Review: Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors by Annette Marie and Rob Jacobsen

Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors (The Guild Codex: Warped #1)
by Annette Marie and Rob Jacobsen

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
My name is Kit Morris, and welcome to my warped life.

Picture the scene: Me, an average guy with psychic powers—not that my abilities are in any way average—just trying to scrape by in a harsh world. So maybe I’ve conned a few people, but did I really deserve to be thrown in MPD jail alongside magic-wielding serial killers?

According to Agent Lienna Shen, one-hundred-percent yes.

But her hardass attitude and “Arcana prodigy” status aren’t enough to bring down my former best friend, who slipped through the MPD’s fingers and is days away from unleashing untold horrors upon the city. Or he’s going to steal something. I don’t really know.

Whatever he’s up to, that’s why I’m sitting in an interrogation room with Lienna. And that’s why I just offered myself as her temporary new partner for the purposes of thwarting my ex-accomplice.

And that’s how I’m going to escape. I might even help with the case before I cut and run.

My Review

I received a free copy from the authors and voluntarily reviewed it.

Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors is the first book in a new series set in the Guild Codex world. I think this one’s supposed to be set chronologically after Three Mages and a Margarita, but so far there is very little overlap with the other series, except for some mention of events from the Spellbound series and a few side characters that play a role here. So you can definitely start this world with this series if you like, although I reading it now while I already know a bit more of the world through the other two series first.

The main character of this book is Kit and he’s in prison. Not knowing what mythics were he became part of a shady guild and when they went down Kit got caught as well by the magic police MPD. He’s facing a lot of charges even tough we was only an intern, but he gets the chance to help the magic police catching another guild member and maybe that will lower his sentence.

Just like other books I’ve read by this author this was another great read. I love the world of the Guild Codex and I like how this book gives another point of view and brings the whole world even more alive. There is plenty of action, a strong storyline that builds up to a big finale and a likable main character. There also is a lot of magic and cool powers in this one as well as a lot of movie references as Kit is a movie fan. I didn’t get all of those references, but all those references felt very in character.

My only niggle was the whole prison/ captive storyline. I am not a big fan of these as it the character always seems to have less freedom to act and do what they want and I feel like I can see less of a character this way. It’s also not a theme I really like in general. In specific I thought the set-up with how the magic police needs his help was a bit weird and I wasn’t too happy about the way things get wrapped as now it still doesn’t feel like his decision to do this. Except for that, this was a great read and I hope that niggle fades away in later books with the turn the story takes at the end.

I thought Kit was a great character. I like how different he is from Robin and Tori. He is again a totally different character with his own personality and I liked how different his perspective has. He hasn’t had the easiest life so far and found out about mythics late in his life, but he still is a good human being. I also liked how his love for movies shows through with all the movie references in his speech. That part of his personality really shines through and he could be a funny guy. He clearly cares about his own hide, but also isn’t as selfish as you might expect. I liked the friendship he starts up with Liena and I am excited to see how that develops in later books. There also is a bit of a glimpse into his backstory that explains a lot and also shows his compassionate side.

There is a hint of a possible romance in future books and I like the way it’s set up in this one and how Kit and Liena’s friendship develops. Liena was pretty cool herself with her powers and how capable she was. I look forward to learning more about her. Besides that I am not sure if we will see most of the side characters again in future books. I am excited to see where this series goes next and which side characters will play a role.

We’ve seen quite some mythics powers in the other series, but Kit’s powers are very rare and different from what we’ve seen so far. I thought his powers were pretty cool and it was great to see him trying to figure out how far he could go with his powers and even discover some new aspects of his powers along the way. I can’t wait to see how that develops in future books. I like how this book gives another perspective into this world and how we see more of the magical police here, although most of it isn’t too favorable yet in this book.

to summarize: This is a solid start to this new series. I love the Guild Codex world and it’s fun to have another series that’s set in this universe. So far this one can be read as a standalone, but might be more fun to read after starting the other series. This has the same vibe as the other Guild Codex series with a fast pace and plenty of action and a build-up for the big show down at the end. I wasn’t a fan of the prison/ captive part of the storyline as I feel like it limits the character’s freedom and I don’t like how he has less control over his life, I hope this part will lessen in future books. I liked Kit as a main character and I am happy with how different he is from the other main characters. It also was fun how his love for movies shown through in his dialogue and thoughts. There is a set-up for a possible romance and Liena is a great side characters so far. Her powers are pretty cool. I liked how this book gives us another point of view in this world. Kit’s powers were pretty unique and awesome to read about and it was exciting seeing him develop his powers a bit already. I am looking forward to the rest of this series!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.