Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

Genre: Magic

Hardcover: 416 Pages

Published: October 9, 2012

Series: Mystic City

            1. Mystic City

            2. Toxic Heart

            3. TAB

Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

            Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud - and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths.

            But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place.

            Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection - and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city - including herself.

My review:

            Mystic City has just about everything. It has a Romeo and Juliet story line, a political background, and magic laced in every page. Plus betrayal, memory loss, and true love. So how can you go wrong? Before I start let me say a few things. First, I have read plenty of books that contain magic and this book by far tops them all. For example, Dark Mirror by Mary Jo Putney is full of magic, but it didn't live up to my expectations. However, Mystic City was beautifully written. Theo Lawrence pens a imaginative and creative world set in futuristic Manhattan. He introduces two groups of people. One are the Mystics who have special powers and forces of energy/magic. They are dangerous to the Non-Mystic people. (Non-Mystic are the other type) Aria Rose is the daughter of an important political family. She is the key to bringing two rival families together through marriage....but only if she doesn't remember who she really loves.

            What I enjoyed most were the characters. Aria is the main girl who has been through a lot. She is suffering from memory loss not caused by natural causes. *gasp* She spends half the book trying to figure out why she has memory loss, which kind of got annoying. I mean hurry up and get to the point already. But overall, her character never gave up and this gave her strength. Aria is obligated to marry her families rival Thomas in order to create political peace between the two families. However, she can't marry Thomas because she loves another. In comes Hunter...oh my. He's charming, sweet, and can knock a girl right off her feet. He protects Aria by staying away from her. He thinks he's doing the right thing, but we all know he's not. The romance wasn't over exaggerated in this book, but it still had it's moments where I couldn't help but swoon. 

            With that said, all in all, I enjoyed this story. It was a fascinating read, the writing was good and the characters were likable. The plot was original in its own way, but it could have used a little bit more of a oomph! Lawrence brought something bright and new into the world of dystopian.