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Nocturna (A Forgery of Magic, #1)

Maya Motayne

Start date: January 1, 2021

Finish date: January 31, 2021

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

May 17, 2019 Dr. Andy rated it liked it

Shelves: audio-narrators-i-love, read-2019

3.5/5

Nocturna follows the misadventures of Crown Prince Alfehr, or Alfie, after his elder brother was murdered and Finn Voy, a face-changing thief with a traumatic past. Alfie is not convinced his brother is dead and is consumed with finding magic that will give him back Desmond. Finn's main goal is to stay alive and fed while on the streets in Castallan. When a deal goes sour and Finn is found by a dangerous mobster, she must make an impossible deal to save her life and magic. When Alfie unleas 3.5/5

Nocturna follows the misadventures of Crown Prince Alfehr, or Alfie, after his elder brother was murdered and Finn Voy, a face-changing thief with a traumatic past. Alfie is not convinced his brother is dead and is consumed with finding magic that will give him back Desmond. Finn's main goal is to stay alive and fed while on the streets in Castallan. When a deal goes sour and Finn is found by a dangerous mobster, she must make an impossible deal to save her life and magic. When Alfie unleashes a darkness in order to save someone close to him, Finn & Alfie must team up to defeat it and protect all of Castallan.

Some of the most well-written world building I've seen in a while is contained in the pages of this book. I absolutely loved the magic system and the mythology of the world of Nocturna. I loved the story of the Dark God and how Nocturna would come about. Can I actually have a novella about the mythology of this world like please??? Also, the audiobook narration was awesome and I loved hearing the Spanish words that were scattered throughout the prose. It really brought the world to life for me.

I did like the two main characters, but I wasn't completely bewitched by either of them. I loved Alfie's quest for knowledge about magic and his understanding of magic in general. Alfie also suffers from anxiety, which is definitely not associated with a lot of male characters in YA, so points for that. However, throughout the story, he has to learn how to deal with that and his anger issues without relying on alcohol. Finn's character was fun because she would do "bad" things with little to no remorse (She's not evil tho). Finn was super sassy and she usually would make me crack a smile or laugh. Alfie and Finn complemented each other really well. However, their scheming skills were a little lackluster in the beginning.

Overall, I did enjoy this and I'm excited to see what will happen in the next book. Theory: (view spoiler) ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jan 11, 2021 Jenn rated it really liked it

Shelves: royalty, signed-copies, books-i-own, new-author-to-me, fantasy, young-adult, do-you-believe-in-magic, 4-star-reads, read-in-2021

3.5 Stars - I rounded up

So I found that I enjoyed this one, but I do get where the not so high reviews are coming from. The themes of this book were heavily borrowed from other stories, but on the counter, I feel like a lot of ideas are taken from other books, it's just how much and where do you draw the lines.

This book has heavy comparisons to A Darker Shade of Magic, Six of Crows, and even Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Those are some heavy hitters right there. And ones that almost an 3.5 Stars - I rounded up

So I found that I enjoyed this one, but I do get where the not so high reviews are coming from. The themes of this book were heavily borrowed from other stories, but on the counter, I feel like a lot of ideas are taken from other books, it's just how much and where do you draw the lines.

This book has heavy comparisons to A Darker Shade of Magic, Six of Crows, and even Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Those are some heavy hitters right there. And ones that almost any fantasy YA book gets compared to. What I'm looking at is, is it blatant copying or just inspired? And what does the author do with the themes? And for this one, I found that as the story went on, I was invested in these characters and wanted to know what happened to them.

When Prince Alfie's brother disappeared without a trace, everyone assumed him dead and that Alfie would take his place. But Alfie believes his brother is still out that and continues to search for magic that can help bring him back. His search leads him to a backdoor illegal game where he meets Finn, a thief who can change faces. This meeting sets the two of them on a crash course where nothing is safe. When the two of them release a spirit so dark that it threatens everyone's way of life, they must come together and deal with the consequences before it gets worse.

I really felt for Alfie and I wanted his brother to be alive (I'm still holding out hope). His pain was so raw and he seemed so lost and alone that I wanted him to succeed. But he was so soft that he needed the hard edges of Finn. But because she was so hard edged, I found it harder to relate to her and to root for her. I did feel that she grew over the course of the book, but she wasn't my favorite character. I did want to know more about the girl who could open voids, but I felt our time with her was a little too short.

I think this was a good start to this world and Motayne left herself plenty to grow with. I'm excited to see where she takes this story and if any of my predictions come through. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review