The KC Warlock Weekly: Review and Blog Tour

Hello again! Today I’m on the blog tour for the indie publication The KC Warlock Weekly by author MN Jolley.

Summary:

My name is Levi. I’m a journalist, I’m autistic, I’m bad at magic, and I swear I didn’t kill her.

Research for the paper usually falls into a few basic patterns. Someone in the city says there’s a troll under Buck O’Neil Bridge, or they’ll call just so a friendly ear will listen to them complain about a pixie infestation.

That sort of content carries me through slow news weeks. It’s rare that I uncover a murder.

Being framed for murder, though? That’s a first.

With the Wizard’s Council hunting me for a crime I didn’t commit, I’ve got no choice but to solve the murder and clear my name. If I don’t unravel this case, nobody will, and I’ll go down for it so hard I might never see the light of day again.

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This was a fun, interesting read. It’s an Own Voices self-published novel with an autistic protagonist. While this is rare in itself, it’s also rare (unfortunately) to find a book that has this established and presents an accurate portrayal of said narrator. Levi stims, has coping mechanisms for sensory overload, struggles with worrying about communication difficulties, and prefers to spend a lot of quiet time alone (except for his cat).

Levi is also not written as a character that should be pitied by the reader — and this is a MAJOR departure from adult fiction’s current focus when it comes to autism. Levi simply tries to lives his life the way that works best for him, and really doesn’t care too much about what other people think of that fact. This was so refreshing it hit me really hard at first in the reading.

The urban fantasy plot is at once familiar and unique; magic is real in a real-world city, but many people aren’t aware of this. Jolley jumps into his premise with no apologies, using a lot of realistic dialogue and sensible exposition (not many info dumps here) to slowly build the world and introduce the characters. Much of the story is told through flashbacks, but shifts in time between the past and present are clearly marked in the text, so it’s pretty easy to follow.

As someone who meticulously edits her own work (and does so partly because being on the spectrum means I’m hyper concerned about plot holes or lapses in continuity), I did notice a few minor things that I would’ve liked to see flushed out a little more. BUT, don’t let my Persnickety Bookdragon eye turn you off; this is a very well-written, well-played-out novel that explores common tropes (like mythological creatures or beings) with a fresh view. It’s part detective novel, part traditional low fantasy, with a smidge of budding romance, a fair amount of Kansas City location references, and an excellent look at an autist having an unexpected adventure.

There is a giveaway link at the bottom of the page, for a signed copy (shipped within the USA).

If you’re at all interested in Own Voices and/or the urban fantasy genre, do check out the author’s links below. The KC Warlock Weekly is the first work I’ve read by this author, but he has other publications out as well, so, go, explore!

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M.N. Jolley is an author based in Kansas City. When he’s not splitting his attention between far too many half finished hobby projects, he writes fantasy novels, with a particular fondness for any conflict that can’t be solved through brute force alone. He is currently working on “The KC Warlock Weekly” and “The Sacrosanct Records”, because even in writing he can’t be pinned down to working on just one project at a time!

From the author:

The book is free to download on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo, and on his website. He believes in media accessibility, as he doesn’t want to gatekeep who has access to his stories. Instead of selling his books, he has a Patreon and a Ko-Fi that he requests readers make donations to to support his writing.

https://mnjolleywriting.com/download-links/

https://www.patreon.com/mnjolley

https://ko-fi.com/mnjolley

Giveaway link: https://woorise.com/mnjolleywriting/kcww-giveaway

KCWW Giveaway