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amybraunauthor's review
5.0
These stories were everything I hoped they would be and more: a mix of nerdiness, fun, adventure, magic, and drama with a dash of romance. While it did start a little rough and moved a little too quickly, I let myself become immersed and ended up going on a fantastic ride that will lead to an epic finale.
Jade is one of my favourite characters. She's funny, relatable, and good with her magic. She does seem to be more a follower than a leader, but this also lends to the realistic element of her personality. She is genuinely a lot of fun and I was always rooting for her. Alek is a bit domineering, but he also has a sweet side that I think makes him more fun. The side characters are also great, true and loyal friends I would love to see more of.
I really enjoy Jade's backstory and the way magic is used in this world. It makes for a great time and is easy for fans of D&D to enjoy.
The stories are short and move quickly when I think each could have been stretched out longer, but the action moves quickly enough that I didn't really mind it.
All in all, this series was everything I wanted and more! I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series. I recommend it to fans of urban fantasy, pop culture, and Dungeons & Dragons!
Jade is one of my favourite characters. She's funny, relatable, and good with her magic. She does seem to be more a follower than a leader, but this also lends to the realistic element of her personality. She is genuinely a lot of fun and I was always rooting for her. Alek is a bit domineering, but he also has a sweet side that I think makes him more fun. The side characters are also great, true and loyal friends I would love to see more of.
I really enjoy Jade's backstory and the way magic is used in this world. It makes for a great time and is easy for fans of D&D to enjoy.
The stories are short and move quickly when I think each could have been stretched out longer, but the action moves quickly enough that I didn't really mind it.
All in all, this series was everything I wanted and more! I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series. I recommend it to fans of urban fantasy, pop culture, and Dungeons & Dragons!
jlaney's review against another edition
4.0
This was super quick but filled with interesting characters and tons of pop/nerd culture and tabletop gaming references, the latter of which was something I didn't even know I really needed but I couldn't put these books down.
michellecatherine's review
5.0
This was a great book that dealt with paranormal struggles. Struggle for happiness. struggle to live, and struggle to fight.
jennybeastie's review against another edition
4.0
I've been wanting to read some of Annie Bellet's work for a while now, and I'm delighted with this omnibus form -- great series! Super joyful D&D references, yay shifters, and welcome badass sorceress. A bit gory (there is some heart eating), a bit repetitive (reading the first 4 books in a series all at once will do that), but an altogether solid and excellent introduction to the world. Yum.
suzyqhf's review against another edition
4.0
Really fun, can’t wait to read the second half. It’s got magic, mystery, a gender and race analysis and at least one queer character- what more can you ask for?
just_hebah's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhere, there exists a Venn diagram of gamers and readers of urban fantasy. The Twenty-Sided Sorceress series lands squarely in the overlap of those two--full of geeky references (and fear not, nerds who don't play D&D - there are plenty of things here for you to chuckle at) while serving up fast, fun adventures full of shapeshifters and mythical beings and sorcerers along the way.
I'm glad I got to read this as a collection of stories because it does start off a bit wobbily with a confrontation that is over almost as soon as it's begun and a barrage of characters we barely have a chance to get to know, clocking in at a thin ~70 pages, but I'm glad I continued as Jade grew into the sorcerer powers she'd been avoiding using because she didn't want to attract the attention of her ex, and the series' overarc-ing Big Bad, the sorcerer Samir. Later installments let Jade's equally nerdy gamer friends share in moments of awesome. Each installment has a conflict that forms the focus of the novella, with Samir a background spectre who begins to play a more active roll throughout the books.
The unabashed nerdiness of the references was fun, with delicious little easter eggs for those in the know (though the comment about a non-nerd eagerly looking forward to the second season of Firefly was a low blow and will always be too soon). A crack about magic missiling the darkness had me laughing out loud and reading the passage to my husband. In terms of nerdy allusions, this is by no means a unique feature of the series (Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid chronicles comes to mind), but the conceptualization of Jade's powers via D&D mechanics was a unique one for urban fantasy, and it tickled this gamer's fancy.
I admit I found it a little frustrating to get to the end of the omnibus and still see no sign of Samir himself, but it works better to consider the arc of this part of the series to be Jade's growth into her own identity as sorceress in a town of supernaturals, grinding through lesser big-bads before she faces the final boss. In that sense, it is a level grind. I can't wait to see Jade in full-on bad-ass mode when she goes into that final confrontation.
I'm glad I got to read this as a collection of stories because it does start off a bit wobbily with a confrontation that is over almost as soon as it's begun and a barrage of characters we barely have a chance to get to know, clocking in at a thin ~70 pages, but I'm glad I continued as Jade grew into the sorcerer powers she'd been avoiding using because she didn't want to attract the attention of her ex, and the series' overarc-ing Big Bad, the sorcerer Samir. Later installments let Jade's equally nerdy gamer friends share in moments of awesome. Each installment has a conflict that forms the focus of the novella, with Samir a background spectre who begins to play a more active roll throughout the books.
The unabashed nerdiness of the references was fun, with delicious little easter eggs for those in the know (though the comment about a non-nerd eagerly looking forward to the second season of Firefly was a low blow and will always be too soon). A crack about magic missiling the darkness had me laughing out loud and reading the passage to my husband. In terms of nerdy allusions, this is by no means a unique feature of the series (Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid chronicles comes to mind), but the conceptualization of Jade's powers via D&D mechanics was a unique one for urban fantasy, and it tickled this gamer's fancy.
I admit I found it a little frustrating to get to the end of the omnibus and still see no sign of Samir himself, but it works better to consider the arc of this part of the series to be Jade's growth into her own identity as sorceress in a town of supernaturals, grinding through lesser big-bads before she faces the final boss. In that sense, it is a level grind. I can't wait to see Jade in full-on bad-ass mode when she goes into that final confrontation.
kaeritha's review against another edition
5.0
A very fun, enjoyable read. Good pacing; it was hard for me to find a place to put it down.
fallenprincess's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked the MC. She's a D&D nerd, owns a comic book store and is a sorceress. She's my type of MC. That being said I found the book to be dragging in places. We keep being told that the danger is coming, but things take forever to escalate
chaosqueen's review against another edition
Well, that took a quick dive. I ADORED the first novella, Justice Calling. Loved it so much that I just spent the last four hours sneaking in reading time on my breaks between classes. But once I got to the second one, Murder of Crows, I felt nothing. I looked at the words on the pages, and felt absolutely nothing. 0 to 60. DNFing because I do not like continuing books I don't like, or feel nothing towards.
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