Mayhem and the Mortal by Shanora Williams – Book Review

Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance

Spice: Hot

Summary:

When Zaira Quinlocke finds out her sister has been cursed by an evil sorcerer and will die in 30 days unless the curse is broken, she’s desperate for anything that can help her save Analla. There are tales of prosperity stones in the far-off Temple of Elphar that can break any curse, but how is a bread-baking non-magical mortal supposed to get to the deadly Shallows and back alive all in less than 30 days?

Enter Thane Valkor. Dark, broody, arrogant, but very magical. Zaira knows if anyone can help her get through to the Temple of Elphar, it’s this guy. She gives up everything she has left to pay him to take her safely across the kingdoms and find the prosperity stones. And so, they set off on an impossible quest, where they will gain the support of new and old friends, run from the evil sorcerer’s shadow assassins, and maybe find themselves growing closer than either of them ever expected.

Reaction:

Mayhem and the Mortal is a fun, exciting fantasy quest read! It has an organic band of misfits that feel like a found family, an enjoyable realistic FMC, and suspenseful action sequences throughout. The story delivers exactly what it sets out from the start with some interesting twists along the way that I really enjoyed.

The plot setup happens quickly, kicking the adventure off as the band of questers comes together one by one. From there, the action and romance are well interspersed, along with a few twists in the story. I thought the plot was straightforward and balanced, allowing the focus to be on the action and interpersonal relationships between characters. While there are important themes presented in the book such as war displacement and recovery from trauma, they weren’t a big emphasis compared to the quest itself.

I have mixed feelings about the world-building in this book. There were certain settings I thought were well built and fully developed, but others felt glossed over. Politics, culture, and religion were mostly used for plot devices, although there is some social commentary present relating to persecution of certain groups. The magic system is very loosely described. There were many examples of magic, but not a lot of consistency in how it was applied across different users. The book does present a very vibrant variation of magical creatures that range from more animal-like such as the cute dragon-like Zephra to humanoids such as the Minotaurs. Overall, I think it supports what it needs to in the story.

I loved the FMC, Zaira. She’s realistic, determined, kind, loyal, and generous but still willing to give some attitude when the situation calls for it. She barely has a bad bone in her body, but not in the holier than thou way “noble” FMCs can sometimes give off. It was easy and enjoyable to see the world from her point of view. My only critique of her character arc is that I wanted more flashbacks to her and her sister being close, having happy or important moments before she was cursed. I was missing that proof to her motivation to go to such lengths to save her sister.

From the beginning, I liked Thane. He was a great morally-gray, grumpy contrast to Zaira’s sunshine and optimism. But for some reason whenever he was trying to initiate romance with Zaira, I was getting a different, more suave character than the tortured soul I saw Thane as otherwise. It created an inconsistency in his character for me, and that in turn led me to not get totally into the romance.

The supporting cast of characters for the quest is well developed with each having their own backstory and personalities. They were entertaining, playing off each other’s attitudes and brought that sense of found family to the story. On the other hand, the “villains” in this story are not very complex; they are just typical power-hungry, selfish big bads.

Overall, this story was a very entertaining read. I enjoyed following the mortal Zaira as she went on this big, noble quest to try to save her sister. While this book didn’t have as developed of a world as I usually like, and the romance wasn’t totally romancing for me, I think it’s still a great story. I recommend it to those who want a fast-paced quest-based fantasy that focuses on adventure, romance, and friendly support among the quest group.

Thanks to Entangled Publishing for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

What I enjoyed:

·       Zaira is truly a mortal in this book. She relies on those with magic or physical skills to protect her on the quest, instead providing strategic support such as pointing out the best place to strike a monster with gills. Her character has the perfect balance of wanting to learn to protect herself without turning into a ridiculously skilled fighter overnight.

·       The action sequences were clear and concise, but still high stakes and exciting, all while keeping in Zaira’s POV. They played like an action movie in my head.

·       Algar’s character brings so much to the book. His adoration of Zephra is adorable, his history and moral conflicts with Thane bring intrigue that otherwise wouldn’t be there, and he really has a good heart, even if he’s a thief.

What I didn't enjoy:

·       Having a quest-based plot limited to less than 30 days doesn’t allow a lot of time for interpersonal relationships to form, so the closeness between the characters seemed unrealistic if I thought about how long they had known each other, even if they were bonding through high-stress situations. And each kingdom seemed to be traversable in less than a day which also seemed unrealistic. I kept trying to calculate time and distance and looking at the map and it just wasn’t computing in my head.