OMG you guys, this book!
I thought I knew what I was getting into with this one. I knew it would be funny because it’s written by viral booktoker Liz Shipton, and if you’ve seen Liz’s videos, you know she has a great sense of humour. I knew it would be spicy. I knew it would have monster battles and found family and tech. I KNEW all that, but then I read it and despite all that… I WAS STILL BLOWN AWAY by this book!
The Story
It’s kind of like Zodiac Academy meets Techwitch meets the 2010’s sitcom Community. And yes, I know that sounds like a weird combo, but it’s actually awesome.
Seven is a 20-something community college student who’s never found her passion. She’s learning to code AI, and when she stumbles on a secret magical society, she codes an AI watch to help her cut corners and do magic like the other members of the group.
But when group members start turning up dead, the magical community suspects Seven’s AI may be involved in the crimes. Worse, Seven herself may be the target of the next attack. With magical creatures lurking in the shadows and the magical authorities monitoring her every move, Seven turns to her sexy and powerful rival Logan for help. But if she can’t learn to work her magic without AI, she may bring Logan and the rest of the city down along with her.
What I Liked
The story snagged me right away with its pacey dialogue and witty banter. It’s one of those novels that’s actually kind of long but you fly through it because it’s so snappy and easy to read.
The plot kept me asking questions that I needed answered, and the answers weren’t always what I expected. My inability to guess the next plot point only fuelled my need to flip more pages to see the mystery solved. And talk about plot twists, this book has some crazy ones. Crazy but satisfying because when you look back at what you’ve already read, you realize the twists make total sense.
There are only a couple of sex scenes, but the author did some epic stuff with the fantasy elements to make the spice stand out. An MMC whose telepathy gives the FMC ASMR tingles? Who can grow or shrink his manly bits to create “just the right fit?” And who quotes Shakespeare during foreplay to try to get her into literature? Yes, please!
This book made me wonder why more romantasy authors aren’t doing fun creative stuff with their fantasy spice. Like, honestly, if you’re going to write sex scenes in a fantasy book, why not go all out and make them truly fantastical?
What I Loved
Banter, plot twists, and spice aside, what takes Dot Slash Magic to the next level for me is that it has truly meaningful, timely, and surprisingly nuanced things to say about AI, creativity and the human spirit.
If you go back and read the plot summary above, you might think the book’s POV on AI is going be heavy handed and preachy, but this book actually does not bash you over the head with the anti-AI bible. Instead, it raises questions. Each character has a different perspective on AI, and when the truth comes out, all of those viewpoints are blown out of the water.
Full disclosure, I personally am on the more anti-AI end of the spectrum, so if you’re super pro AI this might not be your book. But what I like about it is that it feels more like an open conversation than a prescriptive, end-all-be-all statement.
And even more importantly than making you ask questions about AI, this story goes deeper and makes you really think about what gives us purpose and makes us human when technology becomes “creative.”
Overall Thoughts
Dot Slash Magic started out as a fun read and ended up blowing my expectations out of the water. It’s fun, sexy, packed with action, and it made me feel and think despite my proclivity to hide from reality in escapist fiction. I highly recommend this book to anyone who can handle a little magical gore and spice and one heck of a crazy plot twist. It’s definitely one of my top reads of 2025.
More!
Interested in finding out more about the author and how she came up with the ideas for the book? Check out my Q & A with Liz on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. And don’t forget to leave a comment and let me know what you think!
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