The Hidden Mage series by Melanie Cellier

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Crown of Secrets (Hidden Mage #1) by Melanie Cellier

Verene is a disappointment to her entire kingdom–the first royal ever born without power, despite her mother being the most powerful mage in history. So when she’s sent to the Academy in neighboring Kallorway to forge ties with her people’s traditional enemies, she’s determined to succeed and prove she can still be of value to her kingdom.

Prince Darius of Kallorway is the strongest mage in his family–and the only reason his weak father is still clinging to his throne. Starting at the Academy at the same time as Verene, the crown prince is cold and distant and shows no desire to connect with her. Instead he seems suspicious of both her presence and her claimed lack of power.

Surrounded by unfamiliar politics and long-held enemies, Verene discovers that some at the Academy want her gone by whatever means necessary. As the threats grow ever more sinister, she starts to question all of her assumptions. The hardened prince might just be her best hope of survival and–even more shockingly–he might be right about her power. If Verene wants to survive Kallorway and the Academy, she must uncover her hidden powers and take her true place among the mages.

Crown of Danger (Hidden Mage #2) by Melanie Cellier

Crown of Strength (Hidden Mage #3) by Melanie Cellier

Crown of Power (Hidden Mage #4) by Melanie Cellier

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I started reading this series back in November when only the first 2 books were out and I flew through them. This series is solidly in the Young Adult category and while some of the characters seemed to fall into the pitfalls of YA characters, in my opinion, overall I enjoyed reading the series.

The story follows Verene of the Ardana royals, as she attends school in Kallorway, the neighboring kingdom. She feels she is the disappointment of her country having no powers despite being royal and coming from extremely powerful parents. She is attending the academy with the 2 sons of the Kallorway king. While there, Verene learns she may have a never heard of power and that someone wants her dead, leader her to try to uncover who is friend and who is the enemy.

I mentioned I read the first 2 books fairly fast, but I did have some slow down in book 3 and the first part of book 4. I don’t know if I just wasn’t as into them since there was time between books being released, but personally, I think book 3 was more of a set up for book 4 and didn’t have the same quality of plot that I wanted. That being said, once I got into book 4 a bit, I went back to really enjoying it and am happy with the ending.

If you want to check out this series, it is available on Kindle Unlimited. If you’ve read it, let me know your thoughts!