Crown of Secrets (The Hidden Mage Book 1)

I just love this series. Continued from Elena. Now her daughter. Whoot. Can't wait for the next book. YippeeHmm is she going to marry the prince. A lot like her mother. But to not be able to tell others of her abilities will be hard.

I loved the first set of series to this and I'm loving this series! I love all the characters and the storyline with all the creative makes. This would be a great movie!

I picked this one up when it was being offered for free on Kindle, so I had not read the original Spoken Mage series (it’s next on my list!).I’ve read all 3 of Melanie’s Four Kingdoms series, so I knew I enjoyed her writing style.This first book, Crown of Secrets, may be a bit of a slow burn for those who have read the Spoken Mage series, but I found it interesting and entertaining. It’s not necessary to read Spoken Mage before this one, but I did find myself taking a minute to grasp how magic works in this world. It’s not explained in great detail, but I worked it out in a chapter or two.Having just finished the entire series in about a week or so, I can say that this is a solid start in what becomes an increasingly detailed and tangled series with enjoyable and conflicted characters and one twist I definitely didn’t see coming. I particularly liked Verene’s continuous discovery and growth of her powers.Definitely a series worth reading.

Another enjoyable read from Melanie Cellier! In Crown of Secrets (The Hidden Mage Book 1), Verene is the daughter of the Spoken Mage, the most powerful mage in history. And yet she was born without power. She’s now past her 16th birthday and her parents have given up on testing her for magical abilities. It’s all over, and all she can do is desperately hope to serve her parents and her country by making a strategic alliance with a former enemy nation, Kallorway. Toward that goal, she sets off to attend the Academy in Kallorway, rather than the Academy in her own country.The two Kallorway princes are also attending the Academy this year, and Verene hopes to learn enough about the political situation to make friends with the other students and perhaps the princes. But Prince Darius is cold and reserved, his shuttered demeanor a seemingly impossible obstacle. Darius isn’t the only one whose unfriendly; in fact, someone is becoming downright murderous. Verene must survive assassination attempts even as she grasps at the hope of actually having some magical power, no matter how inconsequential. Every move she makes is watched and analyzed by enemies and potential allies alike.Melanie Cellier has written another enjoyable book in the world of the Spoken Mage. There are new twists to the magic, an expansion of the world-building for Kallorway, and new believable and relatable characters. It’s a fun ride made even more enjoyable knowing that the next book is only a month away. Can’t wait!If you haven’t read the Spoken Mage series yet, this book is standalone enough that you can enjoy the story without that background. Or you can go back and read that series first. I also highly recommend Melanie Cellier’s fairytale retellings as fun fast reads. I had read a few of Cellier’s books before, but I’ve really been binging on them as off-hours stress relief during this pandemic. They’re enjoyable in their own right, but also free of needless drama, darkness, and depression. Highly recommended for those who like original fantasy, fairytale twists, and enjoyable adventures.

I found that I enjoyed the Spoken Mage series. The characters were well thought out and had personality despite the strange world with magic rules that often appeared to work more as "hand-wavium" than a system that had been built with care.This book is the start of a new series, but its based on one of the daughters of the main character from the Spoken Mage series. I'll give Melanie credit in that she quickly moves her main character to the magic school and has that school be in a rival kingdom in order to isolate her main character from her family and in doing so remove the plot forces that would otherwise warp the tale. it was an intelligent decision regarding the plot.Sadly, while the initial plot decisions seemed wise, the world building appeared to result in some rather wild political forces in the new kingdom. Then our new main character once again has magic no one understands and which can't really be taught due to the fact that no one with her power has ever existed before. Heck, at the start she believes she has no power.I want to rate this higher, but the more I thought about it after reading it, the less impressive it seemed. it just fails to rise up to the level of so many other tales I've read over the years.

I really enjoyed The Spoken Mage series and was excited to read this one. As a first book, I was not awed and had to push myself through it. I am intrigued and want to know more about the plot and what will happen and therefore will read more in the series. I hope more happens than rescue scenes, hiding stuff and woo is me.

Book 1 in the series, which is a spinoff from the author’s spoken mage series. You don’t need to have read that series first, but it tells the story of the character in *this* book’s mother, so there will be spoilers if you read this first!Verene is a princess of Ardunn, the middle child of two powerful mages, and has never shown any magic of her own, though she can sense it.As a politically expedient move, she is sent to the Kalloway magical academy, the land that Ardunn was once at war with, and where she feels she can actually do some good.Learning magic when she can’t use it, is hard enough, but training amongst the people who were once her own people’s enemies is harder still.A good, solid, young adult fantasy series that readers of all ages will enjoy. Lots of magic, angst, intrigue, and danger, surround the heroine, as she struggles to make her own way in the world.

When the movie Eragon came out everybody raved about the child prodigy author of the original work. So I started reading the books. But they were only any good if you considered the authors age in your assessment. Otherwise they they were obvious, basically written and with a child's view of how the world and people's interactions run.This book seemed to be exactly the same. If I imagined a young author had written it, I would still not have enjoyed it but would have been impressed and hoped to see their talent mature. But otherwise it just left me irritated that I'd wasted my time- even YA deserve better than this.

I absolutely loved Melanie Cellier’s spoken mage series and when I saw she’d continues stories in the same world I was beyond excited!!This first book is a great start to the series so far. I like how she’s given these characters a completely new set of difficulties and challenges than what their parents faced. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing how the characters develop as the series goes on.

I love it when the heroine isn’t simpering or silly. This girl was great. Regal, mature, intelligent. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole book and at 02:13 I’m downloading and reading the second. No sleep for me tonight!

If you enjoyed the “voice”series you will enjoy this. Set a good number of years after that set we see a daughter beset with issues of her own about her abilities. Looking forward to reading the next volume.

I have enjoyed reading this, it does have echos of similar tales but I do like the main character and look forward to the next episode