annieb123's Review of First Earth (The Arch Mage, #1)

by Cami Murdock Jensen

Her raging scars and chronic pain made her different. Her courage made her hero of 2 worlds

Agnes Ann Cavanaugh was always different from the other girls. Not just because of her scars, or the nerve damage to her legs... She can sense when people are lying, just by looking at them. And she can read almost any language, even ones she doesn't speak.

Things get even stranger when Agnes interns with a professor of ancient texts. She is assigned to translate an ancient tablet, written in a dead language. But before she can decipher its mysterious markings, a horde of monsters and a librarian with a ghostly aura attack from the shadows!

Rescued by an old man named Temnon, and his shapeshifting cat, Agnes is whisked away to a magical world known as First Earth. Lost and afraid, the teenage girl is thrust into a magical conflict, centuries in the making. But as the forces of good and evil clash, she discovers a darker power lurking behind the scenes, manipulating events for its own fiendish desires to steal her magic.

Can Agnes find the strength to summon her inner light, and defeat this demonic entity once and for all? Or will both earths fall before it's terrifying power...

Journey to a world of strange creatures, heart-racing adventure, and wondrous magic. Fans of J.A. Andrews and Lucia Ashta and Brigid Kemmerer will love this coming of age fantasy series.

Originally published on my blog Nonstop Reader.

First Earth is the first book in a new crossworlds fantasy trilogy for teens/tweens by Cami Murdock Jensen. Released 27th June 2019, it's 336 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.

I was drawn into the story from literally the first page. Protagonist Agnes is intelligent, courageous, and no stranger to challenge. She's not about to trust the first dimension traveling magician she comes across (and his talking cat), even if they did save her from "a homicidal, purple-haired, ghost-woman". The story is well crafted and well told, entertaining, and action filled. I liked the secondary characters very much. It's a rollicking yarn and I'm looking forward to more from this author.

The language is clean and there is no questionable content. I liked that the characters developed and learned to trust one another over the course of the book. There are themes of friendship, cooperation, honesty, trust, and responsibility. There are also dragons and magic and talking multi-dimensional-cats. This would make a superlative gift for a fantasy loving teen/tween and a good choice for a school or public library.

Five well deserved stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

First Earth (The Arch Mage, #1)

by Cami Murdock Jensen

Reviewed by annieb123 on Nov 16, 2019

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