E J says…
This is coming of age story contains a lot of magic but is no super-heroine tale. Everyone in the upper class has magic and uses it all day long. Those born without magic are servants to the magic practitioners and live a life of drudgery.
Sarah is born with magic, but her mother fears for her and gives her suppressing herbals, but one day her abilities burst out, creating political and social problems for the family she and her parents work for. They could get in trouble for hiding her power even though they knew nothing about it. The two mothers work out an intricate plan to turn Sarah into an upper-class magic user. Of course, their plan unravels in a high-profile way.
The main character is a good person, sticking up for and befriending a pariah girl at the magic school. She is assailed by fears and insecurities, but rises above them, developing positive social and political sensibilities.
Her cheeky exchanges with the boy in the upper-class family and her repartee with her new friends are fun.
Yes, there is some exciting use of magic. But you have to read or listen to the book to get those.
The story works. It’s not one of those slap dash stories of weird things. The author creates a believable world with true evil that must be stopped.
Writing about someone who is 14 years old is not easy to do when one is a mature adult. Sometimes this main character is believably 14 and other times, she seems more like a precocious 16 year old. But this observation is my only caveat. Very few authors can write with complete verisimilitude about this age. Come on, does anyone really remember what we were like at that age? I prefer to suppress all the memories of how awkward I was. On top of that, we pass through this time so fast it is hard to remember distinct stages. Some might only last a few months. Within that context, I think Molly Harper does a good job.
There is another consideration. Would adults enjoy a book that was simply an accurate rendition of a typical fourteen year old’s outlook? I think not. The more mature insights and observations in places are what keep this book interesting.
You can get a variety of editions. I listened to the audio version read by Amanda Ronconi. See them all on Amazon 3/5/19) at https://amzn.to/2TijtAp and check out the description there as well.
Tags: fantasy, magic, YA, magic school, book review, book recommendation
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