Ruthless Magic By Megan Crewe - About the author, book review and Q and A with the author!

Synopsis:

Each year, the North American Confederation of Mages assesses every sixteen-year-old novice. Some will be chosen. The rest must undergo a procedure to destroy their magical ability unless they prove themselves in the mysterious and brutal Mages' Exam.

Disadvantaged by her parents' low standing, Rocío Lopez has dedicated herself to expanding her considerable talent to earn a place in the Confederation. Their rejection leaves her reeling—and determined to fight to keep her magic.

Long ashamed of his mediocre abilities, Finn Lockwood knows the Confederation accepted him only because of his prominent family. Declaring for the Exam instead means a chance to confirm his true worth.

Thrown into the testing with little preparation, Rocío and Finn find themselves becoming unlikely allies—and possibly more. But the Exam holds secrets more horrifying than either could have imagined. What are the examiners really testing them for? And as the trials become increasingly vicious, how much are they willing to sacrifice to win?


The first in a new series by USA Today bestselling author Megan Crewe, Ruthless Magic combines the magic of Harry Potter with the ferocity of The Hunger Games alongside a poignant romance. Fans of Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, look no further for your next urban fantasy fix!

Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for the review
This book was absolutely amazing. It had a Hunger Games feel to it without post-apocalyptic aspect. In this 16 year old's wait to get a letter to, see it they have been accepted into a Magic college. If they don't they can either loss their magic or appeal the Circle's decision by going through an exam. During this exam, the characters discover a dark secret. I really can't wait for the next book to come out.

Author Q and A

1. How did you get inspiration for Ruthless magic?

It's kind of a funny story... I was looking at new book announcements, which so often do a "This Title meets This Other Title" comparison, and I started thinking about what the most over the top comparison would be. I came up with "Harry Potter meets The Hunger Games," laughed to myself for a few minutes, and then my brain started working out all the interesting ways those two storylines could come together. Before I knew it, I had a new world I was excited to write about.

2. Which was your favorite character to create and why?

I love all my characters so I couldn't say I really have a favorite. But Finn was particularly interesting to write because of the struggle he goes through. There are so many heroes and heroines who have great talents and impressive skills and are mostly navigating how to deal with the power they can wield. Finn has to come to terms with his lack of power--with the fact that he's never going to have the skill he's always longed for--and to find other strengths in himself. I think an awful lot of us have gone through that, and I enjoyed exploring the feelings that come with it.

3. Out of all of the books you have written, which is your favorite and why?

Again, I don't really have favorites! I love all of them. I tend to be particularly fond of whichever book I'm working on at the moment since it's the one I'm most excited about right then. :) But I do have a special soft spot for The Way We Fall, since the heroine in that series is the one most like my teenaged self.

4. When did you realize you wanted to be an author?

I've loved storytelling and knew I wanted to make up stories and share them with people for as long as I can remember. Sometime in upper elementary school (grade four or five, maybe), one of my teachers read us a published book that had been written by a kid not much older than us, and that's when it occurred to me that maybe I could try to get my stories to a wider audience than just my friends and family.

5. What is something unique about yourself that not many people know? (nothing embarrassing)


I love singing (although I'm not especially good at it) and was in my junior high school choir, which was well enough received that we got to participate in a concert in one of the biggest music venues in my city. That experience and enjoyment hopefully gave my descriptions of music in Ruthless Magic plenty of realism. ;)

Author Bio-

Now all about this AMAZING Author. After the bio check out the links to get your copy of Ruthless Magic and check out the author's website!

Photo credit: Chris Blanchenot

I was born in Toronto, Canada around the end of 1980, and I grew up there with my parents, my younger brother, and various cats. I've always loved stories--when I was little, I used to beg my dad to read my favorite books "with the voices," which meant he'd put on a different voice for each character. There was nothing better! Unsurprisingly it wasn't long before I started making up my own stories.

At first, they were My Little Pony tales dictated to my mom, who wrote them down sentence by sentence and stapled the pages into "books" that I then illustrated. Once I learned how to write, I scrawled out page after page of adventure stories, frequently involving cats and often magic. Fantasy, science fiction, and the supernatural have fascinated me all my life, which is probably why those genres are what most interest me today. There's so much freedom and possibility in pushing beyond the boundaries of what we know is real.

I finished my first (very bad) novel when I was 14, and started submitting short stories to magazines around the same time. I was lucky to have teachers who encouraged me, and resources to draw on getting started in the publishing industry. My first fiction publications were in a national magazine for young adult writers called In 2 Print. It's no longer around, sadly—it was so encouraging to me to take that first step toward becoming a professional author.

I kept writing, and I kept submitting, and around the time I was finishing up my degree in psychology at York University, I'd had several short story sales to ezines, print magazines, and anthologies. But all along I knew novels were what I really wanted to focus on, so I could not have been more excited when an agent offered to represent Give Up the Ghost and my book publishing journey really began.

I'm still living in Toronto, now with my husband, my son, and two cats of my own. At the moment I'm a full-time writer/cover designer. When I'm not writing, designing, or mothering, I'm reading everything I can get my hands on (about an equal mix of YA and adult fiction, with the occasional nonfiction title thrown in) and planning my next overseas exploration.

Buy your copy of Ruthless Magic today! It is free for Kindle Unlimited and available in E-book, hardcover, and paperback.

Check out more about Megan Crewe on her website here!