Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven

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A hidden villain that seems a normal character at first but is then revealed to have used sabotage (Prof. Quirrel) The Persie Merlin series is definitely my favorite series of the 3. I thoroughly enjoyed Harley Merlin and all her adventures, friends and even her enemies. Reading the Finch Merlin stories was sort-of okay, but by the end of that series I was ready to move on. I almost decided not to get Book 18, the first of the Persie Merlin series. So delighted I decided to see what Harley's children were like. That was fantastic! It was so good to read chapters split between Harley and Finch again! I love the bond that has festered between them since their mission on Eris Island and which has only grown stronger as we've gone on through the books, even when the two of them weren't always together. It is what it is, Harley. This thing is going right into a junkyard. Get over it and worry more about why there are gargoyles following you around in the first place.” So like I said interesting premise, but it was kinda just another ‘speshul girl’ storyline where Harley is not only Elemental ( can control all of the elements) but telekinetic as well as an empathetic. So yeah really rare. But oh no, her power isn’t what everyone hoped, and she’s considered a "Mediocre." This is apparently a really bad thing in the magic world and everyone is disappointed in her. Oh darn she's not special!

Harley Merlin | Harley Merlin Wiki | Fandom Harley Merlin | Harley Merlin Wiki | Fandom

Second, there are quite a few excess coordinate commas, and a good few vocabulary issues - homonym errors (like diffuse/defuse); wrong word choices for what the author means (like "conscience" when she means "consciousness"); and one of my pet hates, the jargon "going forward" repeatedly used to mean "in future" or "from now on". I love their humour which had me laughing out loud at times. Whilst I love them and their motley crew, the same can't be said about that humongous pain in the ass Davin! Honestly as a HP fan I didn't think there'd ever be a character I hated more than Umbridge, but Davin definitely gives her a run for her money! I honestly felt myself sharing Finch's fury at how often that asswipe, as Finch would call him, managed to get the better of them!

Publication Order of The Secret of Spellshadow Manor Books

Harley Merlin used to be in an orphanage. She went from foster home to foster home, but got treated very badly in each one, and also in the schools she went to. Because of her magical abilities and the fact that she was an orphan, people called her a "freak".

Merlin and the Door to Nowhere - Goodreads Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere - Goodreads

Harley visits New York Coven with Santana and discovers a trove of material about her family and discovers her father may be innocent. There’s a lot of action, particularly when they come face to face with Katherine. I heard it was something like HP but with a heroine, I didn't expect anything from it (High expectation is poison & it was YA), but I was curious anyway (one of my reasons to add it, even if not initially) or a modern "Merlin" retelling sort of way, & it was more like The Magicians (still haven't read it fully) or a witch tale (well, hello??? coven?) (even had a Shadowhunter vibes) rather than the "Potter"-esque feeling. the only similarities to HP was that there was magic school-setting & it's hardly a similarity, many books have magic school-setting & many protagonists have no parents.. though knowing this, I could see other little similarities in minor details, but if I hadn't known, I wouldn't have thought it was inspired from HP. It is an entertaining story and it does indeed remind me of Harry Potter. And Harley is 19 when we meet her, which is nice in that it makes me feel less like I’m reading a children’s book.The characters, diverse group of “looser/underdog” friends of the main character had so much potential, but they seem very flat and nondescript.

Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven by Bella Forrest | Goodreads

Started out well, and I thought it was going to be both well-edited and fairly original. Sadly, in the end it was neither. Enjoyable enough, but not quite worthy of four stars (I did originally err on the side of generosity, but decided on reflection to give it three). I loved the quirks of the characters, Melody with her rainbow magic, Santana with Slinky, Tobe and his hugs, and of course Harley & Finch glowing! This story is characterized by suspense, magic, and unending action. There is also some element of romance in addition to all the magical creatures and new discoveries. Harley will discover that her past is darker than she could have imagined. The plot is solid, the characters are lovable, and you cannot help but wonder what the future holds for the fantastic protagonist. As Harley works to save the children and uncover whatever her aunt is up to, she is still trying to find answers to some questions about her past. For example, what pushed her father to murder her mother? What is the extent of her magical powers? Is there a chance that Wade Crowley will stop being so annoying? I had suspected that this would be the end of this iteration of the Merlin anthology... But also not the end of the Merlin saga. I suspected this would be an open-ended conclusion to Finch's story and I'm so glad it was.Wade - one of the main characters, I could connect with him as a person easily enough and liked him. Well I did like the premise of this story, but I had a few peeves with the characters that kept this from being a 4 star read. Also, is it bad that I found the ending too happy? Maybe after everything Erebus and Kaya put our main characters through I was hoping they'd end up being a tragic couple, instead of a happy couple in exile in Italy. I wanted to read about a magic school with a heroine, in modern world (our world), so I decided it's time for this one. (& it also gave me Linsey Hall's long continued series (many books!) vibes, with heroine & Magic & School setting, which I haven't read yet (so I don't really know if they have same vibes! but I'll let you know when I'll read them), but I'd like to)

Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven by Bella Forrest - Waterstones

Both siblings got to show the talents we love them for separately whilst executing a very Old Finch-esque plan, with Harley-influences. I really enjoyed a cross-over with them both to finish off this iteration of this insane family's drama... for now... The main character being someone/something special even in the magical world (not explained in this book yet but I read that this will be revealed in the next installment) Similar to Book 2, which is narrated in the alternating first-person points of view of both Harley and her teammate, Tatyana, this book is narrated in the alternating first-person POVs of both Harley and her teammate Santana, whose magical powers come from powerful spiritual entities called Orishas. Lastly, to market this book as a must-read for HP fans and liken it to that level of fiction is outrageous! While there are similarities in concept, clearly the author was inspired by JK Rowling and perhaps even Lev Grossman, it not anywhere close to the level of craftsmanship displayed in “Harry Potter”, “The Magicians”, or even “Twilight” (and I thought that series was poorly written). Whoever Bella Forrest is I think it would behoove her to focus more on the Quality of the stories she wants to tell and not the Quanity of books she’s pumping out. When a rogue 19-year-old witch is recruited to help guard an ancient magical Bestiary, a breath-stealing journey begins...

Was suprised that the next series wasn't going to focus on Saskia and Jacob. When I saw the two year time-skip at the begginning of the last chapter I don't know why I immediately thought of them. Edit: I read a bunch of Bella Forrest's Sagas and felt I really had to add this point to this review. In all of her books and there are many, every pairing is always between the different sexes. This is especially astonishing since one of her storylines (not Harley Merlin) literally spans universes, and in all those universes, somehow everyone is straight?! After having read 3-4 books of hers they become incredibly predictable, badly edited (spelling mistakes) and quite frankly boring, because the same things happen again and again and you guessed it, AGAIN! I cannot over stress this, as she has authored over 100 books, if you have read one of them, you have read them all essentially. Fans of witches and magic, prepare for an enthralling new journey from million-bestselling author Bella Forrest.