Urban Fantasy – Page 5 – Marked for Plot

I grew up in the era of Harry Potter. I dragged my parents to bookstores, standing in line for midnight releases. I went to Harry Potter themed summer camps. I asked for my mom to knit me scarves with the colors of each Harry Potter house. And while I’ve soured on Harry Potter for a variety of reasons – Rowling’s raging transphobia being only one of many – A Deadly Education plucked at the joy of magic school stories, which is something that’s never going to entirely vanish from my fantasy reading habits.

The Premise:
I pitch this story as a magic school where everything tries to kill you: the monsters, the students, even the furniture. El is foretold to be a sorceress of epic proportions. With a knack for apocalyptic magic and stealing power life itself, she’s been told from a young age that she’s going to rip apart wizarding society at the seams. Not that she ever uses those dark powers. She mostly just wants to survive her four years at this death-trap of a school in one piece on her shoestring mana budget. When she finds her big moment to show off and win alliances ruined by class savior Orion, her path shifts forever.

Read If Looking For: brutally fast pacing, snarky narrators, magic dystopias

Avoid if Looking For: characters growing in power, grey morality

When I heard about Jade City, the things people told me about were great fight scenes and cool magic systems. I picked it up because I love these things. Instead what I got was an intensely character focused family drama with organized crime (kind of) as a backdrop. Plus some cool fight scenes, of course.

The Premise:
Janloon is a city that, after a long war for sovereignty, owes its freedom to two clans: Mountain and No Peak. This book follows the newest generation of the Kaul family, who rule No Peak Clan. Lan is in the process of taking over leadership from his grandfather, the war hero who is overly involved. Hilo is a firebrand whos penchant to start fights must be reigned in now that he’s in a position of authority. And Shae is back in Janloon hoping to live a life free of the influence of her family. And then there’s Anden, adopted and still a student, but a prodigy of great proportions. A gang war with Mountain Clan is brewing, and No Peak may not be situated win the fight.

Read If Looking For: morally grey leads, deep themes, character focused writing

Avoid if Looking For: lots of fight scenes