Magic Harvest by Mary Karlik - Book Tour & Review + Giveaway
Magic Harvest
Mary Karlik
Published by: Ink Monster LLC
Publication date: September 18th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Young fae girls are disappearing.
Layla has never belonged to the fairy realm – at least, half of her hasn’t. She’s never known anyone with human blood, not even her father. When she was three, the dragon Fauth attacked the fairy festival, murdering her fae mum & stepfather. Frankly, some fairies think she should’ve been eaten too.
As she grew, despite being called names like “fuman” for being a half-blood, she’s discovered that being half-human isn’t terrible. She may lack magic, but she is immune to iron sickness, and she can wield a sword with elven skill.
Magic in the human world is disastrous.
Sixteen years later, when Layla’s half-sister is kidnapped and taken through a portal to the forbidden human realm, Layla rushes to the rescue. She’s older and stronger, and she’s not about to let her last living family member be taken from her without a fight.
Only someone who belongs to both worlds can find the truth.
The portal spits her out in the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, but neither her sister or the kidnapper are anywhere to be found. Stuck in a world she only knows from school books, Layla forges unlikely alliances to find her sister. As she becomes tangled in the dark world of fairy trafficking, magic harvesting, and murder, Layla will have to find the strength within if she is to survive and save her sister.
My Review
Magic Harvest is straight up fantasy. It's magical. It's dark. It's fantastic.
We have Layla, a half-faerie/half-human, who is shunned by the rest of her family because she is a half-breed. Layla knows nothing of her human father, but her mother is fae. Her mother is also dead, along with her stepfather; they were eaten by a dragon. Yep, a dragon.
Layla is older now, but she's still terrified that the dragon will return one day and kill more faeries. She's especially worried about her sister Isla, who is determined to have her freedom away from her half-breed sister. Not even Isla wants to be seen with her. Layla is hurt, but she lets her sister go. Unfortunately for Isla, she and her friend Esme end up kidnapped and taken to the human world.
Layla is determined to save her sister, but when she arrives in the human world herself, she is nowhere near prepared for what she discovers.
The story is really intriguing because it touches on a subject that a lot of fantasy stories usually don't deal with: trafficking. I'd expect to see something along those lines in a crime novel (suspense/thriller) or something like that. I think that's what made Magic Harvest so unique. Faeries weren't just being kidnapped; they were being, well, harvested for their magic. It's kind of dark, actually.
I really liked the characters of Layla and Ian. Layla just wants to fit in and do the right thing, but she's shunned for being different. And Ian is just an overall good guy. He doesn't question the existence of faeries, nor does he balk at offering assistance to Layla when she goes to track down her missing sister. He's pretty great.
The character of Connor, though... well, he sucks. He's awful, and I hated him with a fiery passion. Sure, he doesn't get a ton of actual "screen time," but he's definitely a horrible, bad, evil person.
There were some interesting twists in the book that I didn't expect, but it made me enjoy it even more. I was kept on my toes throughout the entire story, and that's definitely a plus. I like stories like that.
The only thing I really wanted, and I assume will be touched upon in the coming sequel(s), was more backstory for Layla. I wanted to know more about her father and how she came to be a half-breed. I suppose I'll have to wait and see...
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with Magic Harvest, and I quite liked the story a lot. I'm looking forward to the next book.
4 stars from me!
Author Bio:
Mary Karlik has always been a dreamer. When she was a teen, she read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and then sat in every wardrobe in her Nanna’s home, trying to open the door to Narnia. She didn’t find it, but she did discover her voice as an author: one filled with her young adult self, and grounded in her roots as a Texan and her Scottish heritage, nourished by obscure Scottish folklore.
You can find her Texas roots in her YA contemporary romance Hickville series , which has been described as “100% solid storytelling,” and begins with Welcome to Hickville High, a “lovely story about growing up.”
She digs deep into her Scottish roots – there is magic there, she just knows it – for the forthcoming YA epic fantasy Fairy Trafficking series, beginning with Magic Harvest.
She makes her home in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains of Northern New Mexico where she is a certified professional ski instructor, but she also loves visiting Scotland where she is currently studying Scottish Gaelic at the University of Highlands and Islands in Skye. Mary also earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, has a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University, and is a Registered Nurse.
Mary currently serves as the President of the Young Adult Chapter of Romance Writers of America and looks forward to raising a glass or two of gin and tonic with her fellow writers every year at RWA’s national convention.
2 Comments
This sounds super entertaining and well written overall! Glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Can't wait for the next one! :)
DeletePlease try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.