Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

Mystic City by Theo Lawrence
Mystic City #1
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads Stars: 4
Rating: Essential

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. - Goodreads

On the whole, I was pleasantly surprised by Mystic City. I had heard that it was pretty average before going into it, and I put it off for two months before finally picking it up. I want to slap myself, because Mystic City was AWESOME. I couldn't believe how much I ended up enjoying it!

The main character, Aria, is pretty awesome. She's awfully judgemental in the very beginning, but I think it works well with her character development. She comes from a rich and powerful family, so of course she's been conditioned to think that the poor folk are beneath her. She changed a lot throughout the novel, and her personal journey was one that I loved reading about. I liked how she didn't know anything that was going on around her, and her family were the ones that were really pulling the strings. Reading about Aria discovering what her family were up to, and what the world was really like was fantastic.

I also really liked Hunter, the love interest. I mean, he was cheesy and came out with the silliest things, but he was protective and powerful and still great. And the fact that he had powers was like the cherry on the perfectly iced cake, because OH MY GAWD I love people with powers!

Another character I really liked was Aria's dad. He was probably my third favourite, next to Aria and Hunter. He was sly, dominating, threatening and just... an awesome character. He was totally horrible, but that doesn't mean I can't like him.

The world building was... wow. I adored the city, and the different sections to it. The fact that mystics had to be drained to keep them from becoming more powerful than the regular humans was really interesting, and I found myself hoping for a giant rebellion. Which, by the way, I do believe is coming in the next book/s in the series. The mystics were by far my favourite things to read about. Each mystic has different powers, although almost all of them can heal and... kind of manipulate energy? Or something. I don't know how to explain it.

The action scenes were amazing. Shivers everywhere. I feel the need to point out how much I love reading about/watching people with some sort of superhuman ability. It makes for great entertainment, and it gives me goosebumps when it's written well, like it was in Mystic City. When the characters fought using their abilities, or just simply used them in an exciting scene and not necessarily on anyone, I got really excited. I LOVE IT SDHFLSHDGLIR *keyboard smash* Seriously, my heart was racing as I read some of the scenes, particularly the final action scene.

Okay, there were two things that I didn't like about this book. Seriously, only two things. The first is that Mystic City was very predictable. Now, I'm not sure if it was just me, but I knew what twists were coming before they actually did. Nothing shocked me. I felt like I was just waiting for my theories to be proven right. I would normally say that this might be because I read so many books, and have learnt to read the signs, but I just finished another book (Variant by Robison Wells, in case you were wondering) and I didn't know what was going to happen in that AT ALL. So yeah, it's predictable.

And the second thing I hated was the cheesy love letters. NOOOOPE. Aria and Thomas exchanged love letters before she lost her memory, and while I was reading them I felt really uncomfortable because they were just so... awkward. And they also called themselves Romeo and Juliet to keep their identities a secret. I hate it when people romanticise Romeo and Juliet, and so when I saw they were using that couple as code names in love letters I was rolling my eyes.

Despite those two things, I adored Mystic City. I wish I could rate it as All Time Favourite, but the damn love letters (curse you, R & J) and the predictability are holding me back. Definitely pick this up if you like books about people with powers, light dystopia, crime families, and the Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer :) I'm gonna be buying the paperback so I can bookmark my favourite parts!

The Mystic City series: 

1. Mystic City

2. Renegade Heart