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Review: Mind Magic by Eileen Wilks (World of Lupi #12)

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Mind Magic by Eileen Wilks // VBCMind Magic (World of Lupi #12)
Eileen Wilks
Published: Nov. 3, 2015 (Berkley Sensation)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Margaret

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

Note: While review will be spoiler free, it does make reference to previous books in the series.

World of Lupi is one of those series that I always forget how much I love until I start reading. (Mercy Thompson is another one.) Somewhere in each new book, I have this moment of pleasant surprise when it all comes back to me. Mind Magic makes me even more nostalgic because it returns to the original main character, FBI agent Lily Yu, who was on her honeymoon during the last book and not part of the story.

It’s now a few months later and Lily has just started training with Sam, the black dragon, to learn mindspeak. The lessons cause her to hallucinate as her brain adjusts to new processes, so she’s had to take leave from the FBI. But when Sam asks for a favor that lands Lily at a murder scene, she’s reinstated to investigate the magical crime. I always enjoy the paranormal police procedural aspect of this series, though this was far from a straightforward detective story.

While Lily is gone, both her boss Reuben Brooks and her husband Rule are falsely accused of crimes. It appears that a rival government agency is behind the frame jobs, but before Rule and Lily can work out all the details she goes missing. On his way to search for her, Rule meets Demi, a teenaged girl on the run from the enigmatic Mr. Smith who collects Gifted children for his own secret NSA project. Her information helps Rule tie all the different plot threads together.

Demi is a really interesting character because she’s a sensitive like Lily, able to identify others’ magic by touch. She’s a computer genius who was able to hack into the enemy’s files and provide valuable information. And she’s the first character I’ve seen with Asperger’s syndrome. I thought Wilks did an excellent job showing the difficulties she has without letting them overwhelm her personality. I’m happy that it looks like she’ll be appearing again in the series.

I also love the fact that twelve books in to this series I’m still learning new things about the world. The dragons have been part of story for several books now, each claiming a different territory and helping to balance out the world’s ambient magic. But Lily discovers some fascinating new information about the dragons, which I won’t spoil. Wilks also brought back the brownies, who appeared briefly in a previous book, and fully developed their world. I can’t even describe how charming those little guys are!

My only complaint is that Mind Magic ends abruptly. There’s some Bond villain monologuing that fills in some details and drops a bombshell, and then it’s over. A major character’s fate is left up in the air, which left me unsettled. I suspect that that story may actually be told in the next book since Wilks has done that with the series before. But I’m still not quite satisfied, even though the last scene was a really nice way to end the story.

Sexual content: references to sex

5 Responses to “Review: Mind Magic by Eileen Wilks (World of Lupi #12)”

  1. I’ve gotten a little bit behind on this series. I still haven’t read the one prior to this one. I need to get caught up because I love this series. Glad to see that the book is strong.

  2. Samantha says:

    I’m extremely behind on this series. I think I only got to book 5 before I got distracted. I’m glad to hear that it’s still going pretty strong. Sorry to hear that the ending was a little abrupt though. I had when authors do that.

  3. Amy M says:

    I completely understand what you mean when you say you forget how good this series is until you start reading it. It’s probably why I’m a book behind with this series. I don’t feel the rush to pick it up a read it on release day / week so it gets pushed back. But I know once I do actually pick up Unbinding, I’ll be happy I can continue on to reading Mind Magic right after.

    I’m glad to hear that, being 12 books in, this series is still pretty solid.

  4. Maria D. says:

    Thanks for the great review – I’m a bit behind on the series – need to read the previous book but I can’t wait to catch up and read this – forgot it came out till I saw your review –

  5. Margaret says:

    I’m happy that I decided not to talk about “the thing that would have been a spoiler for Unbinding” since everyone seems to be behind on the series. And even happier that I seem to have reminded you all to catch up!

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