Author: Hana Lee
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ / 5
Medium: Paperback
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Synopsis
Jin-Lu has the most dangerous job in the wasteland. She’s a magebike courier, one of the few who venture outside the domed cities on motorcycles powered by magic. Every day, she braves the wasteland’s dangers—deadly storms, roving marauders, and territorial beasts—to deliver her wares.
Her most valuable cargo? A prince’s love letters addressed to Yi-Nereen, a princess desperate to escape the clutches of her abusive family and soon-to-be husband. Jin, desperately in love with both her and the prince, can’t refuse Yi-Nereen’s plea for help. The two of them flee across the wastes, pursued by Yi-Nereen’s furious father, her scheming betrothed, and a bounty hunter with mysterious powers. All while a storm to end all storms is brewing and dark secrets about the heritability of magic are coming to light. Will she find her way back?
My Thoughts (Spoiler-Free)
I picked this up as part of a book club, with no knowledge of the book or the author. I ended up reading most of it the day before the book club met to talk about it. This was quite a standard, straightforward fantasy with nothing too unique or out of the ordinary happening that I wouldn’t except from a fantasy novel. Mind you, I am not saying this is a bad thing, nor does it make it any less entertainment. As someone who’s used to Brandon Sanderson and his world of twists and high stakes, it’s refreshing to have a simpler book. Even the magic system was based on Mana. Add the Mad Max-esque action, and we have a perfect little book to spend a weekend with.
The spice in this book was not in the world-building or the magic system but came with the characters. There are three main characters in the book, Jin, Yi-Nereen and Kadrin. And Jin, our angsty bisexual, is in love with them both. Mind you, Kadrin and Yi-Nereen have been communicating through Jin for years, also in love with each other. And it’s not just this complicated love triangle that makes the book interesting. Each of the three are also well-thought out, interesting characters. They all have their deep-seated issues they are working with, while navigating this world that seems to have very different expectations from them than what they want.
There’s not much else to say about this book. The ending, perhaps, is a bit predictable as is the result of the love triangle. But that doesn’t really take away from the fast-paced fun of the story. I suppose the only real complain I had was that the author called the primary mode of transportation “magebikes”. I feel like there could’ve been some creativity applied here.
Kavi Reads 
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