Unleash Spellhounds Book 1 eBook Lauren Harris
Download As PDF : Unleash Spellhounds Book 1 eBook Lauren Harris 
Magic Mafia. Sorcerer Police. A girl on the run from both.
Helena Martin doesn't know who she hates more, the sorcerers who fired the magic-laced bullet or the gang-lord master who used her mother as a shield. It's not the price she expected for escaping magical slavery, nor is the unstable power now pulsing in her veins.
Caught between her former master's hunters and the Guild Sorcerers determined to kill them, she finds a safe haven at a dog rescue willing to take in a different kind of stray. But Helena's newly-unleashed power is a beacon for her enemies. And they're threatening the first place she's ever thought of as home.
"A visceral, heart-pounding ride of a book that will keep you guessing until the final bloody breath."
~Award-winning fantasy author Philippa Ballantine (The Books of the Order, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
Don't miss the action - scroll up and snag a copy!
Unleash Spellhounds Book 1 eBook Lauren Harris
I will admit that I have become burned out on Urban Fantasy. I often find it predictable, recycling the same old magic systems, problems, etc. While Unleash does have some familiar elements, it still managed to fee fresh and exciting.I give this book 4 out of 5 stars, and here's why
So yes, there are some elements here I’ve seen before. The difference? In the execution. The book starts off at break neck pace, doesn’t slow for several chapters. When it finally did I felt like I’d been running a marathon. There are calm moments that are interrupted by fights, attacks and the unveiling of truth. The pacing and structure was spot on and only fell to explaining things once. Which in a book with a unique magic system, is pretty impressive.
And yes, you read that right, I said unique magic system. I have become so bored with magic systems that were either too complex because the author was in love with their world building. Or so simple that there were giant logical holes in the system that it was part of the reason I stopped reading the genre. This magic system, however, is based on Mandalas working with different metals; iron, gold, etc. And, since blood has iron, there is also a type of magic where you can use Mandalas and blood. The scene where the history of this is explained could’ve verged on the info dumping side if the author hadn’t built up to that moment the way she did. I didn’t care that I was getting a little history lesson because I was nervous about what the Guild was going to do the hero I had become very invested in. As well as just knowing that the bounty hunters were probably about to attack.
And that leads me to our hero: Helena Martin
I’ll admit that I also have been tired of the beautiful, thin and all powerful hero in Urban Fantasy. While Helena is pretty, thin, white and does have unique power, she is clueless about how to use it and so the author uses that as an opportunity to teach us a little about the magical system and about Helena too. The kind of childhood that Helena has had means she doesn’t trust anyone easily. She’s secretive, suspicious and scared. Instead of neatly resolving all of this so that Helena can boink the cute Korean guy quicker, or dumping it because it would be easier to write (like I’ve seen other authors do), the author full on embraces it. We see Helena’s painful PTSD, we see her inability to grieve for those she’s lost, the fear of trusting, the fear of bringing pain and death to anyone she might begin to care for. The author uses the past she’s given Helena to take us on that journey with her. It’s awesome, and even a little frustrating because I just wanted her to kiss the cute Korean guy already! By the time we reach the end of the book, though, I felt that Helena’s journey was all the more satisfying because of how true to the character the author stayed.
Even though Helena as a white female is nothing new, the author surrounds her with a diverse cast of characters. The already mentioned Korean guy, a curvaceous lesbian, a woman with mental health struggles, an East Indian a sorceress, and a mixed race woman who runs a dog rescue. I loved seeing the real world represented so well, without stereo types. In fact, there is much poking fun of said stereo types.
I also loved the ever present menace of the villain, who is “on screen” for very little time. The Guild was far more present, as well as the creepy bounty hunters. We see him at the beginning and the end, but I felt his presence throughout the entire book. I’ve seen other authors try to pull off something like this. But they only succeeded in making it all feel clunky and over done. Not so here. I knew that this guy was haunting her every step, even when she thought he was dead.
One of the only things that kept me from giving it five stars was the formatting. There were some serious issues at certain points. These included key pieces of dialogue missing or combined with another characters, which made it difficult to figure out what was happening. There was also extra words in sentences that stopped my flow of reading. Sometimes this happened in the middle of a really tense moment. I wouldn’t make a big deal out of a handful of such things, but this was a rampant problem throughout the book and became frustrating by the end.
Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone who is or has been a fan of Urban Fantasy. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Product details
|
Tags : Amazon.com: Unleash (Spellhounds Book 1) eBook: Lauren Harris: Kindle Store,ebook,Lauren Harris,Unleash (Spellhounds Book 1),Fiction Fantasy Urban,Juvenile Fiction Fantasy & Magic
People also read other books :
- Up from Slavery Premium Edition Illustrated Booker T Washington Monty 9781532864933 Books
- A Darker Star A Compilation of Poems From A Darker Point of View edition by Sasha L Mansfield Religion Spirituality eBooks
- From That Place and Time A Memoir 19381947 eBook Lucy S Dawidowicz
- Hearts Connected A tale of twin sisters bonded by hope and love Suzanne Hochman Laura Bowman 9781449505950 Books
- The Art of Perfumery G W Septimus Piesse 9781144599117 Books
Unleash Spellhounds Book 1 eBook Lauren Harris Reviews
I've read a couple Lauren Harris shorts (Mill Road Academy) and thoroughly enjoyed them, so I've been looking forward to Unleash for a while. And I have not been disappointed! While the formatting issues were definitely distracting, the story has a good pace and takes an approach to magic I haven't seen before, which makes for a refreshing change. Also, Harris had me at dog rescue. All in all, a very worthy read. I'll be looking forward to the next installment, and more of Morgan's story (because I'm certain he has a good one).
*I received this book from the author or publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Helena just wants to be free to live a semi-normal life with her mother and pack. When things go wrong in a planed rescue from her slaver, Helena is left alone and on the run. She wants nothing to do with her magical slaver or the Guild that was to help them escape. Helena finds herself caught between the two groups and dodging being caught. One will get to her first but she'll have to chose which one.
Lauren starts us right in with a spell being cast. A spell worked with a mandala and blood sacrifice. Oh this is a neat combo. We get a taste of the two together that makes us curious to learn more about how this works, and worries for Helena and her mom! And to hate Gwydian! The first chapter stirs strong emotions for and with Helena. And they don't stop there. I grow to care for friends with Helena through this book when she stops to hide out and wait for her pack to arrive.
When things start to get hairy with the Guild Sorcerers and news of Gwydian's group reach Helena, the growth of something Helena never had, friendships and a feeling of home, stops her from doing the one thing she knows she should do. Run. While waiting for her cousin, Morgan, to arrive in this town, Helena grows bonds with two special people - Krista and Jaesung.
Oh Jae! I absolutely love him! There are hints that he's more than just human. But is he really? Whether he is or not, he's an amazing character! He's so kind and has a great sense of humor to balance out the serious moments. Yet he seems to sense more than what's being said. Krista couldn't be better as a loving friend. She is there for Helena, as is Jae, when things get rough. They also understand that Helena needs time to come to them with what is going on or has happened in her life, so they give her that. I fell in love with them both. They are great "people".
Okay. Now that I've gushed over the love of the characters I want to mention something more about them. Not only are they awesomely written but they are not your average characters of white world. Nope, and that's the added bonus to them being amazing people with their glowing personalities. I'm mentioning this because there are people that look for diverse characters in books, and Lauren has that here. Jaesung is Korean, came to America when young with his mother. He had some great obstacles to overcome. Krista is gay, but her girlfriend has her own troubles which Krista is living through too, depression. Lauren has written characters that people will care about as they are real and have troubles to live with.
This is YA, but how old should the reader be? I say read it and you decide. There is death and Helena does have to kill to protect herself. There are a few heated scenes, but you don't get intimate details.
Somewhere along the way, I fell, with Helena, for Jaesung. And grew to love the characters here - Helena, Krista, and all present. I love the magic created here with the mandalas. There is a blend of different cultures in this creation that have me loving it. Very interesting. I look forward to more books with Helena and her friends.
Harris has created an Urban Fantasy series I cannot wait to continue. Her magic system is deep and intriguing, spanning the entire world in origin, and it captured my interest from the very beginning. Our heroine, Helena, is so human it hurts. What Harris has written is so true to life (while still being fantastical, of course) that I never wanted to put the book down.
The prose is easy to sink into and a joy to consume. Helena's POV rings as how a damaged, surviving teenager would view life. There aren't any incidents of her stepping out of character for herself to serve the plot or anything. No mistakes here in that regard.
I'm giving the author a pass on the editing, as I am subscribed to an updated social media account, and the technical errors were a software problem she is in the process of rectifying.
Do I recommend this book? HIGHLY. Do I recommend waiting a short while for the corrections to be made? Yes. But keep this book in your wishlist, or go ahead and buy it and wait for the updated version. Trust me, you will NOT regret it. I am watching the clock now, counting down the seconds until the next installment releases!
I will admit that I have become burned out on Urban Fantasy. I often find it predictable, recycling the same old magic systems, problems, etc. While Unleash does have some familiar elements, it still managed to fee fresh and exciting.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars, and here's why
So yes, there are some elements here I’ve seen before. The difference? In the execution. The book starts off at break neck pace, doesn’t slow for several chapters. When it finally did I felt like I’d been running a marathon. There are calm moments that are interrupted by fights, attacks and the unveiling of truth. The pacing and structure was spot on and only fell to explaining things once. Which in a book with a unique magic system, is pretty impressive.
And yes, you read that right, I said unique magic system. I have become so bored with magic systems that were either too complex because the author was in love with their world building. Or so simple that there were giant logical holes in the system that it was part of the reason I stopped reading the genre. This magic system, however, is based on Mandalas working with different metals; iron, gold, etc. And, since blood has iron, there is also a type of magic where you can use Mandalas and blood. The scene where the history of this is explained could’ve verged on the info dumping side if the author hadn’t built up to that moment the way she did. I didn’t care that I was getting a little history lesson because I was nervous about what the Guild was going to do the hero I had become very invested in. As well as just knowing that the bounty hunters were probably about to attack.
And that leads me to our hero Helena Martin
I’ll admit that I also have been tired of the beautiful, thin and all powerful hero in Urban Fantasy. While Helena is pretty, thin, white and does have unique power, she is clueless about how to use it and so the author uses that as an opportunity to teach us a little about the magical system and about Helena too. The kind of childhood that Helena has had means she doesn’t trust anyone easily. She’s secretive, suspicious and scared. Instead of neatly resolving all of this so that Helena can boink the cute Korean guy quicker, or dumping it because it would be easier to write (like I’ve seen other authors do), the author full on embraces it. We see Helena’s painful PTSD, we see her inability to grieve for those she’s lost, the fear of trusting, the fear of bringing pain and death to anyone she might begin to care for. The author uses the past she’s given Helena to take us on that journey with her. It’s awesome, and even a little frustrating because I just wanted her to kiss the cute Korean guy already! By the time we reach the end of the book, though, I felt that Helena’s journey was all the more satisfying because of how true to the character the author stayed.
Even though Helena as a white female is nothing new, the author surrounds her with a diverse cast of characters. The already mentioned Korean guy, a curvaceous lesbian, a woman with mental health struggles, an East Indian a sorceress, and a mixed race woman who runs a dog rescue. I loved seeing the real world represented so well, without stereo types. In fact, there is much poking fun of said stereo types.
I also loved the ever present menace of the villain, who is “on screen” for very little time. The Guild was far more present, as well as the creepy bounty hunters. We see him at the beginning and the end, but I felt his presence throughout the entire book. I’ve seen other authors try to pull off something like this. But they only succeeded in making it all feel clunky and over done. Not so here. I knew that this guy was haunting her every step, even when she thought he was dead.
One of the only things that kept me from giving it five stars was the formatting. There were some serious issues at certain points. These included key pieces of dialogue missing or combined with another characters, which made it difficult to figure out what was happening. There was also extra words in sentences that stopped my flow of reading. Sometimes this happened in the middle of a really tense moment. I wouldn’t make a big deal out of a handful of such things, but this was a rampant problem throughout the book and became frustrating by the end.
Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone who is or has been a fan of Urban Fantasy. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
0 Response to "∎ Descargar Unleash Spellhounds Book 1 eBook Lauren Harris"
Post a Comment