Slouch Witch (The Lazy Girl's Guide to Magic, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jul 23, 2018 Katyana rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, uf

I enjoyed this super fast read, for the most part, but I had some problems with the setup.

Firstly... I despise the Order. I think they are a bunch of horrible, political, elitist buffoons. Everything from Ivy's past, to their reaction to this current blunder (they threaten her with jail if she doesn't drop her life and agree to play along with this binding... a situation that is 100% their fault), to the whole plot of this novel... makes them seem like an organization that needs to be brought do I enjoyed this super fast read, for the most part, but I had some problems with the setup.

Firstly... I despise the Order. I think they are a bunch of horrible, political, elitist buffoons. Everything from Ivy's past, to their reaction to this current blunder (they threaten her with jail if she doesn't drop her life and agree to play along with this binding... a situation that is 100% their fault), to the whole plot of this novel... makes them seem like an organization that needs to be brought down. They are utterly full of themselves, for a group that is so easily played.

Here's the thing. There's no real redeeming moment for them. What they did to Ivy in the past is inexcusable ... and for Winter to figure it out so easily, but do nothing to change it... well, it doesn't serve his character, nor does it serve them as an organization. If he could figure it out so easily, then it was clearly transparent to everyone, and yet they went ahead and ruined Ivy's life, treating her like some kind of scourge. That makes them seem cruel, at best. Evil, at worst. Then with the plot of the current story, they just seem inept.

I think the setup was the primary problem. They were moronic, making this mistake that bonded Ivy to Winter, and they responded to it with high-handed bullying. That's even more unforgivable if everyone knows she was treated poorly when she was a member.

Then from there, Winter is a total dick. It's a biiiiiiiig stretch from her being bullied into agreeing to trail along behind him so he can continue his work despite their binding, to him dragging her to the gym before dawn and being a complete asshole to her, as if she's his slave. She doesn't want this job, she didn't do anything to bring this on herself, and he's lording it over her as if she's some recruit he has to whip into shape. I will say I despised him for the first 2/3 of the book. And his turnaround at the end ... I didn't feel like there was a foundation laid for that.

And Ivy let herself get browbeaten into doing what he wanted way too much. I feel like ... I would have done better with all the above if she had done more to hold her own. Like, Winter leaves her trapped in the library wards for hours, to be a dick? That's fine. I would have dropped my pants and pissed on the floor.

Basically, I enjoyed the story, but loathed the Order and everyone in it, which is a tough thing, since the plan seems to be to roll Ivy into the Order. But for all I can see, they are a bloated, old-fashioned institution that needs to be put down. Yeah yeah, they do some good things. But they can do good things in a different iteration, because at this point they seem to be 75% corrupt. ...more

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Sep 06, 2018 Thenia rated it really liked it

Shelves: series, reviewed, contemporary, r-ab, paranormal, magic, 2018

The fun story about Ivy, a lazy genius who thinks rules are simply strongly worded suggestions, and Raphael, a stickler for rules and order, who gets stuck with Ivy while they investigate a case of mistaken identity that involves her.

Ivy is more than a little reluctant to be back in a world she'd left behind years ago, and wants to get the mess she finds herself in sorted as soon as possible. Unfortunately the case is not as simple as she would have liked, and when a very powerful magical object ...more

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Jul 06, 2020 Dichotomy Girl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, urban-fantasy, indie, kindle-unlimited

This was my first book by Helen Harper and I was pleasantly surprised. I lean more towards Urban Fantasy than Paranormal Romance (as I like my Romance Slow burn and my sex scenes mostly offpage) and at this point, I feel like I've read most of the good traditionally published ones out there. This past year I've turned to more indie / author-published options, which can be a bit hit or miss.

I liked this MC, she was lazy and a bit abrasive, without getting to the point of being annoying. But defin ...more

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