Fortune Favors the Cruel (Dark Maji Book 1)

The twists and turns and dark magics will enthrall you from the start.From savage beginnings to the inherent power of the two main characters will have you guessing what’s going to happen next.Will she survive the assertion to grow stronger and will he survive the fallout only time will tell

The story follows dark Maji and former slave, Quinn, as she travels the land with new leader, Lazarus, in search of a route to the full potential of her dark power."'Quinn is rare,' he nodded. 'She is a shadow in every man's mind. A nightmare - a thought that follows you into old age - always present, always there, hanging in the periphery of your consciousness.' Thorne sat forward, curiosity urging him closer as Lazarus dropped his voice. In the barest of whispers, he told him. 'She is a fear twister.'"52% in, Bargain's Struck - Chapter Eighteen, Fortune Favors The Cruel by Kel CarpenterAnd indeed, she is. In sensing the fears of those around her, Quinn is able to turn her enemies' minds against them and win the day. But until she masters her power, madness is a very real possibility for our young heroine.Lots of quirking of eyebrows and arms folded over the chest - phrases I'm starting to suspect are taught in American creative writing classes - as well as a handful of misplaced apostrophes - the story itself is actually very good. I'm always a little wary of books with a cover exclaiming: 'USA Today Bestselling Author' because, in my experience, limited though it surely is, some of those books have been duds that rely too heavily on written assault scenes to do the heavy lifting for them and make the reader care.All that being the case, I did enjoy the characters and the story, and as this is the beginning of a series, there's every chance I'll add the rest of the books to my To Be Read list.

I'm not sure it's right to say I *like* Quinn; she's not supposed to be liked. She is, however, a fascinating character and I really enjoyed her evolution.Lazurus is a little more complex to discuss. His powers are hinted at as dark and fearful, but it is not until most of the way through the book that his powers are outlined and then they become instantly relevant to the plot. I preferred Quinn's build up where the reader saw the powers before understanding what they were - show, not tell.It was a slow burn book and didn't quite capture my interest enough to keep going with the series, but that's mostly because I'm very particular with my fantasy.

Fortune Favors the Cruel is a Dark and gritty slow burn with lots of kick arse attitude from the heroine, Quinn.Quinn is a Dark Magi and all she's trying to do is hide her powers until she gets confronted by Lazarus and offered a contract. A contract with some very bad stipulations if things change. They both have their secrets and as their journey unfolds they both start to peel back them layers. Quinn becomes more skilled and Lazarus obviously starts to fall more for the deathly weapon he has in his grasp.Kel Carpenter and Lucinda Dark have created a very complex world which was both a pro and a con. There were elements that came into play later on in the story which were not even discussed earlier on in the story and I was very confused how they came into play or why they were relevant until they were involved. It then changed the atmosphere of the storyline and Quinn's character changed as well, well before her character needed to.I still really enjoyed the story and I'll definitely be diving into book two because there is so much stuff I need answers to.

Wow! I really enjoyed this book and sat and read it all in one sitting. Fortune Favours the Cruel follows the story of Quinn, a Dark Magi who is trying to hide who and what she is. She has led a hard and harsh life so far and when we meet her she is experiencing freedom for the first time in her life, but is the life she is living really free? Then Quinn, and us, meet Lazarus Fierté. Just who and what is he? That is what we discover some of in this first book and we get to experience Quinn growing and discovering herself. This is book is told mainly from Quinn's POV, but we do get a few chapters from Lazarus POV too which I really enjoyed as it was great seeing into his mind and knowing his thoughts of Quinn.I really loved this book and when I finished it I wished I had the next one to just pick up and dive into, alas it's not released yet. This book is dark, which seeing as it's about Dark Maji is understandable. What I particularly loved about this book was the small thought/nugget of knowledge at the beginning of each chapter and the changing title of that character. It gave you a small insight into that character and showed their development.Honestly, this book excited me. It captured my attention from the first chapter and I found myself falling into the world that the authors have built. I'm very much looking forward to the next book and seeing how it develops. Five stars from me.

Dark and just a little bit gritty this story fulfilled everything I like about a fantasy. Although probably dressed as PNR its a completely slow burn and we won't actually see much happen til the second book.Similar to Throne of glass because we start off with a female protagonist at her lowest and is forced by hand in serving another. However there are very much Darkling vibes here because our antihero is himself a real grey area. The chemistry between our two characters are very much evident and Kel writes this into the story fairly well. The end of the story doesn't end on a climax which has boded well for my sanity, yet another step of the journey.I think what I ultimately like about this story is the fact our female protagonist begins to outgrow our antihero and possibly become even darker. This book shows its possible to be good but there can be a real blur between the right and wrong.

This first book of the series sets the foundation of the story. It is well paced and does keep the reader captivated. The heat level is non existent but you can feel the tension between the FMC and MC.Would definitely recommend!