Saturday, October 28, 2017

Four Reviews, All in a Row: Magical Mayhem Series

The Magical Mayhem series, by Emily Martha Sorensen. (Four books so far, with a fifth announced.)

Four stars for this series so far. (The individual reviews will appear at Amazon and at Goodreads, perhaps with minor changes.)

To Prevent World Peace - Four Stars
The Magical Mayhem series is (so far) four books all titled To Prevent
The first is To Prevent World Peace, the second … Chic Costumes, the third … Clear Paths, and the fourth, … Smart Choices. The announced fifth book, I suspect not the last, is To Prevent Warm Welcomes.

Ms Sorensen, a USA Best Selling author, is known for clean stories for middle grade and young adult audiences. This series hits YA targets throughout, in my opinion.

The books are all quick reads, four chapters long, and to be honest, might work better as one whole volume. I read them all in one sitting, and I do tend to binge read series, so your experience might be different. That said, I believe they should be read in order; too much is lost if the reader isn’t aware of previous events in the universe.

Obviously, then, To Prevent World Peace opens the story of Save-the-World magical girl Kendra, her magical girl team buddies, and Chronos, a hands-off mage who doesn’t want to be a villain, but would rather stay home than… than do anything, really. The conflict between good and I-don’t-care shows tantalizing hints, set in the framework of Kendra’s uncompromising belief in her ability to do good.

Until she declares she will be a magical girl no more. “I’ve decided,” Kendra said quietly, “to become… a villain instead.”

Kendra’s next step rocks into the rest of the series.

Ms Sorensen’s writing is crisp and eminently suitable for a YA reader. Or an adult one, for that matter.

While the book sort of completes an arc, for me it really felt too short. I took a star back for that. YMMV, of course.

I read the book on my Macbook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app; it worked perfectly. Also, I opened it on my Kindle Voyage and had no issues. I’d expect no problems using another platform to read. I noticed no typos or other bothersome mechanical problems, just as I expect for Ms Sorensen’s work. The cover calls for a color display, but that’s the only loss moving to a monochrome device, and the contrast allows the Voyage to render it nicely.

I recommend To Prevent World Peace to any reader looking for the beginning of an enjoyable, clean fantasy that doesn’t shy away from real-world problems.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review, which you are reading here. I also purchased a copy, though it was free. This review will appear at Goodreads in slightly different form, and the portion dealing with the series will appear in reviews of the other three books.

To Prevent Chic Costumes - Four Stars
The Magical Mayhem series is (so far) four books all titled To Prevent
The first is To Prevent World Peace, the second … Chic Costumes, the third … Clear Paths, and the fourth, … Smart Choices. The announced fifth book, I suspect not the last, is To Prevent Warm Welcomes.

Ms Sorensen, a USA Best Selling author, is known for clean stories for middle grade and young adult audiences. This series hits YA targets throughout, in my opinion.

The books are all quick reads, four chapters long, and to be honest, might work better as one whole volume. I read them all in one sitting, and I do tend to binge read series, so your experience might be different. That said, I believe they should be read in order; too much is lost if the reader isn’t aware of previous events in the universe.

To Prevent Chic Costumes develops Kendra’s relationship with Chronos. Unwilling might be a good description. The unstoppable force and the immovable object paradox comes to mind; Ms Sorensen develops this aspect of the conflict well.

The costumes of the title allow the introduction of Chronos’ older sister, Rhea, one of the villains Chronos does not wish to be, because Rhea’s a fashion-maker in Paris, and any magical girl-turned-villain needs first and foremost, a suitable costume. The suitable costume must be accompanied by a new lair for the new villain. Chronos makes that sacrifice to be free of Kendra.

As I’ve said previously, Ms Sorensen’s writing is crisp and eminently suitable for a YA reader. Or an adult one, for that matter.

My only, and continuing, complaint is that the story, while it does close an arc, is too short. I’ll not mention it again.

I read this book on my Macbook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app; it worked perfectly. Also, I opened it on my Kindle Voyage and had no issues. I’d expect no problems using another platform to read. I noticed no typos or bothersome mechanical problems, just as I expect for Ms Sorensen’s work. The cover calls for a color display, but that’s the only loss moving to a monochrome device, and the contrast in the cover art allows the Voyage to render it nicely.

I recommend To Prevent Chic Costumes to any reader looking for an enjoyable, clean fantasy that doesn’t shy away from real-world problems, but I strongly suggest you begin with To Prevent World Peace, the first book in the series.

This review will appear at Goodreads in slightly different form, and the portion dealing with the series will appear in reviews of the other three books.

To Prevent Clear Paths - Four Stars
The Magical Mayhem series is (so far) four books all titled To Prevent
The first is To Prevent World Peace, the second … Chic Costumes, the third … Clear Paths, and the fourth, … Smart Choices. The announced fifth book, I suspect not the last, is To Prevent Warm Welcomes.

Ms Sorensen, a USA Best Selling author, is known for clean stories for middle grade and young adult audiences. This series hits YA targets throughout, in my opinion.

The books are all quick reads, four chapters long, and to be honest, might work better as one whole volume. I read them all in one sitting, and I do tend to binge read series, so your experience might be different. That said, I believe they should be read in order; too much is lost if the reader isn’t aware of previous events in the universe.

To Prevent Clear Paths. The new lair, a lovely abode fortunately sans corpses, does include a blonde terror⁠—or mechanical marvel⁠—named Tiffany to add to both Chronos’ and Kendra’s woes. More seriously, the story brings Kendra’s return to her former team, and her first failure as a magical girl turned villain. Since it mirrors an earlier event, we can’t be too surprised; how Kendra’s stoic response plays out is yet to be addressed.

As I’ve said previously, Ms Sorensen’s writing is crisp and eminently suitable for a YA reader. Or an adult one, for that matter. By this, the third book, the development of the plot is proceeding. I can’t see yet how Kendra and Chronos… and the magnificent secondary characters, resolve the overall problem. This is good.

I read To Prevent Clear Paths on my Macbook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app; it worked perfectly. I opened and read it on my Kindle Voyage with no issues. I’d expect no problems using another platform to read. I noticed no typos or other bothersome mechanical problems, just as I expect for Ms Sorensen’s work. The cover calls for a color display, but that’s the only loss moving to a monochrome device. Still the contrast in the cover art allows the Voyage to render it nicely.

I recommend To Prevent Clear Paths to any reader looking for an enjoyable, clean fantasy that doesn’t shy away from real-world problems, especially in this installment, but I strongly suggest beginning with the first book in the series.

This review will appear at Goodreads in slightly different form, and the portion dealing with the series will appear in reviews of the other three books.

To Prevent Smart Choices - Four stars
The Magical Mayhem series is (so far) four books all titled To Prevent
The first is To Prevent World Peace, the second … Chic Costumes, the third … Clear Paths, and the fourth, … Smart Choices. The announced fifth book, I suspect not the last, is To Prevent Warm Welcomes.

Ms Sorensen, a USA Best Selling author, is known for clean stories for middle grade and young adult audiences. This series hits YA targets throughout, in my opinion.

The books are all quick reads, four chapters long, and to be honest, might work better as one whole volume. I read them all in one sitting, and I do tend to binge read series, so your experience might be different. That said, I believe they should be read in order; too much is lost if the reader isn’t aware of previous events in the universe.

To Prevent Smart Choices brings Kendra’s attempt to restore order at Rouen Académie des Saintes (France’s premier magical girl school) and her second failure… as she perceives it. Chronos, in her role as Seer, believes differently.  On a darker note, Rhea uses her knowledge of the Past to determine that Kendra is doing villainous things to Rhea’s villains. Rhea makes her plans. Don’t you love cliff-hangers?

As I’ve said previously, Ms Sorensen’s writing is crisp and eminently suitable for a YA reader. Or an adult one, for that matter.  The plot is proceeding into darker territory; I’m anxious to see just how it will resolve.

I read To Prevent Smart Choices on my Macbook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app; it worked perfectly. Also, I read portions on my Kindle Voyage without problem. I’d expect no issues using another platform to read. I noticed no typos or other bothersome mechanical problems, just as I expect for Ms Sorensen’s work. The cover calls for a color display, but that’s the only loss moving to a monochrome device. Still, the contrast in the cover art allows the Voyage to render it nicely.

I recommend To Prevent Smart Choices to any reader looking for an enjoyable, clean fantasy that doesn’t shy away from real-world problems. However, I strongly suggest beginning with the first book in the series.

This review will appear at Goodreads in slightly different form, and the portion dealing with the series will appear in reviews of the other three books.

No comments:

Post a Comment