By hi5wifi
"More good women have been lost to marriage than to war, famine, and disaster. You have talent, darling, don't squander it. "
- Cruella de Vil
This book marries Harry Potter to Sex And the City presenting us with a young witch, living alone for the first time, in the big city. With her enormous talent and fifteen years of training.
I have to say: reading the setting of the story, I was quite excited. What directions would the story take on? Once I realized the source of conflict would have been a man, my nose kind of turned up. Hence the quote.
But I had to change my mind, as I read along the pages of a romantic, hot story.
A Mature tale for fans and ex-fans of magic. I loved this book.
Positive Notes
1. Aribel
She is really well-written.
From the first page, you fall automatically in love with her. She's young but has a motherly instinct. This makes her not only lovable but relatable as a young girl in a new big city.
I can see her as a real person.
When we're reading her POV, it is remarkable how we are fully immersed in her way of thinking. I can see she's based on a real person. Did you pour a bit of yourself into her? (If so, well done!)
Also, side note:
Representation!
It is a sad realization, but, even in fantasy, black characters are deeply underrepresented.
I couldn't just not mention it.
2. Aesthetic
Everything, from your mood boards to your descriptions, creates quite a vivid and original aesthetic.
Your book, directly from your first chapters, joins the fresh taste of a lemon garden and the pulsing life of New York City. Romantic and fun!
3. Story
On one side, we have quite a childish setting. I mean it in a good way.
The young witch, starting a new life alone in a big city, reminded me a lot of Kiki's delivery service and a couple of cartoons from my childhood. Which I loved.
It is a thrilling way to use the excitement of the "new life" throphe, the anxiety of the "secret superhero" throphe, and the infinite possibilities of the "magic and potions" thrope.
On the other side, though, this book adds a spicy turn with the love story, pairing the young witch with a cursed man.
Basically, the perfect book for a young adult or teenager, recalling elements from childhood and serving them with hot sauce.
Neutral Notes
1. Descriptions
I didn't really want to put this in the negative section because, academically, your descriptions are brilliant. But as a reader, I think that often they are a little misplaced.
Putting a description in a low-intensity moment, just before something happens, is a good idea if you wanted to create suspense. The problem, though, is that readers have the automatic temptation to skip along the entire description and read what happens.
Which is a pity, considering your beautiful scenery.
My advice is: either shorten the description, inserting small particulars along with the narrations, or give the description a lot of emphases.
YOU ARE READING
Reviews and recommendation
Non-FictionStory editor here, reading and reviewing stories because this is honestly my natural environment :) As such, I don't use a voting system! Check out the first two chapters for more details. Have fun! cover by @lightmage1
