Title: ⟫ The Scars That Bind Us (Magi Accounts #1)Author: ⟫ Michele Notara
Blurb: ⟫ What kind of mage would be crazy enough to crush on a shifter? Me. Apparently me.
The world is a messed-up place. Especially for those of us who have magic, and I know just how terrible it can be first-hand. Which is one of the reasons I try to stay away from people… humans and shifters especially.
Unfortunately, the NHSO forces magi to work alongside shifters to help protect the humans from taragorians—scary beasts from another realm. Which means I’m thrown onto a new team and forced to work with Cosmo Ono-Nai, a lion shifter.
And for some reason, I can’t keep my eyes off him.
The Scars That Bind Us is a 115K word novel and the first book in the MM urban fantasy series, The Magi Accounts.
Review: ⟫ This book is difficult to review because I feel like there was so much in it but – The but is because it feels like just the beginning. I went into it expecting a romance but that was almost secondary (or perhaps even third) in the overarching story. The relationship that was building between Madeo and Cos should have been the most important aspect of things – if it’s to be taken as a romance – but instead it was part of the overall story. Which wasn’t a bad thing at all – the world building was fascinating; the characters were individually fleshed out and interesting; the issues being faced were well handled. I guess I wanted more about Cos and Madeo and how they.
I have already grabbed the sequel from Kindle Unlimited because I wanted to know what happened next, but perhaps that is my issue with the first book? That it was a HFN whilst I’ve been used to HEA. Some really interesting concepts, including how sometimes the monsters are human – some of the things that happened really struck me quite hard, especially the prejudice against Magi that seems automatic and instinctual. It’s sad to think how well this story relates to the real world.
Happily giving it a 4/5 and moving on to the next story.
I received an ARC from GRR.
