My Luck

Twisted Luck, Book 1

By: Mel Todd

Narrated by: Autumn Juliet

I'm not a mage, but that won't stop me.

Cori Catastrophe. They call me that sometimes, and I hate to admit it, but it isn’t wrong. Things go weird around me. Electronics die, things break, and if something odd happens, I seem to find it. Finding another dead body just made me late to work.

Nothing will stop me from getting my degree, getting a job, and getting away from this tiny town - though leaving my best friend will hurt more than anything else. Reality seems determined to make reaching my goals impossible. The dead guy had my name in his pocket, my best friend emerges as an archmage, and my parents - well let's just say leaving them behind is one of the best parts of getting away.

So be it. Not being a mage means I'll have to struggle to succeed. No matter how weird things get, I'll make it. I lost my brother and I'll probably lose my best friend to the world of magic. All I can do is depend on myself.

But with my luck, that might be difficult.

©2020 Melisa Todd (P)2020 Melisa Todd

so many reasons to love this book!

it's been a while since I picked up a book that I want to share with EVERYONE. I've sent a copy to my best friend and personal Jojo, my niece going through her own hard times, and my boyfriend over in England.

Mel Todd has this amazing way of mingling humor with horrific descriptions. And Cori's family dynamic - just wow.

But Cori is a heroine who I can truly admire. The deeper you dive into the story, the more depth comes out about her life.

The town has a diverse cast of characters. Some I truly love and some I want to push in front of a bus. But there was never a point I was able to just put the book down. (Sleep is for the weak, right?)

This book is going on my keep forever shelf. It's more than an urban fantasy. There are so many depths to the problems in this poor girl's life. And even when I get frustrated about a decision she makes, she comes back later and gives the reason and I'm just like, "oh honey. do you need a hug??"

Mel, if you're reading this: tell Autumn to record faster! 💕

Both happy and mad, but in a good way!

Mel has written an intro to a magic world twisted into our own in a way I am loving to learn around.
The struggles of the characters are relatable and not pushed in a way to make you emotionally tired of the investment. I really enjoyed learning and getting excited about thing to come. On that note, I screamed at the book at few times for the characters obviously overlooking something the readers see immediately and if someone does not explain the nasty dandruff soon I may riot.
Side not on the narrator, her accents are not great but her general narrator is enjoyable.

This was awesome. Listened straight through.

Can't wait to listen to the next one. A interesting story and a wonderful reading. I would have made somethings different but I'm not the author. It'll be interesting how it goes.

Loved it! Long, but keeps you interested

loved it she kept the world building to a little bit at a time so you don't die and it was pretty humorous how much everyone is so oblivious especially Cory.

A Must Have for Any Urban Fantasy Fan

It's hard to say what My Luck and the Twisted Luck series does best. The characters have depth, even if you don't know it at first glance. In fact, that depth is hidden and revealed organically in a lot of cases. You're never hit in the face with a person's enormous backstory vomited up on first meeting. All of that comes in trickles. And Cori, the MC, is relatable, which is a big plus. You're not dealing with a Mary Sue or a whining angsty teen. Just someone in over their head and trying to get by.

Likewise, the universe is complex and detailed, with little hints of larger lore scattered around. It's obvious Mel Todd is working from a detailed plan.

Speaking of the universe, I suppose I should spare a bit to discuss the magic system, since that's core to the book. It's one of the more original I've seen, and creates some really interesting situations. It's hard enough to create some core rules for it, but still flexible enough to allow for fun innovations and surprises. Like everything else, details get doled out over time, but you can tease out quite a few before they're explicitly explained.

Plot? Again, super solid. We start the story following Cori dealing with the personal problems and goals you'd expect of anyone in her situation. Things like making rent, getting a degree, finding a job, etc. Those goals organically grow and change getting bigger and bigger as the series progresses (yes, I've read the later books. This part really becomes apparent later on).

You might have noticed a common theme in all of my praise. Where I mention how things come in drips and drabs, always leaving you wanting more. There's a reason for that, and it's because if I had to choose one thing My Luck and the Twisted Luck series in general does best, it's pacing. There is never a moment when the plot as a hole feels like it's going too slow or too fast. It's just constantly ramping up, constantly growing. This continues throughout the entire series.

As for criticisms? Cori has a few blind spots. It's essential to the plot and makes sense in universe, but it still leads to a few facepalm moments. Also, sometimes individual scenes or conversations seem to shoot by a little fast, like they were missing detail. The five star review is proof I don't consider either to be a major issue.

tl;dr, Spend a credit or the cash on My Luck. Then get book two, and hopefully the rest of the series will be coming to Audible soon so you can buy those, too. Five stars, highly recommend.

Great story!

While it drove me nuts the amount of denial the main character is in, the pace was great!
Narrator needs to do a little research on pronunciation for several words. Usually I will ditch a book with this many reader errors but I literally couldn’t give up the story.

Loved it

A different magic world. Herd to put down and can’t wait to get back to it.

Great book

Enjoyed this book a lot. I listened to it in one day. just couldn’t turn it off. Looking forward to the next book.

Loved the book, not a standalone

I am really looking forward to seeing what Mel Todd does with all these characters and what trouble they will get into next!

This is clearly intended as a series rather than a stand alone book as it spent a lot of time setting up characters and background in interesting ways. You do not have to read any other books to understand and it does have self contained plot however it really emphasizes what is going to happen in the future more than what is currently happening.

I might recommended waiting till you can get access to more than one volume before you start reading this :)

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Now for my little rant:
It rather bothered me that the main character spent literally the whole book refusing to get a magic test despite all the positive rewards for passing, loosing nothing if she failed and the possible horrible consequences if she didn’t get tested. If the test was that big a deal and she was procrastinating/or emotionally avoiding it, those who care for her should have just dragged her there and told her they would make it up to her if she took the test so that they didn’t worry.
How many high ranking magic users, friends, professional and other people have to suggest it before someone agrees to take a test? I spent literally the whole book wondering if she would take the test this chapter.
(🥲It’s frustrating when she could easily solve a lot of problems with a simple couple hour test...and open a whole other can of worms)

Excellent story, but frustrating

The story is clean, well written, well narrated, and a good day to day life kind of story. The part that is irritating or frustrating is that the main character, praised for being responsible and determined, totally fails to submit the the most logical choice for her life against all advise from acquaintances and friends. The right choice makes sense, costs nothing more than three hours of her time, and avoids possible legal penalties. By the time I was part way through the second book, my irritation was mostly appeased.

With that said, it really was a pleasant story to listen to without any more illogical drama than I can take from one moment to the next, just like every story should be.