A Review for Mystic City (Mystic City #1) by Theo Lawrence

Posted by Donna
Release Date: October 11th, 2012

Finished Date: October 6th, 2012 

Publishers: Corgi Childrens 

Source: For Review 

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 146
Buy : Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

For fans of Matched, The Hunger Games, X-Men, and Blade Runner comes a tale of a magical city divided, a political rebellion ignited, and a love that was meant to last forever. Book One of the Mystic City Novels.

Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself.

The Review: Mystic City is a book that I’ve only recently came across on Goodreads and as soon as I did, I knew I had to read it. Being compared to X-Men, Matched and The Hunger Games, I was expecting great things from this book, and overall, it’s not a favourite but I did really enjoy it. 

Aria is a teenage girl who has lost her memory after overdosing on a mystic drug could Stic. Having to rely on her family and friends word, she’s told that she was having a secret love affair with Thomas – a boy from a rival family. Aria soon finds herself engaged to be married to him, however, no matter how much her family try to force her feelings for Thomas, Aria can’t help something isn’t right. With the appearance of a mystic named Hunter, Aria is thrown into a dangerous world, one where she finally finds out the lengths her family will go to keep everything and everyone in control, including Aria.

I really enjoyed Mystic City; however to start with, I did struggle. I wasn’t anything to do with the book itself, but more because I’ve been reading a lot of adult books lately and also, trying to find the time to read. So to start with I felt a little disconnected to the story and the characters. It wasn’t until around 100 page mark, that things started to pick up and I finally found myself enjoying the story. If anything the only real fault I had with this book was it was a bit predictable. I loved the concept, I thought the author did a great job making it interesting but it was pretty easy to work out what had happened to Aria and why, so by the end of the book there wasn’t really a shock factor.  

I really enjoyed the characters. Aria was interesting and determined and very strong minded. Hunter was brave, strong and if anything, more interesting than Aria. Even though both are from different sides, they have a connection that no one can break, even Aria’s family. There pushed to their limits but no matter what, they remain hopeful. 

What I enjoyed most about this book was getting to know the mystic’s. I found it fascinating discovering their magic – and that part, really did remind of X-Men. It was pretty awesome and it’s definitely something I’m looking forward to finding out more in book two. 

A big thank you Corgi Children's for giving me the opportunity to review 

this book.