The Magic Between is the perfect combination of some of my favorite things: sports romances, queer romances, and magic… How could I turn down the opportunity to read it?!

Likes:
• AB & Matthew—total opposites in every way but they are just so swoonworthy & adorable
• the magic system—this was seriously unique, and I loved the introduction into the different types and how they worked, and how that came into play with AB & Matty
• the romance—I loved the realness and believability behind it, it wasn’t rushed or forced… Just heart eyes for days

Dislikes:
• the pacing was iffy in some spots in the beginning and that made it drag a bit, BUT once the kinks got worked out it was 👌🏻

Overall I really loved the book & would love to see more of these characters/this world! Also huge thank you to Netgalley & Nine Star Press for giving me the opportunity to read this.

Well, that was lovely. The softest, sweetest, most joyful book I've read in long, long time. I wasn't sure about this one in the beginning, since it takes a bit to really take off, but by the 30% mark I was completely hooked and in danger of falling in love with every single one of these characters.
I'm not usually a fan of rockstar/famous people romances, but I AM a big fan of both magic shenanigans and sports romances, so I was totally prepared to like it. I was NOT prepared for a truckload of soft, yearning feels barreling into me and simultaneously whacking me on the head with the biggest shovel they could find, leaving me with a case of "why can't I have that too" pouting and sighing.
Very slow start aside, the story was lovely. A supposedly straight, sunshine hockey player meets emo, anxious mess popstar, sparks (literally) fly, queer awakening ensues and then, the loveliest, softest, most magical love story I've had the pleasure of reading about blooms aswell. PLUS, it's got magic (lots and lots of beautiful magic!)

I absolutely loved both of the MCs. AB was a fantastic protagonist, riddled with anxiety and OCD and intrusive thoughts, but always open to being challanged and so generous wih his affections and his love. Matthew was lovely and nice and sunny, as generous and open-minded as AB, and the way his sexual awakening is portrayed, his coming out process, was, frankly, beautiful and realistic (and it also made me, a fellow bi-in-what-are-these-feelings-crisis, feel quite a lot less alone).
All the other characters were equally amazing: quirky and weird and lovely and all of them ready to love and embrace and cheer for AB and Matthew's relationship since their very first meeting. The found family vibes were TEEMING *chef's kiss*

The world-building was also amazingly done, very original and vivid and even though some of the magical bits left me feeling a bit disoriented at times, it's not overwhelming. I know the published edition of this book will have an updated prologue and I can see why some people might have complained about it, but I actually quite liked it: it was as chaotic and pure as the rest of the book, so I thought it fit right in.
I'm also not a big fan of third person, present tense because I find it a bit too overwhelming at times, but this one was okay actually and Stephanie Hoyt's prose is really beautiful. So why four stars? I'm a plot-first-feelings-later kind of reader, so a book that's mainly centred on feelings and self-discovery and love, like this one, will always make me feel like something is missing. However this is a personal preference and I know lots of people that are actually the opposite. Plus, and this one is an enormous kudos, once AB and Matthew get together, there is virtually no drama and the misunderstandings are easily resolved because of how in tune they are with one another: it was refreshing and lovely to witness their love grow like that.
"The Magic Between" was a lovely story, with even lovelier characters and you better buy this when it comes out! Totally recommended. Also, did I mention it has character art inside? WELL, IT DOES AND IT'S GORGEOUS (just like THAT cover).

The Magic Between by Stephanie Hoyt is a new standalone magical romance. AB Cerise is a rockstar who lives his life in fear of his magic being found out. He trusts his band, closest friends and his family and that’s about it. After an incident at one of his concerts he is particularly paranoid and his biggest fear comes true when it happens again over brunch. Matthew Hellman-Levoie is a hockey playing legacy and art student who believes in magical mates and true love. He never expects his magic to link him inexplicably to someone who couldn’t be more different but what’s the harm in seeing if magic has found his match?


AB Cerise has his OCD manifest in his fear of his magic exposing itself and impacting his life and career. He has such a close group of friends and family that support his decision but he never expects a stranger to come along and help him gain the control he’s always looked for. AB is out and proud of his bisexuality. He’s never hidden it and doesn’t plan to, no matter what the public tries to say. He decides that there’s no harm in getting to know Matthew better by setting boundaries and keeping it platonic. He never expects Matthew to take on such an important role in his life.


Matthew Hellman-Levoie is a legacy hockey player with an artist’s heart. He has grown up believing there is a magical mate out there meant for him that would help bring his world into focus. He is shocked when his magic reaches out to AB because he always assumed there’d be a romantic aspect to the bonding. Matthew’s never opened his mind to the possibilities beyond identifying as straight due to unwelcoming environment of the NHL towards queer people and never experiencing a connection with anyone besides women. He finds himself opening up to AB in ways he never expected but keeps from going all-in due to his impending future and the implications of their bond.

I have aspects of this book that I thoroughly enjoyed namely all the characters and the richness of their development. The MCs had me needing to see how their relationship progressed, changed and grew. I loved AB from the beginning and Matthew grew on me as I got to know him. I also loved all the side characters who helped AB and Matthew figure out their bond and provide unrelenting support. That being said, I struggled hard with the pacing and formatting of this book. The inclusion of alternative media communications (twitter and texting) usually work for me but I found it wasn’t always easy to tell that it had changed over from the story to the text/twitter feeds. This book also dragged in certain ways because as the characters got to know each other not a lot else happened of substance that kept you interested besides the connection I felt towards AB and Matthew.


3.5 stars for two unlikely men finding their magic bonds them in unexpected ways.

This is a tough book to review, because I had a few major issues with it… but I also had a lot of fun. I definitely debated for quite some time about rounding up vs. down on Goodreads (and ultimately went up).

This book reminds me a lot of fanfic, in many ways; in that it’s very focused on the internal lives of our two main characters – A.B. and Matthew – and developing a sense of camraderie, sexual tension and eventually love between them. There’s a lot of fun inside jokes, callbacks to previous chapters, and a lot of tension. This is definitely one of those books where frankly, you’re just waiting for that moment where the characters finally get their shit together. All of which made The Magic Between very bingeable; it’s much longer than a typical fantasy romance at 428 pages, but it read very quickly.

It’s also unapologetically queer. In addition to A.B. and Matthew, most of the supporting cast is queer (it sort of feels like going around and collecting a big bisexual found family). The book is very clear that there is more than one way to be bisexual, and tackles bi-erasure as well as the challenges of coming out as bi (including when famous). That’s probably the strongest element of this book – and it’s worth recommending for that alone. There’s some good mental health rep as well; both characters are aware of their challenges and are working on them.

While I enjoyed the romance, I am primarily a fantasy blogger, and yet – the magic system in this book was actually too much. The book started with an extended info-dump about the various types of magic in the world (which I note is now being revised before publication) that was incredibly overwhelming and almost turned me off the book before I began. It’s also a bit unnecessary; this book could have trimmed the enormous magic system down to two or three key types of magic, and it wouldn’t have changed a thing about the plot, and would have saved the need for readers to keep remembering a bunch of terms and getting distracted by more info-dumps. I did also find some of the bonded soulmates stuff a little too cheesy. I love cheese, but it was hard to take a book seriously when the main characters started glowing every time they made out.

My other complaint is that the character’s professions are a big selling point of this story – and the driver of the conflict – but don’t actually seem to matter much to either of them. We’re constantly told that coming out could jeopardise Matthew’s hockey career but we’re never told why he even likes hockey or wants to pursue it beyond being the son of a famous hockey player, and there is very little about how hockey is a part of his life: when does he go to practice? how does it impact his health and fitness regime outside of training? We just don’t know. Similarly, A.B. is a pop-star who struggles with anxiety and (quite literally) being seen, so why choose a career that makes you famous? How did he get into music in the first place? Again, we just don’t know. That probably doesn’t matter to some people, but as someone who loves stories about famous people whose lives are just unfathomable to those of us less famous, it bothered me a lot.

Despite all that I did, like I said, have a lot of fun – and with everything else going on right now, that’s probably what matters most.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. The reading experience left me quite confused most of the time and the book just seemed too long for what it was. Let’s see if I can put my thoughts in order.

We’ll start with enjoyment - I really started to enjoy the book around the 55% mark when the romance took off and the main characters were dealing with the consequences of their relationship becoming public. However, the first half of the book was slow to get into and I was confused most of the time. I did have moments when I wanted to dnf it unfortunately, I had to push myself through by reminding myself that I needed to review it.

The main characters - For the most part I enjoyed them both, but I really started to get annoyed with the name AB. Why was that his name? After a while it just started to sound stupid and his actual is pretty good one so, why not just use his normal name when he’s with the important people in his life. I felt like Matthew’s hockey issues took too long to resolve and then his out of nowhere not wanting to bond issue was random as. He was the one all about wanting a bond and then all of a sudden he didn’t want to, it just seemed silly and out of character. Aside from that, they were solid characters.

The romance - I liked it once they got together and started working towards a relationship. Many of the hurdles they had to overcome where realistic and made that part of the story compelling. AB and Matthew had good chemistry and I rooted for them to work out. Honestly, I feel this should have been the full premise of the book and therefore, should not have taken so long to get started.

The magic and the bonding - This was the unnecessary, it didn’t add anything to the overall story and was really taken over by the hockey aspect and the hardships of dating in the public eye. At the end of the day, not much was done with elements and they did not enhance the book at all. As I said, the romance was enough and the issues faced by the main characters in being together due to their individual occupations and personal issues was enough. The magical aspects weren’t needed and the terminology associated with it was confusing as hell. I needed a glossary of terms to try to keep up especially when several of these terms were used in one sentence or paragraph.

The pacing - My biggest issue with the book came from this, the pacing was a mess. The book was all over the place for the first half and that added to the confusion along with the magical terminology. The explanation chapter at the start of the book was not sufficient enough to spend thee rest of the story trying to figure out what people were talking about when they were throwing these words around. Backstory was told in exposition dumps and the timeline was a bit hard to follow sometimes.

Even after typing up my thoughts, I still find it hard to articulate my overall feelings on this story or whether I would recommend it. Too much was thrown in here and I don’t know what kind of book this is. Is it a sports romance centred around a bisexual awakening? A romance about dating a famous person in the public eye? Or is this a fantasy romance about magical bond mates? All of these things thrown in together makes a pot of confusion.

This was a really fun read! Definitely loved that there were two bisexual protagonists, and both of their journeys in regards to their sexualities felt nuanced and natural. I enjoyed the contrast of magic powers with the characters' every day lives (although sometimes the balance was a little off). Both of the main characters are likable, and it was fun to read about the buildup of their relationship. I was internally screaming (in a good way) because I wanted them to work through their issues and just get together already!! The slowburn and ultimate arc of their relationship is great, but the early moments at the start of their romantic relationship were rushed over, which was disappointing because I wanted to savor that time along with the characters! It was strange that we didn't get more details on that specific front, when the novel spent so much time building them up as a couple. The side cast were all lovable and fun, although perhaps a bit too large at times. There are a couple characters that are easy to get confused. My main issue with this book was with the info dumping prologue at the beginning, which actually confused me further about the magic system than I would have been if that information was woven organically throughout the story. Eventually I felt like I had a good handle on what was going on, but that beginning textbook style explanation made it more difficult than it should have been. Overall I really loved the fanfiction-esque style of this book, the fantastic representation that was present on a number of levels, and the flawed yet endearing characters.

Looking at the cover and blurb, I went into this story thinking I would've read a magical soulmates meet cute and everything around it. While we got a bit of that, that's not exactly what the book is about. First of all, the book is way longer than I expected it to be, and I realized soon what that was the case; the story focuses a lot on the biphobia/queerphobia in show business and sports. It dedicates a lot of pages to Matthew and his realization that he is not straight like he thought he was, and it dedicates a lot of time to Matthew's struggles into coming to terms with that new reality and what it means for his hockey career and future. I really really liked and appreciated the bisexuality representation in this book. Was I still a bit sad that this was more about other things and the focus on the love story often felt neglected, in the background? Yes, I was. But this doesn't take away from the cute parts of the book, the slow burn, the pining, the bad decisions, the forgiveness, the growth both the MCs went through from beginning to end of the book. I did feel the book became more "Matthew's story" towards the end, and I would've appreciated a more romantic epilogue, but that's just a personal opinion. I was expecting a full 100% love story, and I didn't get that. I did get a really complex magic system, magic world, great and likable characters and side characters, amazing rep, fun and steamy times, and a page-turner of a story. I'm really looking forward to read more book by this author.

Who names their main character AB? AB Cerise?! Every time I saw that name on page, my brain started singing the alphabet and, holy hell, was that annoying. Add to that the fact that Stephanie Hoyt’s style of writing in The Magic Between is … something of an acquired taste and you can probably guess why I had a really hard time warming up to the story. Seriously, I am still not able to pinpoint what exactly it was about the writing that was so off-putting to me but I think it had to do a lot with AB’s name and the feeling that the type of narrator used in the story seemed to fluctuate – while Matthew’s POV felt like it had a very stable third-person narrator, the one in AB’s chapters seemed to randomly switch between just relaying his POV and commenting on it in an off-hand way. I don’t know, but it was weird and something that bugged me until the very end of the book … But more about said book!

The Magic Between is set in a world in which magic is very much real and everyone has some kind of magic. Seriously, everyone has magic in this world, it is simply everywhere and there’s also a legend about how magic can create bonds between people and whatnot. But there’s also a lot of taboo and whatnot around actually showing off your magic and while the author did try to explain not only the kinds of magic that exist but also why there’s this stigma on practicing magic publicly in a very infodumpy intro, I was still left somewhat confused and sceptical. Seriously, why is displaying your magic such a big deal if everyone has it and a bunch of people have to publicly announce what kind of magic they have anyways?

In general, a lot of this book felt like it didn’t really lead anywhere and while most of the things that never got resolved were very minor, they did add up. It made the entire story feel very unpolished and the magical backdrop somewhat unfinished and just that – a backdrop for a fluffy romcom and nothing more. And I think that hurt the romance quite a bit – because there are two integral parts to this: AB’s OCD, his fear of the public knowing about his magic and his resulting refusal to have a relationship and Matthew’s struggle with his sexuality and coming-out as a prominent figure in sports. And while it starts out with AB and his troubles being the focus of the story, they just fade to the back and are kind of replaced by Matthew’s only to then be quietly resolved off-page, basically – there even is a scene about this, which honestly was kind of ironical to read.

All in all, I thought that The Magic Between had a lot of potential – both in the magic world Stephanie Hoyt created and in the amazing supporting characters she wrote – but most of it was just a backdrop to a love story that, while managing to be both sweet and dealing with serious topics, just felt flat at points. In addition to a style of writing that, for me, was sometimes hard to read without being annoyed by it, there were a lot of minor things that seemed underdeveloped and they added up to make the whole story somewhat unsatisfying. This wasn’t a bad book, but I felt like it could really have used a bit more polishing and maybe a clearer focus here and there.

Truly a delight from cover to cover. It's tender and kind. The magic terminology is definitely a bit overwhelming at first but you get used to it. Can't wait for the audio to come out so I can listen to it next time around. Basically this book is about queer soulmates who have varying degrees of fame AND magic. I really love golden retriever jock/prickly musician pairings so if you do too, please give this a shot!

Thank you to NetGalley for a preview copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Readalikes: Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey, Red, White & Royal Blue

The Magic Between is a fantasy M-M romance novel by author Stephanie Hoyt, coming out of queer press Ninestar Press. The book's description feels like it was pretty much targeted directly at me - it's a fantasy romance featuring not just a pop star as a protagonist, but more importantly....a hockey player (a goalie prospect). Needless to say, it was an easy click once I saw this pop up on NetGalley, because my interests don't align like this in a book too often, outside minor things like a character from a Seanan McGuire novel popping up with a CWHL jersey. That said, I worried that a lot of things could have gone wrong in featuring a M-M romance in hockey, which (like most pro sports although probably worse) is known to feature plenty of homophobia in the culture and locker rooms.

I needn't have worried, as The Magic Between is an absolutely charming romance story, featuring two Bi protagonists - one of which doesn't realize he's Bi at first but does not react poorly to the revelation - and handles the issues of homophobia in sports/hockey fairly well. The romance is absolutely delightful, aided by both the fantasy backdrop in which pretty much everyone has some degree of magic and by the characters themselves - pop star with OCD/trauma issues AB and top NHL goalie prospect and NCAA goalie Matthew. Both members of the couple deal with their doubts as they try and explore their love, a magical bond, and more, and the side characters who support them are lovely, even as they both deal with the awfulness of people on social media and in other places. It's not the greatest romance I've read, and if you're looking for hot sex scenes you won't find it here, but if you're a hockey fan and a romance fan, or even just a fantasy romance fan, this will be very much up your alley.

Trigger Warning: Homophobia, Biphobia.


-----------------------------------------------Plot Summary-----------------------------------------------------
In a world like our own, except that everyone has some form of magic, there is a legend few believe in - the legend of Bonding. It's a legend that one person's magic craves a specific other's magic - particularly that of someone with an "opposite" magic - to form a life-long special bond that is like nothing else.

A.B. Cerise is an international pop star. But A.B. has never been comfortable with aspects of his stardom, particularly the obsession of his fans with his love life, with his sexuality (he's Bi and proud of it), and with their speculations about his magic. A.B.'s been burnt revealing the truth of his invisibility magic before - in one relationship gone horribly wrong - and as a result is terrified about "divulging" his magic to anyone, or about that magic accidentally triggering in front of the public....or even worse....dating.

And then A.B. meets Matthew Hellman-Levoie, a gorgeous young man who causes A.B.'s magic to react, to cause him to go invisible....not that it matters because Matthew can still see him with his own magic, the magic of omnivision. Matthew believes it's because the two of them are future Bondmates, which A.B. absolutely doesn't believe. What he does believe is that he desperately wants Matthew, and that he'd like perhaps to spend time with him, terrifying as it is....but certainly not to date Matthew, who's of course totally straight.....right?

For Matthew, the meeting with A.B. seems to be fulfilling one of his dreams - of bonding being real and something he could find - but he never expected he'd find that reaction in another guy. And yet, as Matthew gets to know A.B., he begins to wonder if that attraction he feels is something more, and if the world will allow him - the NHLs number one goalie prospect (and former #1 overall draft pick) - to openly find something in A.B.

But the magic of bonds, and the magic of love may be too irresistible for either A.B. and Matthew to resist......
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The Magic Between is, as I stated before the jump, a combination of my interests, of fantasy, romance, and hockey, so of course I'm going to have a lot of opinions about this one. I should note quickly that the hockey and sports in this world resembles our own, except that the names and certain teams are changed to not quite match the ones in our world (Matthew plays at Columbia, which doesn't have a D1 hockey team, the NHL teams mentioned all have names that are clearly derived from real NHL teams - Rangers to Raiders, Oilers to Miners, Hurricane to Storm, etc.). Also, for those coming to this book from a hockey background, I should warn that this book isn't really interested in showing any actual hockey games, but rather in the struggles a top NHL prospect like Matthew - and presumably a future NHL player and maybe star - might have with a M-M relationship in a sport with severe issues with homophobia.

Okay disclaimers out of the way, because now I need to start talking about why The Magic Between is so absolutely delightful. Both Matthew and A.B. are incredibly likable characters, and the way they each approach their struggles surprised me at times but nearly always in a good way. A.B. is an international pop star, but he has substantial anxiety about various aspects of his life despite that fame and fortune that makes him highly relatable - he's anxious about the idea of dating someone his one dating experience with another guy turned out to be a disaster (that guy was an ass), he's incredibly stressed by how his online and real life fans try to impose their own visions of his life upon him, particularly in how some of them refuse to accept that he's bi, not gay, and call one of his best friends a "beard", and because of all of that and more, he's incredibly afraid of divulging his Invisibility magic, which hasn't helped him ever learn to control it. A.B. is a vortex of feelings and caring, and while he's getting therapy, and it helps, the feelings he gets when he meets gorgeous Matthew, who claims he wants to bond but in a platonic way, are just overwhelming.

And then there's Matthew, supposedly straight hockey goalie, former #1 overall NHL Pick of the Edmonton Miners, and the latest in a legacy of hall of fame NHLers - but a boy who is far deeper than just some hockey jock. Matthew likes hockey but its not everything to him and he'd wish people would see that (which is why he's spending 4 years post draft in college), whether it be his love of art, his fun with his friends and his twin (Maddie, with whom he shares a magical twin-sense), or his idealistic belief in bonds. Matthew's reaction to magically reacting to AB is one of wonder as he first thinks it could result in that dream-bond, and as he discovers that those feelings for AB are more than platonic, he's not hung up over his sexuality crisis for long - really his real crisis is whether he'll be able to love AB openly while playing in the NHL.

And their relationship is just so charming and adorable as they push and pull. There's only one moment of sorta-heartbreak - the moment in nearly every romance story where something results in the characters being broken up and miserable until fate forces them to realize they belong together - and it doesn't last more than a chapter, as both characters know it's wrong from the moment it happens. Instead this a story of two people who feel an attraction for each other near from the start, take some time to realize how deep that attraction goes, and are both very patient with the other in their wants and needs. Even a late climactic moment of crisis is caused by one character panicking that their relationship has caused the other to endure something they previously never wanted, rather than anything selfish, and is resolved by the two realizing that what they have is far more in compensation than what they've lost. AB is so willing to be patient and guiding to Matthew in Matthew's first M-M relationship (the book doesn't really contain any fully explicit scenes but it implies what happens well enough) and Matthew is so sweet that you just can't help wanting to eat them up. The relationship is helped by all their family and friends being so incredibly supportive of their decisions, even as Matthew fears they'd be hostile - they're just totally accepting and it just makes you tear up and want to smile.

And then there's the way the book takes on the serious issues surrounding their relationship, which is the hostility and ugliness of AB's fandom, especially online, and the ugly homophobia present in hockey and the fears of what that would do to Matthew in his attempt at an NHL career, is generally done very well. While Matthew's friends and family are all accepting (his twin sister is already out, but as she notes to him, being out in women's hockey is easier since she wasn't the first, even if there' still very present homophobia there), he knows the sports world, and hockey in general, will not be. And so Matthew coming out publicly (and with AB's popularity, there's no way of only being out in private) is a tough decision and challenge to manage.

It's a very reasonable look at the situation, and it fits very well with what I know of the hockey world - Hoyt has done a really good job at portraying this. Really the only weakness here is that the book basically ends just as Matthew's NHL career starts going, and ends on a happy note, whereas I would suspect that the homophobia issues would instead still be ongoing for him for quite a while - it basically accelerates the track of homophobia issues such that Matthew deals a lot with worrying about the potential consequences for much of the book, faces them near immediately upon coming out, and then moves forward after there, whereas I would think in real life everything would be a lot slower and more tortuous grind. But well, this would have to be a longer book to deal with that, and everything else is so charming and the happy ending is so precious that well, I don't really care.

So yeah, loved this one, scratching all my itches incredibly well.

So, still reading the book. I have to admit, the blurb was intriguing and the cover cute, but opening a story in the middle of a panic attack is a questionable move. I put the book down five times before I powered through that first chapter.

It’s probably too late to edit that out, and I’ll tell people to persevere in my reviews, but most people who pick up a sample of this are going to hesitate to borrow or buy.

What I loved: The cover really drew me into this book, and I loved that there were other illustrations of scenes sprinkled throughout the book. I enjoyed the relationships that the main characters had with their family and friends, and I liked that they were all supportive. I enjoyed how the beginnings of some chapters had social media snippets.

What I didn't love: The intro article was longer and felt like a big of a slog. The world building could have been worked in more gradually over the first few chapters, and then I would have cared more about it.

I will say that the magic system and world building in this book seems fascinating. You get a whole section explaining it at beginning. The writing style for it was fun and I was excited to get into the book.

Then you get into the story and the actual writing falls flat. It couldn't grab me at all. Now, it could just be the writing style. It's in third person which felt odd after the opening. I don't usually mind it but it felt like names were being used far too much. AB does this. AB thinks that. It was just too much.

Now this book does use things like texts and articles. Those aspects are pretty fun and are decently written. Unfortunately, that just makes how bad the rest of the writing is stand out a lot.

If you're interested in this book for the magic, I suggest checking it out for that. Just don't expect anything amazing.

Rep: bisexual MC, question bisexual MC, anxiety, therapy, a LOT of queer SC

TW: homophobia/ biphobia and bi erasure in media and sports, (no explicit sex scenes included, more like fade to black)


This was pure bi pride baked into 430 pages and I loved it.

This book is taking place in a world where everyone has magic. Most people just have everyday magic (the boring magic), but there’s also the big 4 (the fancy magic), people with very special abilities (like turning invisible).
AB is a famous singer in a bad and has big 4 magic, turning invisible. But magic isn’t something most people show everyone and AB has huge anxiety of people finding out about his ability and being able to control him. (No, it’s not a rational fear, but that’s not how anxiety works.)
Matthew is an art student and NHL prospect, coming from a family of hockey legends. He also has big 4 magic (he’s an omnivision, being able to see sounds als different colours) and the polar opposite to ABs.
When the two of them meet in a restaurant restroom and their magic sparks while they touch hands, Matthew knows everything his grandma always told him is true: magic of polar opposites is able to react to each other in an extreme way and these people can become bond mates.
Matthew is convinced that AB will become his bond mate. The only problem is that Matthew always imagined his bond mate to be a woman.

I really liked the way the magic system was explained in this, not through a 200 page world building, but simply through a kind of newsletter/ blog article at the very beginning of the book.
I thought it was very fitting, with AB being a famous artist and Tweets and newsletter headlines constantly included in the chapters.

The two of them slowly getting to know each other, AB starting to trust Matthew, overcoming his anxiety with him and Matthew slowly falling for AB, not only because of their magic bond, but because of the person he is was so utterly beautiful.
This is a very VEERRRY slow slowburn and I loved it.
I thought it was so realistic. Matthew was 100% convinced that his bond mate was going to be a woman, and is shaken to his core that he starts to develop feeling for AB. This included a complete mental breakdown with a lot of bi panic and I loved to see this very realistic display of coming to terms with your sexuality after years. Also being a famous athlete AND being out? Still in this day and age mostly unheard of.
AB has huge trust issues and fear of being used and abandoned after bad experiences in his past. Combined with his anxiety of his magic being known it’s a huge step for him trusting Matthew and it’s not something that happens in two days.

I especially loved the huge variety of bisexual people in this. AB is very out and proud, using Make-up and nail polish, dressing up in lace and pink and glitter.
Matthew is a cliche jock in sweats and a cap.
Both of these man dated woman.
Both of these man love man.
This book displayed mercilessly how people often see bisexual people and how the media displays bisexual celebrities.
There is so much bi erasure going on and so much prejudice of what queer man have to look and act like.
It was sad so see if what both AB and Matthew had to deal with, both rumours and queer phobia.

I really loved this book, though I have to say it’s not very action ridden, but rather a slow, character and mostly character development driven story.
It took me some getting used to the style of writing, it’s written from third person perspective, from both MCs POV, but in a very insightful way.
I personally would have loved to have some more interaction and conversations happening between these two on page though. Some parts of their relationship development were a little too easily skipped over and I would have loved to follow the two of them more.
If you’re just looking for a cute romance this is not it.
The scenes were they WERE together though were adorable and cute and fun.

I absolutely loved the casual queerness in this book though. Nearly every character in this is queer and I loved their little group. I would have also loved to learn a little more about their friends though. There were many and I wanted to get to know them too!
I also loved how both their families simply supported them without question. When the world is against you, is wonderful to have supportive family and friends.

All in all I really loved a lot of this book, especially the MCs character development and the way they communicated.
I think this book could have been a little shorter, which would have helped to keep the pace up a little.
Also I would have loved for the epilogue to include a little more of AB and Matthew together (I wanted the romance!!!) and not only news about his career.

PS: I absolutely loved the art in this!!! Ab is beautiful oh my goddess!!!! The jumpsuit? I died.

3.5 stars
Mild spoilers ahead !!!

"And who knows! This could be the start of a grand adventure even if Bonds aren't real"

The Magic Between was something definitelly.
I really enjoyed it quite a lot overall. To be quick:

- I really liked both the main characters and their own personal conflicts with their feelings and separated environments. I personally liked a lot how their magic affects both chapter povs writing, how Matthew's magic (that is quite sensitive) affects his chapters and how it was written, how we see through his eyes very clearly. I liked how they both fall into their own personal fears and help each other out again and support each other being in complete different worlds.
- Something that was a little heavy for me was the magic system. I was halfway through and i still couldn't grasp how it worked. It was a bit dense and in my personal case i was more interested in the situation between Matthew and AB, socially speaking. I liked the core concept about the deepest bonds appeared between the MOST opposites of magics and how Matthew and AB work both their social circles and magical reactions out.
- I ADORED the illustrations! It was so lovely to read and then see the illustrations that represented certain scenes! The style is beautiful!
- I also found quite realistic the absolute chaos stan twitter can turn into concerning celebrities and their possible significant others.
- Another thing that I was hoping to see a little bit more was certain important events in the story that, due to the author's style, were lowkey over passed. It doesn't mean that this Is a bad execution, AT ALL, it's good, because it's explained how these things go and its outcomes, but i personally wanted to see more of it, to actually be in the scene. I wanted to see more of AB and Matthew's first kiss, building up the hype and expectation for their first times; the Halloween Masquerade, because of the EPICNESS OF THAT CONCEPT YES; and Matthew's coming out to his sports league, but this one was in the cutest way involving a social media post by AB. Obviously all these events were told in an open way, I'm just a romantic and wanted to see that.
- Finally I liked the way this Is a character driven story but the plots surrounding both main characters environments are so intense! You get to really wonder how this Is going to end.
I loved both Matthew and AB and i liked to see them finding themselves falling in love with each other.
Very lovely and funny and queer !!!

The first like 25% of this book I found to be a little hard to get through. The epilogue is a literal info dump for a world we haven’t been introduced to yet, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get into it…then BOOM when this story picked up it picked up with a vengeance. I was enthralled from the moment AB and Matthew agreed not to fall in love while exploring the possibility of them Bonding…I knew, Of course, that wouldn’t last. I’m a romance reader, I know the formula, but this book was so intriguing as the two found their footing as Bondmates. Matthew is the sweetest, cutest, most precious character I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a long, long time. His journey isn’t easy: not only does he have to come to terms with his sexuality, his feelings for AB, and the ramifications both cause in his budding NHL career. AB is everyone’s rockstar boyfriend fantasy and also very adorable. His reservations are because of his past and his celebrity status, which was a fun insight to have. Both of them are people with followings, but AB’s fans are way more rabid. The exploration of bisexual erasure is prominent and an important plot line as both of our MC’s identify as bisexual. I think it’s wonderful the author took the time to address many taboos that surround the bisexual community and this book has the potential to open a lot of eyes. I had an amazing time reading this when it picked up. I hope more books within this world of magic come to us soon.

The Magic Between follows an A-list pop star named AB and an up-and-coming legacy hockey player named Matthew as they fall in love in a world where the majority of people have magical powers. Matthew is a firm believer in Bonds, aka a magical bond between two people that develops through opposite powers and a deepening of a connection between two people. AB, however, is unconvinced they exist. One thing they can both agree on is that starting a relationship would be a terrible idea. Unfortunately, fate has other plans.

This book was such a treat! When I saw the description, I requested it immediately and was very happily surprised to receive it! I loved both of the main characters as well as their friends and family members. The plot is nothing new, but was well executed, and it was easy to breeze through this story. I also really enjoyed the social media aspect that included drawings of the characters and reactions of their respective fans which was a realistic nod to fan culture. There was a lot of queer side characters which was enjoyable as well. And of course, the magical element was interesting and fun. Overall, it was just that: fun!

If I were to get a bit nitpicky, I would say that the beginning of the book was a little hard to get through, as it laid out the entire magical structure of this universe like a textbook. Although it was in the form of a magazine article, I felt like I was supposed to be taking notes, and not much of it stuck with me. I wish it could have been implemented in a more natural way, but this is a small thing. One other gripe I have with this story is sheer amount of side characters. I couldn't possibly keep them all straight. Each main character had multiple groups of friends and their family members were very present as well. While this is realistic for a person to have in real life, as book characters it made my head spin as so many characters kept coming in and out of the story. I kept having to go back and be like "Who is that again?" which took me out of the story a bit. However, I am able to look past all of that since the book overall was so enjoyable! I recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and NineStar Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, and the concept of urban/modern magic and queerness was promising. However, the writing style was so challenging to read - lots of run-on sentences and group discussions where you had to pause to figure out who said what. The MCs had good character development, but the supporting characters seemed to only exist to give the MCs someone to talk to. The book overall had a good love story, and would be good for queer hockey fans. The writing style and numerous plot gaps made it difficult to get to the end.

I always tell my students to give a book a few chapters before they make up their mind about it. I gave this book five chapters and I knew by chapter three this wasn't going to be my thing. Based on the cover, I was expecting a light-hearted, curious romantic relationship. What I read was bogged down by detail-heavy descriptions of the different types of magic, who has what powers and why, and how some work together and some don't...etc. It was hard to keep every type and what they could do straight in my brain while also figuring out which character was whose bestie. It seemed like it was never going to get to the point. And the text conversations were cute, quirky, but not what I felt two people dancing around a possible love connection would actually say. Maybe the combo of love and magic just isn't my thing.

(I won’t post this review publicly, because I want the title to succeed, and it just wasn’t for me.) The world-building infodump at the start of the book + the sheer volume of side characters + improbability of some of the hockey details made this a bit of a slog to get through. The images and twitter/fandom descriptions were GREAT, however, and the second half of the book was much breezier and fun to read.