• Author: Steven V.S.
• ISBN: 9780990314844
• Publisher: Neverland Publishing Company LLC
• Genre: Middle-Grade Urban Fantasy

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have very mixed feelings about this book that, unfortunately, lean towards the negative.  While the plot, pacing, and quality of writing were all good, the overall story felt like Harry Potter fan fiction, or maybe just a condensed rip-off of the series altogether.  I love Harry Potter, but I get extremely irritated when authors take a great book or series or whatever, change the names and details just enough to avoid plagiarism, and then sell it as their own.  Steven V.S. made enough changes, basically playing a game of opposites, for me to question if that’s what he did, but then almost immediately say to myself, “No, that’s [fill in Harry Potter character or plot point], I KNOW it is!”  It was aggravating enough to make it difficult for me to stay in the world of The Kingdom Lights.  Now, if he had somehow taken the Harry Potter story and made it better, or at least equally as great, then I’d be much more forgiving.  However, that’s not the case.  If you put this book toe to toe with Harry Potter, it will be found wanting.

If you don’t care about reading a knock-off, and you love Fantasy, especially Middle-Grade or Urban Fantasy, then feel free to give this book the chance I don’t believe it deserves.  Try to find it at your local public library, instead of buying it.