Nixing the End of the World: Phoenix's Quest Book 1, Alice Winters

Alastair and Nix...a good mix of tame, bewildered, crazy, and outrageous, I was alternately sedate and on the edge of my seat with the pacing of the story. I found Alastair to be a cross between Leland from Hitman and Marcus from VRC with his weapon wielding and snark in the face of his denial of past guilt and current interest in Nix. In this particular instance, it's the story surrounding him that assisted with being a unique character, but I found a whole lot of similarities to past Alice characters so he felt familiar even if I knew nothing about him.

In fact, I can't say I really learned all that much about him by the end of this first book in this new series. We do find out where his guilt comes from and his hesitance around his bond with Nix, but other than to give context, it wasn't much in the way of really knowing him. I'm eager to find out more and to watch him really open up to Nix. I want to see more of his power, what it can do, and how Nix can balance it out.

Speaking of Nix, his own power is an unknown until pretty much the end of the book. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about Nix taking the entirety of the story to get only a clue about what his power is and how to use it before he's thrust into the crazy with the villain. I really look forward to seeing him train and grow with his own magic in addition to the bond building he and Alastair really need to get working toward.

Together they work for me. It's a slow growth between them and I'm glad that they didn't really act on their attraction until it felt right because there were so many unknowns, so much going on with and around them, that it would have distracted from the story and felt forced. They've got a long road ahead of them and I want to be with them every step of the way.

The cast surrounding them is quite varied, though the ones directly involved were...interesting. Some were introduced with a bang and then kind of left off to the edges of the goings-on until near the end and I wasn't exactly liking that. Another, the BFF, was actually my least favorite character out of everyone introduced. I'm guessing she'll grow on me as the story continues though. The villain surprised me. Not in who they were, but how it all played out and what they did. I'm super stoked to see where things go from the cliffhanger bomb that was dropped.

Even though this wasn't a resounding five hilariously awesome star story, I have a feeling I'm going to love the whole series. Between the shenanigans of creatures, humans, and guardians and the plot that's barely getting off the ground, there's a whole lot to look forward to and I seriously can't wait to jump back in as soon as book two is available.

$5.99 on Amazon

Nix
“You are the savior of mankind” are the last words I ever expected to hear while nibbling on fries. The thing is, I’m not mankind saving material. I don’t even have magic (and just found out it exists). I’m the most boring, normal(ish) human ever.

Suddenly, I’m being tossed right into the middle of a fight that started years before I was even born, and then I get partnered up with Alastair, a quirky magical Guardian. He is rather attractive and sweet when he’s not into the whole “woe is me, I can’t let myself fall in love with you” nonsense. I mean, the moment he took my annoyingly judgmental grandma hostage, it was all over for me. I was hooked.

Now the only problem is… what exactly are we saving the world from?

Alastair

The moment I laid eyes on Nix, the naive yet easygoing human captivated my attention, and now I’m determined to protect him. But despite my amazing and majestic abilities, we might not make it out of this mess. Still, there must be a reason Nix was chosen. No, he doesn’t have pizazz and maybe he really doesn’t have magic, but he’s also one of the strongest and kindest men I’ve ever met.

Now if I can just get him to stop throwing blankets at enemies, we might have a shot at this.