Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Nixing the End of the World
SERIES: Phoenix’s Quest #1
AUTHOR: Alice Winters
NARRATOR: Michael Ferraiuolo
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 9 hours and 57 minutes
RELEASE DATE: August 6, 2021
BLURB:
Nix
“You are the savior of mankind” are the last words I ever expected to hear while nibbling on fries. The thing is, I’m not mankind saving material. I don’t even have magic (and just found out it exists). I’m the most boring, normal(ish) human ever.
Suddenly, I’m being tossed right into the middle of a fight that started years before I was even born, and then I get partnered up with Alastair, a quirky magical Guardian. He is rather attractive and sweet when he’s not into the whole “woe is me, I can’t let myself fall in love with you” nonsense. I mean, the moment he took my annoyingly judgmental grandma hostage, it was all over for me. I was hooked.
Now the only problem is… what exactly are we saving the world from?
Alastair
The moment I laid eyes on Nix, the naïve yet easygoing human captivated my attention, and now I’m determined to protect him. But despite my amazing and majestic abilities, we might not make it out of this mess. Still, there must be a reason Nix was chosen. No, he doesn’t have pizazz and maybe he really doesn’t have magic, but he’s also one of the strongest and kindest men I’ve ever met.
Now if I can just get him to stop throwing blankets at enemies, we might have a shot at this.
REVIEW:
Nix is out to lunch at McDonald’s with his BFF, Annie, when his life goes off the rails 😛 (UNDERTATEMENT) A strange guy named Bjorn is bowing to him. After chasing down Annie, it turns out that she’s a witch and that Nix is the prophesied savior of mankind. And it’s off to the races. Nix’s cat is the most sane character in this book 🙂 When people keep coming to kill Nix, Annie and Bjorn send him off to find the Guardian who is supposed to bind to him and help him save the world.
Alastair is a bit of a narcissist with a magical recalcitrant horse named Elderon. He’s also bored so he takes the chance with Nix. However, it appears that Nix has no clue what’s happening and no magic, so it’s unclear HOW he will be the savior of mankind. But it’s been foretold. The team goes to see the Seer and things go even worse as it seems the bad guys are coming for them thanks to the betrayal of the Seer.
Then there is Nix’s family. His parents are pretty hilarious. His grandmother is a complete character! And along the way there is an incubus named Val who seems to be able to seduce the entire world to do his bidding – with the exception of Nix.
The entire book is a series of abductions and escapes for our intrepid “heroes.” And along the way Nix and Alastair become a couple – much to the dismay of Val 😉 There is magic and anti-magic and lot of crazy escapes. But even though one foe has been beaten, it appears another may take his place.
This was nothing like I expected. There are a lot of threads and characters here and full confession – there were times I was a bit lost. I hope that we find out more in the next book. I loved the banter between Nix and his friends and Alastair. Val is also entertaining. There are a lot of funny moments for sure. Honestly, the story seems a bit disjointed at times and I found myself wanting things to be explained more. The relationship between Nix and Alastair wasn’t terribly developed and I found myself questioning how they all of the sudden were a couple. I didn’t feel like their was chemistry – just forced proximity and Alastair’s duty to protect Nix. So I’m hoping for more in the next story.
For me, this story was definitely elevated by the narration of Michael Ferraiuolo. His voices – and especially his monster voices were AMAZING. I love Nix and Alastair and Val’s sort of insouciant attitude. Nix’s family were spot on! The bad guys and the good guys were all so well done. I struggled with reading this book, but I found the audiobook to be highly enjoyable. Recommended.
RATING: 
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