What do you do when you have magic but can’t do anything about it? That question haunts our main character Naila - called the “Hollow Mage,” using an insult towards those without magic, she is one of the oldest students still taking her class - and she still can’t perform even the simplest of spells. The problem is - she has magic, and if she never learns how to control it one day it’ll consume and destroy her. But when she finally finds out where her power lies, it might just be the thing causing destruction in her home.

Filled with political tension, magical bigotry, and an overarching plot connecting multiple different perspectives together, The Outcast Mage is perfect for fans of intense fantasy worldbuilding and multi-POV stories. While it takes a while for the reader to fully understand everything going on in this story, dumping us into the world with little buildup - as the novel progresses you’re able to begin to piece together the larger puzzle.

I loved the characters within this story, and there were even a few that surprised me with how much I grew to love them, but every character had a reason for their perspective to be included and I never found a chapter lacking or like a character could have been removed without losing any of the plot. 

My biggest issue was only that sometimes when a chapter would end and the next would start, we would be shoved further in the story than we had left it, and had to figure out what exactly happened in the meantime. It wasn’t always entirely jarring, but there were a few times where (Naila especially) would be in a situation and the chapter would end, and then the next chapter shows her already having resolved that same issue. 

A book that sharply reflects the American political landscape, with a central political figure taking more and more power and preaching hatred towards a group of citizens living within their city - blaming them for each and every problem regardless of facts - and creating a group of secret police that follow only him to root out dissension and arresting anyone who isn’t a member of his “in-group,” this book has a refreshing amount of things to say within its pages.