Jean Reads Sometimes

Reading shorter books can be beneficial, whether you just don’t have the time or patience to finish a longer book. Maybe you’re like me, getting back into reading after years of avoiding it like a plague. The serotonin boost from completing a book, even a short one, can be extremely gratifying. However, I think this story being told in such a short form didn’t help the world, characters, or the magic system.

The world could’ve been the dream of magic integrated into everyday society. But the lack of any real consequences or even simple rules or laws make the world seem like a boring, empty, open-world rpg. The council talks so much about their laws, however we never actually learn about any of those laws. Except for one; they do not tend to problems of the heart - melancholy. Why does the Council, made up of extremely powerful witches and wizards, are so extremely wishy-washy when it comes to their decision making. What about laws or rules that have to do with the normal, non-magic folk? How do they live their lives? How accepted is magic within their social circles? We don’t get to see that sort of stuff. We get to see the townsfolk have issues with Clara. Due to her wild magic. We see them come to the witches and wizards for healing through potions. But is that all?

We see a handful of characters, all who seem to have personalities at first glance, but after a second thought, it’s more of a facade to fool the reader. Clara is constantly wallowing in her troublesome magic. She hates it, and wants rid of it, then turns around and realizes she made an awful decision and wants her magic again. I can understand making a choice and then regretting it, however, this came-off more as an indecisive child choosing between chicken nuggets or mac ‘n cheese for dinner. Xavier just seemed so..flat. He wasn’t really that likable(imo), especially with his flip-flop attitude in the first part of the book, and then the love-stricken zombie in the last bit. The other Council members? The only one I can remember is brooding old hag and the awesomely transgender Madam Ben Ammar and her apprentice(also transgender, however non-binary pronouns used), Robin. The latter two are so memorable due to how much the two of them support Clara and her father. Clara’s father, referred to as “Papa” through the majority of the book, was..there. He’s the reason Clara makes her choices. He’s the reason why the plot gets pushed along. He’s just an overbearing parent who doesn’t really understand the inner processes of a teenage girl, much less one with loud, self-loathing magic.

The magic system is interesting, however, this book really only delved into a small amount of it. We get to see potion making and blessings. It seems as though there could’ve been many more ways that magic would’ve been used, but nothing else was looked into. It left the whole magic premise to seem very..lackluster, once the book was completed. It was fun how whimsical the magic was, how the blooming of flowers and plants through subconscious magic had meaning within emotions and feelings. There..really isn’t much else to say about the magic.

Mysteries? Eh. Uncovering the truth? Maybe it was shocking for Clara, but I guessed it the moment they started to discuss the main issue. Lies and secrets? Yea, however none of them really matter to the characters or the story. Did you think we’d get to see anything interesting with Clara’s mother? Well, we don’t. Which is extremely disappointing considering we are told throughout the whole book that her mother is someone the entire Council denounces, someone to be feared, a criminal! The moment her mother was finally shown she was already gone and can’t even be discussed or visited further! Clara can suddenly control her magic, just barely and now she’s made into an official witch, right after being hated by almost the entire Council. It’s just, the build-up doesn’t really exist, so the results are so jarring. I’d say even, immersion breaking. Xavier is still just a teenager, practically a criminal in the eyes of the Council, and can’t fully use his magic anymore. But is still somehow made to be a Council member? And on top of that, is forced to spend three months slamming his head into a wall to create a cure all while working for his family's shop at the same time. And again, to a teenager. Frontal lobe, not even fully developed yet, has already seemed to have mental issues from his father. It just..ya know..doesn’t fully make sense as to why the Council would dish out such an extreme punishment.

Maybe by all this, you’d think I absolutely hated this book. I didn’t. I enjoyed reading/listening to it. It was a fun adventure to the end. However, these things really made me stop, get pulled out from the book, and become distracted. Maybe that’s on me, maybe I’m nitpicking, or maybe it's Maybelline.

Anyways, if you took the time to read this, thanks! I haven’t taken the time to read a book in 10+ years and this was definitely a fun introduction back into reading. If my writing and ramblings don’t make sense, then, I apologize. I also haven’t written since my fan-fiction tumblr days. I’d love some recommendations on what I should read! <3