to keep going—I'd even taken the time to create a Pinterest board for it, for crying out loud!
Well, that's decidedly not the case anymore.
The preceding title in the Protectors Academy series had been quite bad on the editing and proofreading fronts; this one was leaps and bounds worse. It wasn't just the grammar, punctuation, repetition, and missing words; the exposition through dialogue was extremely heavy-handed and almost unbearable, and even plot points changed.
Aiden had been the shifter of the group previously, with a distinctly sharp sense of smell that allowed him to scent the change in the guys after their Fae magic had been unleashed, and an ability to change into different creatures. Now, it was Declan who could shift into a wolf—just a silver wolf—with no mention of any enhanced abilities whatsoever. But lo and behold mate bonds were suddenly a thing now, which his non-shifter mother seemingly knew all about.
But even worse than that was the fact that even though it had already been established, in the first book of the trilogy, the identity of the four guys that had that magnetic pull towards Sadie, this book decided none of them had any idea their group was supposed to be a quintet and fully played ignorant of the fact it had already been settled that Aiden was to be the fourth boyfriend. These books are under 200 pages long. Am I really supposed to have forgotten Declan and Aiden had a full conversation where both of them had confirmed they felt the irresistible draw towards Sadie? And that only they, Cole, and Fergus reacted in that way?
And it's not like the amazing storytelling was enough to keep me engaged enough to overlook all these glaring mistakes, either. There was virtually no plot progression on anything I hadn't already guessed.
The book was so badly paced I have no words to describe it. Sadie would be like, "I'm so worried this spell is eating away at the guys' brains and will leave lasting damage. But first, let me go have dinner before I go try to help them". Girl. Girl. WTF is wrong with you? You tell me you're worried, but you act anything but. And that, right there, is how the whole book was: one thing would be told and a completely different one shown. And the conflicting messages made reading Defense Magic very unpleasant. Not to mention how half the time the descriptions given of specific events were impossible to picture and make sense of.
I have no expectations the final book in the trilogy will be any better than this one, and I have no desire to spend time or money on such careless work. Frankly, if the author is unwilling to spend her own time and money in perfecting her publications (or, at the very least, making sure at least the plot continuity is there), then I certainly shouldn't be expected to, either.
Well, that's decidedly not the case anymore.
The preceding title in the Protectors Academy series had been quite bad on the editing and proofreading fronts; this one was leaps and bounds worse. It wasn't just the grammar, punctuation, repetition, and missing words; the exposition through dialogue was extremely heavy-handed and almost unbearable, and even plot points changed.
Aiden had been the shifter of the group previously, with a distinctly sharp sense of smell that allowed him to scent the change in the guys after their Fae magic had been unleashed, and an ability to change into different creatures. Now, it was Declan who could shift into a wolf—just a silver wolf—with no mention of any enhanced abilities whatsoever. But lo and behold mate bonds were suddenly a thing now, which his non-shifter mother seemingly knew all about.
But even worse than that was the fact that even though it had already been established, in the first book of the trilogy, the identity of the four guys that had that magnetic pull towards Sadie, this book decided none of them had any idea their group was supposed to be a quintet and fully played ignorant of the fact it had already been settled that Aiden was to be the fourth boyfriend. These books are under 200 pages long. Am I really supposed to have forgotten Declan and Aiden had a full conversation where both of them had confirmed they felt the irresistible draw towards Sadie? And that only they, Cole, and Fergus reacted in that way?
And it's not like the amazing storytelling was enough to keep me engaged enough to overlook all these glaring mistakes, either. There was virtually no plot progression on anything I hadn't already guessed.
The book was so badly paced I have no words to describe it. Sadie would be like, "I'm so worried this spell is eating away at the guys' brains and will leave lasting damage. But first, let me go have dinner before I go try to help them". Girl. Girl. WTF is wrong with you? You tell me you're worried, but you act anything but. And that, right there, is how the whole book was: one thing would be told and a completely different one shown. And the conflicting messages made reading Defense Magic very unpleasant. Not to mention how half the time the descriptions given of specific events were impossible to picture and make sense of.
I have no expectations the final book in the trilogy will be any better than this one, and I have no desire to spend time or money on such careless work. Frankly, if the author is unwilling to spend her own time and money in perfecting her publications (or, at the very least, making sure at least the plot continuity is there), then I certainly shouldn't be expected to, either.