Synopsis:

What if you wrote a magic computer program? What if that magic computer program started summoning monsters?

When twenty-something coder Seven Jones goes back to school at a community college in San Diego, the last thing she wants is to join some stupid club. And the last thing she expects is to walk into an underground magic club. Like, actual wizards and shit.

Seven reluctantly joins the motley crew of magic weirdos and discovers her own power. But she struggles to control it…until she figures out how to channel her magic through an artificially intelligent computer program.

Unfortunately, there is literally nothing Seven’s new friends hate more than AI, and when a student mysteriously turns up dead, blame falls on Seven. Is her “creepy artificial magic” summoning terrifying creatures to hunt students? Or is someone trying to frame her?

With only one person—cute ex-Navy seal Logan—on her side, Seven fights monsters (Dragon? Check. Kraken? Check) while struggling to convince everyone that her AI has nothing to do with them.

But how can she convince her peers when she isn’t totally convinced herself?

Review:

What happens when AI technology meets magic? Chaos. That is what you get. Total chaos. Oh, also a magic club, lots of monsters and a very cool cat.

Seven really doesn’t want to go back to school, but with few other options, that is what she has to do. There, she accidentally finds her way into a magic club, discovers her own powers and unleashes much more than she bargained for.

This was one of the wackiest books I have read in a while. The plot was so entertaining, and I genuinely laughed out loud more than once. I never knew what was going to happen next.

Seven is a great main character. She’s spirited, snarky and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She doesn’t usually mesh well with other people, but slowly the barriers come down and it was really great to see her realise that she does like the magic club and actually form some connections with her peers. I especially loved her relationship with Kurt – he is a fab character himself.

One thing I especially loved about this book was that underneath all the wit and humour, there was some great exploration of the ethics around AI. I can’t say too much without going into spoiler territory, but rest assured that the subject is looked at here. We also get a look at toxicity in different kinds of relationships and how, sometimes, it’s not always easy to see from the inside. I appreciated how these themes were handled alongside the lighter parts and it never dragged down the overall tone.

All in all, I had so much fun reading this, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys pacy urban fantasy, unique magic and is looking for something different.

Thank you so much to @angryrobotbooks for sending me a copy for the tour. Safe to say I was sold on the cover alone!