City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender – Review

Published: November 20, 2018

Publisher: Tor Books

Series: Untitled #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 400 (Paperback)

My Rating: 5.0/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

Five hundred years ago, magi created a weapon they couldn’t control. An infestation that ate magic—and anything else it came into contact with. Enemies and allies were equally filling.

Only an elite team of non-magical humans, known as sweepers, can defuse and dispose of infestations before they spread. Most die before they finish training.

Laura, a new team member, has stayed alive longer than most. Now, she’s the last—and only—sweeper standing between the city and a massive infestation.

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I didn’t intend to pick City of Broken Magic up until a bit closer to its release date, but you know how it goes. I needed something to read on the plane, and then by the pool while on vacation and this particular ebook was more convenient than the actual books I brought with me. It was utterly addictive and I’m glad I came across a Waiting on Wednesday post featuring this book and then put in my own request for an eGalley. I didn’t want to put it down (or move) and ended up getting a little too much sun as a result. Woops…

All that babbling aside, City of Broken Magic was a stellar book on several different levels. First of all, the synopsis should be enough to make anyone curious enough to pick it up. Once I actually cracked this one open it totally grabbed ahold of my imagination! This is set in a world with the beginning of modernization and due to the fact that some ladies like our Sweeper in training, Laura, are beginning to wear pants rather than dresses, I’d put it somewhere around the 1920s. Laura is apprenticed to Clae Sinclair, head sweeper of Amicae and also the only legit sweeper (some work for the mobs). He’s quite young for the role but he has the personality of a crotchety old man and happens to be a pretty good teacher, though Laura is also a natural talent. Their job is to stop magical infestations from taking root in broken amulets and eating people. These infestations are like semi-sentient jello with a hunger that only hands (and other parts) can satisfy. Oddly, the citizens of Amicae are misled about the actual role of the sweepers and the severity of the infestations in their lovely city. In a nutshell, it’s all about maintaining appearances and politics and it results in the Sweepers being understaffed and the infestation problem increasing.

The story takes us on quite a journey with Laura. She’s trying to excel at her chosen (and dangerous) career path, navigate the expanding role of women in society, and not get absorbed by a magical jello or murdered by a gang boss. I liked Laura and the fact that she wasn’t some Mary Sue character who was suddenly perfect at everything. She was learning, had been for months prior to the opening of the story and while she was talented and clever, she wasn’t perfect and needed help sometimes. Clae was also quite likable – I got “Sherlock before he met Watson” vibes from him. He was a bit prickly and awkward, but ultimately one of the best Sweepers ever and he stuck up for his employees and his position as Head Sweeper. Okane, our third major character, is rescued from what is essentially slavery by Clae when he goes on a Sweeper job. Okane is naturally gifted with a bit of magic, which would make him an excellent Sweeper if Clae could train him to not freeze when he comes face to face with even the smallest infestations. He was a likable character and he grew so much throughout the course of this single book.

City of Broken Magic was just as awesome as I hoped it would be when I stumbled across that Waiting on Wednesday post, if not more so! I think it has the potential to be phenomenal series and the ending left me bereft, knowing I probably have to wait a whole year until the sequel is released. I liked that Laura rejected everyone’s opinion that she should have a nice, safe desk job instead of doing what she always dreamed of despite its risks. I think this issue was dealt with realistically and she ended up getting the most support from her gruff, seemingly cold boss rather than her fairly weak Aunt, who thought it would somehow jeopardize her marriage prospects. Bah! This was an action packed book that was well paced and evoked some serious emotions, particularly towards the end. Authors just love to twist your emotions up and then end the book!!