Melissa Caruso

CONTROL THE MAGIC, CONTROL THE WORLD In the Raverran Empire, magic is scarce and those born with power are strictly controlled -- taken as children and conscripted into the Falcon Army. Zaira has lived her life on the streets to avoid this fate, hiding her mage-mark and thieving to survive. But hers is a rare and dangerous magic, one that threatens the entire empire. Lady Amalia Cornaro was never meant to be a Falconer. Heiress and scholar, she was born into a treacherous world of political machinations. But fate has bound the heir and the mage. And as war looms on the horizon, a single spark could turn their city into a pyre. The Tethered Mage is the first novel in a spellbinding new fantasy series.

The Tethered Mage

Lucy Richards 

I can't even begin to explain how much I loved this book! It was so well written and the characters and their arcs are so full of detail and twists. You can't help but connect with them and but fall in love with them! On to book two now!

This took me sooo long to read. It felt more like a chore than something I was reading for fun.

It was quite slow and the main character lacked depth- the characters that I was actually interested in getting to know were side characters who had about ten pages max dedicated to them :/ 

The villains fell very flat to me. The big reveal that Ignazio was in cahoots with Savnoy honestly did not shock or grip me at all, if only because Savnoy was not focused on a lot and Ignazio was a character I didn’t care about all. 

I wish that Caruso had focused on Ruven and made him the main antagonist! He was the “villain” that had the most potential, and yet he was sidelined. 

Overall, I found this book very disappointing.

Louise Shaw

This took me sooo long to read. It felt more like a chore than something I was reading for fun.

It was quite slow and the main character lacked depth- the characters that I was actually interested in getting to know were side characters who had about ten pages max dedicated to them :/ 

The villains fell very flat to me. The big reveal that Ignazio was in cahoots with Savnoy honestly did not shock or grip me at all, if only because Savnoy was not focused on a lot and Ignazio was a character I didn’t care about all. 

I wish that Caruso had focused on Ruven and made him the main antagonist! He was the “villain” that had the most potential, and yet he was sidelined. 

Overall, I found this book very disappointing.



Lauren 

This was a struggle to finish, I found the characters lacking in any depth especially the main and her love interest. 
I did really like some of the characters Zaira was very refreshing 
I only got into the story in the last third of the book where the main character seemed to become more and go through a lot of personal growth, very slow I felt. I won’t read the other books in the series but I’m interested enough I’ll look up what happens.

Sahi K

Zaira is a fire-mage who can decimate a whole city with her power. Amalia is the heir of Raverra who accidentally becomes the Falconer of Zaria to prevent her from burning down the city. Now, Zaira can only unleash her power when Amalia utters the release word. Zaira is taken to the island of Mews where other Falcons and Falconers reside. Lieutenant Marcello Verdi is a top Falconer and an accomplished soldier at the Mews. Ardence, another state in Eruvia is on the verge of a rebellion provoked by its disgruntled nobility and the covert support of the Witch-Lords of Vaskandar. Most of the story follows the three main characters trying to wade through the conspiracy, find the traitors and prevent the war – basically to stop Zaira from having to burn down Ardence for its rebellion.

The story is enjoyable enough. I liked the growth of Amalia’s character from a studious reluctant heir to being able to use her diplomatic skills for good use. Marcello is a loyal soldier who believes the best of his superiors. I especially enjoyed their time together, trying to navigate their attraction in spite of the difference in ranks. There is a lot of courtly intrigue and back stabbing and conspiracies that made for a engaging read. My most problem was with Zaira. Obviously she doesn’t like being taken to the Mews against her will but her character is way too angry and rude to even understand the bigger picture. I am sure there will be more to her in the coming books because she is the only fire-mage but I really didn’t like her in this. Overall, it’s an enjoyable YA fantasy read and hopefully the series will get better.

PS: Thanks you to Orbit Books and Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

***SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 GEMMELL AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT*** 'I couldn't put it down' Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library 'I raced through this exquisite debut in three days and adored it' Fantasy Book Review In the Raverran Empire, magic is scarce and those born with power are strictly controlled - taken as children and conscripted into the Falcon Army. Zaira has lived her life on the streets to avoid this fate, hiding her mage-mark and thieving to survive. But hers is a rare and dangerous magic, one that could threaten the entire empire. Lady Amalia Cornaro was never meant to be a Falconer. Heiress and scholar, she was born into a treacherous world of political machinations. But fate has bound the heir and the mage. And as war looms on the horizon, a single spark could turn their city into a pyre. SET IN A RICH WORLD OF POLITICAL INTRIGUE AND DANGEROUS MAGIC, THE TETHERED MAGE IS A SPELLBINDING DEBUT FROM A MAJOR NEW TALENT. 'Absolutely recommended and on my shortlist for favorite books so far in 2017' Book Smugglers 'A brilliant novel' The Eloquent Page 'Fantastically readable, incredibly addictive and intelligently plotted . . . I loved it' Liz Loves Books 'If you like fantasy, you'll love this book' The Tattooed Book Geek Books by Melissa Caruso: Swords and Fire The Tethered Mage The Defiant Heir The Unbound Empire

Katie Mansion

A little slow to get going, and the MC was a little timid at first, but in the second half of the book, she really came into her own and the plot began to develop. Really liked this book!

Sunyi Dean

Lovely read

Beautifully written, fast paced, and just plain fun. I don't read very many political fantasies but I found this very engaging from start to finish. Probably helps that it is in first person; i think political sff novels are often better served by being in first person.

Judy McClure

I did enjoy most of this book but some of the characters bugged me. Especially Marcello who is bland, immature (for his position ... why is this guy second in command of the Falconers???) and really doesn't contribute much to a crisis ... any of them ... except to worry about how it'll affect how his father and brother will see him. The relationship is very "cute boy meets inexperienced girl and they fall for each other". I liked the main character Amalia and her growth throughout the book but never felt much for Zaira the other sort of main character. This felt like more of a YA book though it's not meant to be. I will finish the series just to see where it goes from here.

Nickie Mohler

In Raverra, if a child shows a mage mark, they are taken by the Empire to become a Falcon. They are the protectors of the realm. Some mage marked have escaped notice and want to remain that way.

I loved this book! This is the second book that I have read by this author this year and she is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I love her writing style, the magic she creates and the characters are fabulous.

Joleen

This arc was provided to me for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 
3 Stars. I had it at 2.5 but I realized I actually enjoyed one character, so she bumped it up.
I find the cover to be absolutely gorgeous and it is what piqued my interest at first. The synopsis seemed like this would be my type of book. I am certain this book could find its audience, but I didn’t find it to be for me. 
In this world, those who wield magic are used as essentially soldiers or known in this world falcons and they are tethered to another person known as falconers with the use of a jess (bracelet). The falcons are essentially slaves as they don’t really have a choice in the matter. This book revolves around Amalia, the heir to a powerful house and she accidentally bonds to a falcon, Zaira. A falcon who doesn’t want to serve the city and wants to free. Even though those in power cannot wield a falcon as they control the power of the falcon. As the book continues its lots of politics and lots of people trying to kill other people. I don’t want to give away the ending, so I will say there were a lot of choices made in the end and I still have a lot of questions. 
The thing that bothered me the most about the book was the obvious rich girl enslaves a poor girl. Amalia didn’t understand why it was so wrong and I found that to be very annoying. I also have a very hard time understanding how Amalia didn’t know what the jest would do when she tethered herself to Zaira. It seemed like a pretty common thing that everyone knew. Perhaps there is an actual answer and I didn’t catch it, but it doesn’t make any sense to me. 
The book definitely had moments where it caught my attention, but I couldn’t get over the whole forced to live in the mews and never allowed to leave unless they were with their falconer. I tried really hard to like this book, but I just didn’t find it to be for me.

Sara Sunshine

Dan Peterson

Callisone Dozier

-- But fate has bound the heir and the mage. And as war looms on the horizon, a single spark could turn their city into a pyre.The Tethered Mage is the first novel in a spellbinding new fantasy series.

The Tethered Mage

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