Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven

Product Information

When a rogue 19-year-old witch is recruited to help guard an ancient magical Bestiary, mystery and danger ensue... The writer here essentially told us this not a "good school clique" vs. "bad school clique" thing but something more "complicated", a dynamic that she promptly forgets to demonstrate anywhere and went on to ignore completely for the rest of the book. I gave my rating based on the series, not necessarily this book standing alone. This book was different. For some reason, perhaps it was me but I felt the timing was off with this book. Some parts were dragged out and boring then it sped up and major things happened so fast I literally almost missed them. The ending definitely felt rushed like she needed to wrap this up with a bow and end it. That note was the only thing my parents had left me with, before dropping me off at the orphanage when I was three. I was bounced around from one foster home to another after that. It was rarely a pretty picture, and my father's advice somehow helped me retain my sanity. Even now, as I glided into adulthood, I kept looking at that note for guidance, whenever a part of me wavered. As a foster kind, I always had to "stay safe" and "stay smart", though the two rarely went hand in hand." 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.

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

However, what I really wasn't fond of was that Harley seemed to give up her emotional feelings when someone simply told her to- and then was overly violent at other times.

Fans of witches and magic, prepare for an enthralling new journey from million-bestselling author Bella Forrest. 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! 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).

Bella Forrest official website

Role in the First Arc (Books 1-9) [ ] Book 1 (Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven) [ ] Before Meeting Wade [ ] Now I don’t do well with magic or witches and this well it has both… But… I loved it. I liked Harley from the get go. I liked that she doesn’t know exactly what she is but that she knows she is different and she learned to use it to her advantage.

But when Persie Purges something rare and extraordinary, her future at the Institute becomes unclear. And when students start disappearing soon afterward, much more than just a degree is suddenly at risk. You get everything you could possibly want from this book, perfect escapism, fantasy, action, romance. It’s hard to put down at all!

Harley Merlin Series in Order by Bella Forrest - FictionDB Harley Merlin Series in Order by Bella Forrest - FictionDB

The whole administrative system and hierarchy inside the coven seems haywire and it's obvious that the writer did not put a lot of thought into it. As I said, lazy writing. The book has a lot of world building but I didn’t mind it so much because it was easy to follow along. I think the next books are going to give us more insight into this coven and just how they all work. It's a good thing I'm an HP fan and am not irritated by parallels happening. Actually, some stuff is an improvement on the HP line. I really hope that in the new series Finch and Harley's children will be looking after each other in what they get up to! And I wonder whether Saskia got added to the disgraced list same as her sister... There’s a traitor lurking within the Coven. She still yearns to know the secrets contained within her parents’ Grimoire. And there’s also the fact that she might actually have feelings for a certain stubborn, green-eyed dude…Bella Forrest enjoys offering advice to those who are aspiring to be authors. She encourages them to continue reading in their spare time; books inside and outside of the writer’s genre can give a raw outlook and arouse fresh thoughts for new advancements in the up and coming novel. Forrest recommends studying another language to expand an author’s understanding of grammar and their grasp on their native language. She also urges prospective authors to set a minimum amount of time devoted solely to writing every day. The Character-building - Other than Wade (the love interest, which was laughably obvious from his intro) I couldn't connect to ANYONE in the book, including our MC. 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)

Harley Merlin 21: Persie Merlin and the Dying Song Harley Merlin 21: Persie Merlin and the Dying Song

Most students are here to learn. But for Persie Merlin-Crowley, it's a matter of life or death. Persie has done it - she's officially a student at the prestigious Basani Institute. With her best friend Genie by her side, she's ready to learn the ski... Speaking of Ryann, she and Lux do almost all the work in actually stopping Davin. I guess it'd be too much to assume that a plan that involves trusting Apollo would work well, but Lux really bails the group out of just about everything because she decided to adopt mindfulness and forgiveness as her policy. Maybe I should have noticed that Ryann being so blasé about repeatedly passing out was a sign something was up. Maybe having the one regular human in the group (at least, the one who was like that for most of the series) save the day is supposed to be inspiring to all the regular humans that read these books, but being completely blindsided by how the heroes outwit a scheming villain isn't that satisfying.

As the threat of witch hunters circles the Institute, a mysterious illness begins to affect the Institute’s monsters, and a long-disappeared frenemy reappears with intentions unknown. One thing is clear: they’re here to stir up even more trouble among the local monsters-in-residence, and it seems like it’s working on everyone. Sometimes the writer would preempt something that the book might be critiqued upon, case in point -