Title: Mageborn
Series: Hollow King #1
Author’s Name: Jessica Thorne
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 394 Pages
ISBN: 978-1838880989
Author or Book Website: N/A
Link to Amazon purchase page: Mageborn
Link to Goodreads: Mageborn
Release Date: N/A
How I Got the Book: Review Copy
Summary of the Book:
A dark and addictive fantasy read for fans of Graceling and Sarah J. Maas. The life of an orphan soldier becomes entwined with that of the mysterious heir to the throne, whose very presence draws out the secret magic living inside her: a magic that breaks every law she is duty-bound to uphold…
The room is small and dark. Row upon row of jars line the shelves, each one sealed with blood-red wax. The seal’s mark is a twisted circle of briar with gleaming, gold-tipped thorns. And in each jar a flicker of forbidden magic dances… beautiful, but deadly.
Sold to the Crown in the aftermath of the Last Great War, Grace Marchant has never known her parents. Now, she trains as an elite soldier tracking down mageborn – those born with an ancient and long-outlawed magic – and destroying them if they don’t surrender their power to the Crown.
The mageborn who submit are collared, then handed over to the King’s cousin and heir: the elusive Bastien Larelwynn, Lord of Thorns, locked away in his shadowy workshop deep inside the castle. What becomes of them is hard to say – the Lord of Thorns keeps his secrets close.
Grace has always fought the voice inside her that questions whether the law is truly just – but when her closest friend is next on Bastien’s list, Grace’s loyalties are tested to the limit. Confronting Bastien – searching his strangely compelling obsidian-black eyes for answers – Grace is shocked to feel herself begin to change, to show the first signs of the wild magic she so fears.
Only the Lord of Thorns has the power to save her and the rest of the mageborn – if he doesn’t destroy them all first…
My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This was a bit of an intense read when the limits of how one feels when doing something they believe might be just, but when someone they care about comes to the top of the list how those feelings might just change. Then she has to confront Bastien and look into his eyes to see what truly happen to the Mageborn that are sent to him collar. He guards his secret very close. Grace has a lot to figure out as she goes through out this story and this is only the first book in the series. I want more of this series. I need to know what happens next.
My Rating of the Book: 4 Stars
From the Book Reviewer's Desk 