This book screamed to me because it’s fantasy and Fae. Ophelia is a very interesting main character. Every bit the heroine you’d expect. This book connects with how society is in today’s age. The magic system was easy to navigate, as well as the world written. But all in all, it lacked some for me in development

Mischief and Mayhem is the first book in a new YA fantasy series by S.D. Nicholson. Released 24th May 2019 by Koeler books, it's 238 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.

This is a quest driven high fantasy with elves, humans, sprites, and the rest. I liked the world building (such as it was) and the story itself shows a lot of promise. My problem with the book comes with the actual narrative.

The prose is often, frankly, exceedingly purple. When reading, I felt as though the author were making a Herculean effort to remain in high fantasy voice the entire time which made the whole a chore to read. There are several places where the tense shifts, which is distracting. There are a number of places in the book where PoV shifts between characters without any clear delineation. All of the above problems could be solved with some ruthless editing. Despite being a debut effort from a new author, it does show a great deal of potential. I really enjoyed the story itself and the bones of a really good narrative are already in place. I sincerely hope the author can find a good editor, or possibly a group of hardcore beta readers who aren't afraid to give detailed feedback.

I think the 4 and 5 star ratings are premature, but not necessarily unwarranted because with a solid rewrite, this series could be something out of the ordinary. As it is in its present form, it's unfinished and difficult to read.

There is a fair bit of graphic violence (especially for a YA book) and some of it is potentially triggering (sexual violence and harm). It wasn't gratuitous in context, but it is brutal. The language is relatively curse free.

I'll be interested to see the development of this author in future.

Three stars.

Mischief and Mayhem is a good book and I could not put it down. The writing is good and the characters are interesting. I would read more by this author.

I only got to read half of it before it was archived. I thought it was interesting, but hard to follow the timelines. It was a bit confusing to me. I liked the spunk of the faer names Ophelia; and the idea that a banished could share her body/soul was a good one. I did wonder how Ophelia could have magical gifts of death and healing at the same time, but perhaps that was explained later in the book. I will try to read it again in the future.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. Could not put it down until the very end. Well written with interesting characters.

I had not previously read any books by S.D. Nicholson and am glad I was granted permission to read this book before publication. I especially enjoyed the glossary, it made it easier keeping track of everything. I especially liked one of the quotes in the book - “To live in this world, you must come to the realization that we face mindless absurdity every day” - pretty to point.

Great Work!

This book was provided free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

​I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book for anyone who enjoys Sci Fi and Fantasy Books. 📕👍🏼

I GIVE IT A 5 STAR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️