Fantasy Book Reviews

The Curse of Black Magic

Author: Alex-Sinclair
Title: The Curse of Black Magic
Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/77597759-the-curse-of-black-magic-book-one

The Curse of Black Magic is a story about overcoming the darkness inside oneself, both literally and figuratively. It's a heavy read, I'll warn you guys, but it could be just your cup of tea.

Sophie is from a family of black magic users, and from a young age, she is trained to be ruthless and heartless, to never show remorse for her actions. After slaughtering a village of innocent people, she manages to regain a bit of self-control and decides to run away from home, from her grandfather, Ampelius, and from the darkness that torments her to no end. Through a series of incidents, she ends up at the school of magic led by none other than her family's arch enemy, Acacius, the leader of white magic users. They know who she is. Acacius decides to spare her life and welcomes her as a student of the school. What are his motives? And will Sophie overcome the darkness? You'll have to read to find out!

I have mixed feelings about the story. It has a good premise: a girl with a dark past who fights to escape it. It's simple and relatable, and I like the use of magic (of various colors!) as a way of distinguishing good and bad and everything in between. A minor problem I had is with how Sophie ends up as a student at the school of white magic. She's fleeing the darkness, she ends up in the white's region and is captured, but Acacius does not kill her because he wants to conduct an experiment on her (to turn her good, I assume). The setup felt too contrived. The flow of events need to be more natural to make them believable.

Sophie's character is not very interesting or likeable, and it's not because she's a heartless villain. I just couldn't find a redeeming quality in her, but maybe I just haven't read far enough. I think part of it has to do with the author's trouble in defining clearly what the "darkness" really does to Sophie. Is the darkness influencing her to do bad stuff? Or is it some force that controls her actions? Why is it that she seems to have full-control sometimes and completely reckless other times? Once Sophie's "curse" is sorted out, the author can then focus on throwing appropriate plot points/twists at her to develop her character, and of course, give her traits to make her more likeable. Acacius is actually more interesting a character. He is conducting "experiments" at the school on people like Sophie, against the law. So it seems the whole concept of good and evil may not be so black and white after all, which would be a great twist!

The writing is good overall. The descriptions are vivid enough that I was able to see everything happening to Sophie. It has a decent pace to it, and there is enough tension and mystery to keep readers interested. However, I did feel that at times I was smothered by the constant reminder of how the darkness is affecting Sophie. The author gets a bit long-winded at times, just to say the same thing in a different way. Sometimes, a short simple phrase is enough to convey the message.

The Curse of Black Magicis a heavy read. I personally prefer more light stories with a cheery tone. I would say go check this book out. Despite its shortcomings, the premise is good, and I believe the story has a lot of potential.