Ruthless Magic

Written by Megan Crewe

Narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya and Austin Rising

In the contest to keep their magic, the only options may be die . . . or kill.

Each year, the North American Confederation of Mages assesses every sixteen-year-old novice. Some will be chosen. The rest must undergo a procedure to destroy their magical ability unless they prove themselves in the mysterious and brutal Mages' Exam.

Disadvantaged by her parents' low standing, Rocio Lopez has dedicated herself to expanding her considerable talent to earn a place in the Confederation. Their rejection leaves her reeling-and determined to fight to keep her magic.

Long ashamed of his mediocre abilities, Finn Lockwood knows the Confederation accepted him only because of his prominent family. Declaring for the Exam instead means a chance to confirm his true worth.

Thrown into the testing with little preparation, Rocio and Finn find themselves becoming unlikely allies-and possibly more. But the Exam holds secrets more horrifying than either could have imagined. What are the examiners really testing them for? And as the trials become increasingly vicious, how much are they willing to sacrifice to win?

Contains mature themes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jul 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781630156015

Megan Crewe

Like many authors, Megan Crewe finds writing about herself much more difficult than making things up. A few definite facts: she lives with her husband, son, and three cats in Toronto, Canada (and does on occasion say “eh”); she tutors children and teens with special needs; and she can’t look at the night sky without speculating about who else might be out there. Along with the Earth & Sky trilogy, she is the author of the paranormal novel Give Up the Ghost and the postapocalyptic Fallen World trilogy. She can be found online at www.megancrewe.com.

Reviews for Ruthless Magic

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This first in a new urban fantasy series is told from two points of view. Finn Lockwood is a magician without too much ability but he knows his future is set because his family has had a prominent place in the magical elite. Rocio Lopez is a much more talented magician but her family doesn't have that history. Both of her parents have been Dampered - had their magical ability throttled down to just minor abilities. When each reaches the age of sixteen, they are sent letters letting them know if they have been admitted to college or were scheduled to have their magic Dampered. Finn was accepted but his best friend Prisha Mathurs, from a new-magic family but a much better magician than Finn, was not. Rocio was also denied entrance into the college.There is a third option for those not admitted to the college. Students can sign up for the Mages' Exam which is a secret and brutally hard test but survivors become Champions and keep their magic. Prisha and Rocio see the Mages' Exam as their only chance to keep their magic and declare for it. Finn wants to prove himself and support his best friend so he declares for the Exam too. Most of this story takes place during the Mages' Exam when all of those who choose to take it are tested in a variety of cruel and dangerous ways. Finn, Prisha, Rocio and a few other students band together to help each other. The more Finn sees the more he comes to realize that the whole system has some serious flaws. He sees that Rocio, who is the best magician Finn knows, has almost no chance of success simply because she isn't from an established family.Rocio is determined to succeed both to prove herself and to find out what happened when her brother Javi chose for the Mages' Exam and died in the process of it. She is determined not to let the examiners chance her morals and values. Rocio and Finn also fall in love during the course of their trials as each sees and appreciates the other's strengths as the tests pit student against student and friend against friend. I thought the world building was interesting positing a magical community alongside the human community that outs itself and positions itself to help the human community. Of course, that is just one of the reasons they came out. Another one was to be able to openly battle with the other magical communities in other countries. It is easy to see that the magical elite are self-serving and borderline corrupt and want to hold on to their powers and limit the number of magic users even though Finn is slow to see it and reluctant to believe it. I liked what Finn and Rocio learn about the nature of magic itself during their Exam.This is the first book in a new series and I am very curious about what will happen next for Finn and Rocio.

[faith_murri · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this eARC from Another World Press on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.

He just saw how warped and wrong his Confed must be to have brought us here with their ruthless, brutal magic.
#RollCredits

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

The Writing and Worldbuilding

I have to admit, I was considering DNFing this, to the point where it basically convinced me that I don't actually really like urban fantasy all that much. The first 30% was actually quite dreadful, with confusing motivations, rushed exposition, and confusing worldbuilding--like how the magic system even worked in the first place--but once the Exam really picked up, it was smooth sailing from there on out and I was invested and intrigued.

Also, this is being compared to The Hunger Games, but honestly, besides that last challenge, it was way more like Ender's Game or Netflix's 3% in every regard.

The actual conspiracy of magic, though, was a little weird. I was pretty confused why the government was even allowing this kind of thing to even happen, especially because people knew that underage minors were dying in this magical government sanctioned competition. Why hasn't the Confed been sued yet? Some of this was kind of explained in the story, but it still kind of took me out of the world and made this whole thing seem really unrealistic.

The perspectives were often very confusing because there was little difference in the narrative voices of Finn and Rocío, the two POV characters, and the book was written in first person. I got lost a lot and had to go back and re-read just to see who was the perspective character at the moment several times.

The real-world insertion with the Twin Towers and the Middle Eastern terrorists kind of pissed me off, though it is really way more of a pet peeve than a problem with the book. I just hate real-world insertion in urban fantasy so much you don't even know.

Also, why the flip do they worship the Greek gods?? This is never explained, it just is, and it confused the heck out of me. If Crewe had made some connection to the sirens (which would have made sense given the magic system being sound-based), I would have understood to a degree, but she didn't.

Also, NOPE with that animal cruelty in the beginning part, like, um, who on earth would do that to make a point? A literal crazy person, that's who. Dude, I wouldn't trust her if I were you after witnessing her doing something like that just to make a point and then following it with:

"Could you use that weapon on another living being, Finn? Do you really want to become someone who has?"
Lady, you're someone who has.

The Characters

Note: My first impression of the introduction of Callum, Finn, Prisha, and Rocío was that the only boys were white and the only girls got all the diversity checkmarks, and that pissed me off, frankly. Later on, more diversity is introduced and it stopped feeling like Crewe was just writing stereotypes, but still.

Finn: He was honestly pretty funny, and his chill demeanor was honestly so great, because the kinds of jokes he made are the kinds of jokes I make, so I felt we were kindred spirits. His motivations for declaring were a little iffy at first, and his insta-love for Rocío was annoying, but I still really liked him.

Rocío: I feel like the beginning would have been much more powerful if she had been the focus of the first chapter, instead of Finn. While he really grew on me, the wit and charm he exhibited in the rest of the book didn't come across in that first chapter and it was just a load of exposition instead. Rocío, though, was very intriguing from the get-go. I loved her courage and her resolve, as well as her selflessness to the point of self-deprecation sometimes, despite her extreme level of power.

Prisha: She was the gay rep in the book and that was brought up like twice, but honestly, I appreciated that. It had nothing to do with the story and someone's sexuality doesn't define their entire character, so it was a breath of fresh air that she was just a normal person that so happened to also be gay. I was really worried when she was introduced that she would just end up being the literal gay best friend, but my fears were thankfully unfounded.

Desmond: I really liked Desmond. He was great and funny, with that knack for quoting his favorite media (which I do literally all the time because I'm a walking meme) so that was really appreciated. I was confused as heck though about his eye-sight issues. Dude, just get glasses, it isn't a big deal. I have glasses and without them, I'd probably be blinder than you. Glasses aren't that big of a deal, and if you don't want people to know, contacts work too, and they even make some that you can sleep in and wear for several days at a time as long as you aren't allergic to the material or have other eye issues, which would have been ideal for the Exam.

Judith and Mark: They were nice but I didn't really get attached to their characters much. Between the two, I liked Mark more though, despite his cheesy mohawk (who even has a mohawk any more??)

Lacey: What the flip was this girls problem? She was probably the most stereotypical character in this but I didn't mind too much, because it was interesting.

Callum: He was literally just the Cato of this book. Maybe that was where the Hunger Games connection was lol

Conclusion

Overall, I am glad I liked it by the end, even though it really pissed me off in the beginning. I found the action pretty good and the tests interesting, so I will probably continue this series.

[bethyacoub · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

***I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*** With that being said I must start off with a declaration...WOW! Not only was this ruthless but it was brutal and painful to experience. It has been likened to a literary baby procured from the loins of The Hunger games + The Magicians and let me tell you...it is an extremely apt comparison. "Maybe we’d grown up at opposite ends of the city, on opposite sides of that invisible divide between old magic and new, but in that moment we were feeling the exact same horror, and he would go every bit as far as I would to overcome it."I gathered that the trials were to be difficult and dangerous but torturous to read was not what I was expecting when I first ventured down the magic rabbit hole. The characters were diverse, true, and a few were fleshed out nicely but the 2 characters whose POVs we were privy to were my favorite. Rocio was not only brave and talented but she was strong willed, humane and fierce as well. Seeing what was to become of her (and Finn) kept me reading well after I lost interest in the torture fest. The big twist was an interesting wrench thrown into la machina and it even has some future potential but I can not foresee which direction this will go...that's sort of how this entire book went. We went from horrific situation to even more gruesome/ morally bankrupt scenario...on and on until the very end (which was slightly on the underwhelming side). The beginning sucked me in and had such potential but when the barbarism kicked into high gear, I lost my stomach and will to see it through to the end. I somehow perservered and made it through to the end but just barely...I must admit to a teenie bit of skimming in the home stretch....it wasn't much but that's always a bad sign.All in all it was well written, the world building was excellent, there was a twist with regards to the magic system (possibly intriguing in the future...we'll see) and the main characters were nicely done. The crazy Battle Royale wasn't my thing but it could be yours. You should definitely give this a try if you're into that sort of thing... it was intense!

[veronica.sparrow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Think of a Hunger Games/Harry Potter mashup and you have an idea of what this novel is. What is interesting to me and kept me reading is the fact that it is blended together in an original way and is in a league of its own. A group of 16-year-old novice mages are brought together in a Hunger Games type competition to ascertain who is worthy enough to enter the Academy and keep their magic and who will lose everything including possibly their lives. The story mainly focuses on Rocio and Finn who are from very different worlds and family status. The story is quite bloody and is well paced. I found the book to be an easy read and very good as YA fantasy fiction.

[verkruissen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have to admit, when I started this book there were similarities to Harry Potter in the way they received their invitations to study at a magical school. I was afraid this might be a little too close to that story line but happily I was mistaken. The story is about a group of kids who have been rejected by the mages college and have decided to take their chance by competing in the brutal Mages Exam. There they can be proclaimed Champion and go to the mages school or loose and be "burned out" (loose all of their magical ability). Think of Hunger Games meets Harry Potter. The two main characters are Finn, who comes from a long line of wealthy powerful mages but can't cast spells very well, and Rocio, a poor hispanic girl who lost her older brother to the Mages Exam but is more powerful than anyone has seen for a long time. Rocio gets turned down by the college and declares for the Mages Exam. Finn get accepted but feels the school is being unjust because he knows his talent wasn't good enough to get him in and that it is only because of his family name that he was accepted. He declined his invitation and also declares for the Mages Exam. Finn, Rocio and several others must face a gamut of brutal trials that they must survive in order to be declared champion. They realize that this contest could mean they could lose more than their magic, they could lose their lives. They also realize that there is a much darker side to the Mages Academy than any of them ever knew. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[whybehave2002 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the beginning of a great new series for the lovers of Harry Potter and the Hunger Games. Or really any book that works on the urban fantasy format with teenagers as the central characters. There is an opening for this series and it certainly shows tons of potential. It flows well and is an edge of the seat read that you won't want to put down...in fact, I implore you to also read the prequel. It's not neccesary but it is fun. Enjoy!

[bookishleigh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Actual rating 3.5-starsThis book was without a doubt entertaining and it was enjoyable to read but in really did have a sever lack of originality. Think Harry Potter and the goblet of fire only with taken to hunger game extremes. Based on a World Trade Center plot device that was totally unneeded I would guess that this book starts in the very near future, like 2024ish. A time that is so far in the future teenagers will no longer understand Star Trek references, apparently. I digress. Anyway so the world is made up of Dulls (aka Muggles), Mages (magical folk who mostly have entitlement issues), dampened magical folk (people who had magic but then were deemed too inferior to hang with the mages, were denied entry in magical university, and then had most of their magic forcibly stripped away from them.), then there's burn outs (people who previously had magic and tried to fight against 'The Man' which is actually 9 people and the Confederacy which they totally control who are basically deatheaters but still mostly on the DL we'll get back to that in a minute.) Now to further break things down Muggles (sorry, Dulls) and the various magical folk know of each other and live in the same universe. The Mages had an "unveiling" at some point in recent history and basically announced they were ready to become magical superheroes for the world. Inexplicably magic is spreading and magical kids are being born to muggles and the old school mages don't like it but the Muggles don't like the magical people so they're screwed all over the place. Magical kids are allowed into magical academies if they can afford tuition and their community has enough of a magical population to need one otherwise you just get a magical tutor which apparently is not helpful. So like normal kids the time comes when you find out whether you get into university only there's only one University and acceptance is like super corrupted. Basically kids who belong to magical aristocracy have an easy in and new magic from lower classes are undesirable. On the other hand if you aren't accepted you can compete in competitive trials and try to win your way in… supposedly. Also people have a tendency to die or simply not return from these trials and others appear to be brainwashed by the confederacy and others if they manage to survive long enough to bail out of the trials just get all of their magic burnt out of them. Shortly after the games begin everyone learns they're basically competing in the hunger games but the crazy gov't running everything is nice in the fact that they allow more than one person to live. Oh yeah these trials take place of bloody Riker's Island which in and of itself says something. Muggles and their prisoners no longer inhabit the island but still not a place that channels good vibes to all. This book is clearly the first in what I assume will at least be a trilogy. What this story lacked in originality was made up for by the fact that it was still a fun and engaging story I was able to connect with the main characters who acted as narrators if not so much with side characters. There were parts of the world building that I felt were left gapingly wide when they needed more explanation. Like why would magical folks simply go along with this "dampening" ritual. There are groups of magical terrorists (although we'll probably find out they're actually insurgents) but I was kind of left wondering why people would just go along with what was so very obviously a rigged system. There were also characters who were very predictable but *shrug* they didn't kill the story by any means they simply ended up being what I expected them to be. Anyway if a stories of social injustice, magic, and super scary obstacle courses are your thing then you should try this book out. I would definitely be willing to read follow up to this book I just hope the story gets more unique as it goes.