He's a Magic Man - Susan Squires [Children of Merlin]

He's a Magic Man - Susan Squires [Children of Merlin]
Source: Goodreads Giveaway
Originally Reviewed: January 13, 2014
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I got this as a Goodreads Firstreads win, so I'm going to summarize a few points here while the book is still fresh in my mind since I don't have time for a fully involved review:

1. Felt like it took too long to read.
Why? I'm a fast reader. I can get through the early books of the Wheel of Time in 3-5 days. This one, at (less than) half that, took me to the far end of that scale. The first half of the book kept my interest nice and fast, but the more I read, the less I started caring about what happened to the people, or in general.

2. Been there, done that.
The descendants of Merlin, and people who get their power from Morgan La Fey. Athurian-era artifacts. Anybody remember Stargate SG-1/Atlantis?

3. The raging alcoholic.
Okay, score for throwing this in as a twist, and giving Drew the balls to do what she did. However... we're talking, what, a week? Alcoholism doesn't just go away in a week, no matter how thoroughly detoxed. Sure, throw the magic in and everything's hunky-dory, but there is such a thing as relying TOO MUCH on the magic.

4. Drew's got a pair.
This is one ballsy woman. After what we see her face early on in the book, she seems to have this bottomless pit of determination, while still maintaining a healthy dose of "what if"? (Not like she lets that stop her. Like I said, she's got a pair.) I was cheering her on through the entire detox. That gave a REAL nice balance to the whiny high schooler she became any time her gift/power was involved (No, I'm not putting that bit down - considering her familial status and everything else, it almost makes more sense than just about anything else in the book).

All in all, it felt like the first half of the book is where Squires really took her time and thought out what she was writing. Maybe even first 2/3 - then its almost as if a reminder popped up on the calender and it became, "Oh, crap! Deadline!"

I do plan on reading other books in this series, so I can get a better feel for Squires as an author.