Warping Minds and Other Misdemeanors by Annette Marie, Rob Jacobsen

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Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors by Annette Marie, Rob Jacobsen
The Guild Codex: Warped #1, Guild Codex Universe #11
Published by Dark Owl Fantasy Inc. on August 7, 2020
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, New Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher

My name is Kit Morris, and welcome to my warped life.

Picture the scene: Me, an average guy with psychic powers—not that my abilities are in any way average—just trying to scrape by in a harsh world. So maybe I've conned a few people, but did I really deserve to be thrown in MPD jail alongside magic-wielding serial killers?

According to Agent Lienna Shen, one-hundred-percent yes.

But her hardass attitude and “Arcana prodigy” status aren’t enough to bring down my former best friend, who slipped through the MPD’s fingers and is days away from unleashing untold horrors upon the city. Or he’s going to steal something. I don’t really know.

Whatever he’s up to, that’s why I’m sitting in an interrogation room with Lienna. And that’s why I just offered myself as her temporary new partner for the purposes of thwarting my ex-accomplice.

And that’s how I’m going to escape. I might even help with the case before I cut and run.

A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.

I’m simple: I see The Guild Codex, I’m automatically interested. And when it came to Warping Minds and Other Misdemeanors, I was definitely interested the moment I saw and heard about it.

Warping Minds and Other Misdemeanors is the first book in a new series from Annette Marie set in the same world as Three Mages and a Margarita and Taming Demons for Beginners.

It’s also the first book that’s co-authored, so I wasn’t terribly sure what to expect since they’re usually hit or miss for me). While it definitely helps to read the other two series first, you don’t need to read the others before diving right in. There are minor spoilers and connections to the other two series, but new readers to The Guild Codex series will fit right in with the world-building and not be confused with everything going on. Honestly, even though I’m hopelessly behind (I’ve only read through book four in Spellbound and book one in Demonized), I followed along with the story well.

Warping Minds and Other Misdemeanors follows Kit Morris, someone with little experience in magic and is then arrested by MPD for acts while associating in a guild known for conning people. As much as he doesn’t want to team up with MPD, he ends up partnering with an agent to stop his former friend from becoming too powerful and misusing those powers with the bonus of hopefully making his escape.

The humorous vibe from the other two series isn’t lost.

If anything, Warping Minds and Other Misdemeanors continued to bring that vibe in. From the moment we meet Kit Morris to the very last page, this book is chock full of banter and wit from his narrative to his conversations with the other characters, especially Lienna. If there’s one thing I look forward to in the sequels, it’s more 11/10 threats between those two.

Kit’s Backstory made Warping Minds and Other Misdemeanors feel more complete than if it weren’t included.

I feel there’s a delicate balance when it comes to including a lot of the character’s backstory in a chapter rather than sprinkled throughout, and in here, the balance was flawless. Much of the book feels more of, “let’s stop the ex-best friend from getting their hands on something that should be left alone” and “going to try and escape from magical authorities.” There’s not much beyond that, and having the backstory there really helped especially when Kit bases his decisions off from one person who truly made an impact in his life.

(Look friends, I probably sound awkward as hell right there, but I’m trying my goddamn best not to spoil and go into 100% analysis with this.)

In other words: read The Guild Codex from the very beginning and you won’t have regrets.

(I should heed that advice.) With the ending of the first book in The Guild Codex: Warped series, Warping Minds and Other Misdemeanors begins the exploration of another part in the Guild Codex Universe we wouldn’t get in the other two series, and I’m thrilled about where the sequel will be taking readers to next.