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A Course in Magic #1
Remedial Magic
“No one builds worlds like Melissa Marr.” ―Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author
The Magicians meets One Last Stop in this brand-new fantasy romance Remedial Magic , about an unassuming librarian who 1) has fallen in love with a powerful witch; 2) has discovered that she is a witch; and 3) must attend magical community college to learn how to save her new world from complete destruction by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr!
Ellie loves working in her local library in the small town of Ligonier. She loves baking scones and investigating the mysterious and captivating in her spare time. And there is nothing more mysterious and captivating than the intriguingly beautiful, too properly dressed woman sipping tea in her library who has appeared as if out of nowhere. The pull between them is undeniable, and Ellie is not sure that she wants to resist.
Prospero, a powerful witch from the magical land of Crenshaw, is often accused of being… ruthless in her goals and ambitions. But she is driven to save her dying homeland, and a prophecy tells her that Ellie is the key. Unbeknownst to Ellie, her powers have not yet awakened. But all of that is about to change.
The Magicians meets One Last Stop in this brand-new fantasy romance Remedial Magic , about an unassuming librarian who 1) has fallen in love with a powerful witch; 2) has discovered that she is a witch; and 3) must attend magical community college to learn how to save her new world from complete destruction by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr!
Ellie loves working in her local library in the small town of Ligonier. She loves baking scones and investigating the mysterious and captivating in her spare time. And there is nothing more mysterious and captivating than the intriguingly beautiful, too properly dressed woman sipping tea in her library who has appeared as if out of nowhere. The pull between them is undeniable, and Ellie is not sure that she wants to resist.
Prospero, a powerful witch from the magical land of Crenshaw, is often accused of being… ruthless in her goals and ambitions. But she is driven to save her dying homeland, and a prophecy tells her that Ellie is the key. Unbeknownst to Ellie, her powers have not yet awakened. But all of that is about to change.
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 20, 2024
About the author
Melissa Marr
102 books12.9k followersMelissa Marr is a former university literature instructor who writes fiction for adults, teens, and children and sometimes teaches in an MFA program. Her books have been translated into twenty-eight languages and been bestsellers internationally as well as domestically (NY Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal).
After a quieter spell the last few years (due to both adopting a sick baby & health complications--in part due to her lupus), she is back in 2024 with a queer fantasy (Remedial Magic), a picturebook about a wee one and his two moms (Family is Family), and a graphic novel about teen Harley & Ivy (The Strange Adventures of Harleen & Harley).
She currently lives with part of her family (wife & 2 of her 3 children) in Arizona.
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Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
November 16, 2023I was lent an ARC of this book by a bookseller friend, I was not sent this by the publisher. Though, per usual, this is my honest review.
UPDATE: My feedback has been sent to the book's editor, so hopefully some of these issues will be changed! I do think I was rubbed the wrong way a few too many times by this book to pick it back up but I'll be keeping an eye on future reviews to see if there were improvements made.
DNF p. 66
I'm literally begging authors to unpack their implicit biases of white supremacy and ableism before they write cozy fantasy books.
This is a problem that has continued to grow in cozy fantasy and romantasy as genres, in which authors strive to create idyllic and comforting stories for their readers to “escape into.” And what is more comfortable than the familiar, than the unconfrontational? So they seek to create safe spaces without considering what is necessary for a safe space to be actually safe for the people who need it most (aka marginalized people). And instead they use these “escapist” narratives and “safe spaces” as a bubble to protect themselves from the discomfort of confronting their own biases. And so these stories tend to tread harmful ground by blindly and unknowingly perpetrating bigoted narratives.
TOR actually published a really wonderful article (ironically) about this problem. Though this article very specifically talks about racism in witchy romantasies, the sentiment can be applied to other pillars of white supremacy as well as other types of cozy fantasy and romantasy:
"SFF and romance both promise escape, but they falter when they forget that we cannot escape to without also escaping from. When we step back from the sparkling overlay of a book’s premise, we discover that we have ended up on the same old used paths, hiding the selfsame horrors from which we were promised escape beneath the veneers of fairy tale, utopia, or comfort. Whatever fictional or nonfictional marginalizations a white character may possess, they exist within the protective sphere of whiteness, and it is the moral imperative of white authors to grapple with that fact when we write about power, about history, about oppression—or else not to write about those things at all."
I highly recommend reading the whole article, and using it as a jumping-off point to do some learning and unlearning about what fantasy stories (especially cozy ones) have to say about power and marginalization: https://www.tor.com/2023/08/08/the-pr...
In this book's case, these issues bled into the story very obviously and very early on.
Upon meeting our third POV character, within a matter of pages, we are slapped in the face with a Harry Potter reference as the character finds out he's magical: “Yer a wizard, Dan.” In 2023. In a LGBTQ+ book. Truly, I do not understand in this day and age how these references continue to seep through stories, even after other books have made active changes to take out HP references from previous printings. If at this point you are not aware of JKR’s violent TERFism or the way Harry Potter has become a platform of bigotry (though of course, the books have always been riddled with transphobia, antisemitism, racism, a butchered Holocaust metaphor, and more since their inception. But as of recent, more and more right-wing individuals have been brought into the development of the franchise’s content, creating a huge escalation in the level of this bigotry. I highly recommend looking into the VERY clear antisemitism and racism of Hogwarts Legacy), or are not actively changing the way you engage with HP media because of it, then I don’t know what you’re doing.
And then, we learn that this character has been cured of cancer immediately upon entering the magical realm. A magical healing trope will always make me suck my teeth and roll my eyes, but after just a couple pages, the rhetoric escalated and became a little too clear: “Magic self-repairs the host. Witches, are, in essence, hosts to magic.” And we are told that if this character returns to the human world, his cancer will return. So… there’s no such thing as disabled witches, or disability in the magical world in general. Which of course, is incredibly alienating to any disabled reader, but also sheds light on precisely what this author would define as “idyllic” and “cozy”: a world free of disability.
As always, I don't feel good writing this review. I am not pleased or smug or joyful to report these findings. It's never fun to come across these sort of things in stories. But sadly, with the way cozy fantasy and romantasy (especially witchy ones) have been following a trend of pushing under-the-radar accidental bigotry and shrugging any criticism or deeper thought off with an "it's not that deep, it's just a silly fantasy story", I was not surprised to find content like this.
I will most definitely be emailing the publisher with my feedback, in hopes that this content will be changed in the final copies. Fingers crossed it is. If you also got an ARC of this book, please consider emailing the publicity contact with feedback.
CW (so far): ableism (complacent in text), car accident, cancer, hospitalization, magical healing trope, death of parents (past), homophobia (mention)
UPDATE: My feedback has been sent to the book's editor, so hopefully some of these issues will be changed! I do think I was rubbed the wrong way a few too many times by this book to pick it back up but I'll be keeping an eye on future reviews to see if there were improvements made.
DNF p. 66
I'm literally begging authors to unpack their implicit biases of white supremacy and ableism before they write cozy fantasy books.
This is a problem that has continued to grow in cozy fantasy and romantasy as genres, in which authors strive to create idyllic and comforting stories for their readers to “escape into.” And what is more comfortable than the familiar, than the unconfrontational? So they seek to create safe spaces without considering what is necessary for a safe space to be actually safe for the people who need it most (aka marginalized people). And instead they use these “escapist” narratives and “safe spaces” as a bubble to protect themselves from the discomfort of confronting their own biases. And so these stories tend to tread harmful ground by blindly and unknowingly perpetrating bigoted narratives.
TOR actually published a really wonderful article (ironically) about this problem. Though this article very specifically talks about racism in witchy romantasies, the sentiment can be applied to other pillars of white supremacy as well as other types of cozy fantasy and romantasy:
"SFF and romance both promise escape, but they falter when they forget that we cannot escape to without also escaping from. When we step back from the sparkling overlay of a book’s premise, we discover that we have ended up on the same old used paths, hiding the selfsame horrors from which we were promised escape beneath the veneers of fairy tale, utopia, or comfort. Whatever fictional or nonfictional marginalizations a white character may possess, they exist within the protective sphere of whiteness, and it is the moral imperative of white authors to grapple with that fact when we write about power, about history, about oppression—or else not to write about those things at all."
I highly recommend reading the whole article, and using it as a jumping-off point to do some learning and unlearning about what fantasy stories (especially cozy ones) have to say about power and marginalization: https://www.tor.com/2023/08/08/the-pr...
In this book's case, these issues bled into the story very obviously and very early on.
Upon meeting our third POV character, within a matter of pages, we are slapped in the face with a Harry Potter reference as the character finds out he's magical: “Yer a wizard, Dan.” In 2023. In a LGBTQ+ book. Truly, I do not understand in this day and age how these references continue to seep through stories, even after other books have made active changes to take out HP references from previous printings. If at this point you are not aware of JKR’s violent TERFism or the way Harry Potter has become a platform of bigotry (though of course, the books have always been riddled with transphobia, antisemitism, racism, a butchered Holocaust metaphor, and more since their inception. But as of recent, more and more right-wing individuals have been brought into the development of the franchise’s content, creating a huge escalation in the level of this bigotry. I highly recommend looking into the VERY clear antisemitism and racism of Hogwarts Legacy), or are not actively changing the way you engage with HP media because of it, then I don’t know what you’re doing.
And then, we learn that this character has been cured of cancer immediately upon entering the magical realm. A magical healing trope will always make me suck my teeth and roll my eyes, but after just a couple pages, the rhetoric escalated and became a little too clear: “Magic self-repairs the host. Witches, are, in essence, hosts to magic.” And we are told that if this character returns to the human world, his cancer will return. So… there’s no such thing as disabled witches, or disability in the magical world in general. Which of course, is incredibly alienating to any disabled reader, but also sheds light on precisely what this author would define as “idyllic” and “cozy”: a world free of disability.
As always, I don't feel good writing this review. I am not pleased or smug or joyful to report these findings. It's never fun to come across these sort of things in stories. But sadly, with the way cozy fantasy and romantasy (especially witchy ones) have been following a trend of pushing under-the-radar accidental bigotry and shrugging any criticism or deeper thought off with an "it's not that deep, it's just a silly fantasy story", I was not surprised to find content like this.
I will most definitely be emailing the publisher with my feedback, in hopes that this content will be changed in the final copies. Fingers crossed it is. If you also got an ARC of this book, please consider emailing the publicity contact with feedback.
CW (so far): ableism (complacent in text), car accident, cancer, hospitalization, magical healing trope, death of parents (past), homophobia (mention)
Shelved as 'dnf'
February 15, 2024DNF @29%
The marketing on this is extremely misleading. It makes it sound like a cozy fantasy romance with one main character. Instead it's a fast-paced, multi-pov witchy fantasy with more intense elements and insta-love between multiple couples. And it's not at all cozy. Honestly even the first chapter is really jarring given what you're led to expect- a mom and son on the run from her abusive ex get into a serious car accident after he has cut the brake lines. Like, what?! And then there's a perspective of a gay man who had been a cancer patient. Yeah, really not what it makes it sound like AT ALL. And there's so much going on, that people are pairing up really quickly without any real relationship development. I'm not enjoying this and it's not what I was wanting so I'm going to stop here. I really think the way this is being pitched is going to hurt its reception. Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy for review, all opinions are my own.
The marketing on this is extremely misleading. It makes it sound like a cozy fantasy romance with one main character. Instead it's a fast-paced, multi-pov witchy fantasy with more intense elements and insta-love between multiple couples. And it's not at all cozy. Honestly even the first chapter is really jarring given what you're led to expect- a mom and son on the run from her abusive ex get into a serious car accident after he has cut the brake lines. Like, what?! And then there's a perspective of a gay man who had been a cancer patient. Yeah, really not what it makes it sound like AT ALL. And there's so much going on, that people are pairing up really quickly without any real relationship development. I'm not enjoying this and it's not what I was wanting so I'm going to stop here. I really think the way this is being pitched is going to hurt its reception. Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy for review, all opinions are my own.
February 20, 2024
Remedial Magic by Melissa Marr
A Course in Magic series #1. Mandatory adult magic school. LGBTQ+ Fantasy romance. Cliffhanger. Multiple POV. Multiple relationships.
Prospero is a powerful witch from the magical land of Crenshaw. She believes in a prophecy that has an uninitiated witch as a the key in saving their homeland. Prospero takes steps to ensure that powers are awakened. Three new witches arrive in Crenshaw and must learn the rules of their new situations.
🎧 I listened to an audiobook copy of this narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Max Meyers. The performances were well done, and each had a specific voice for the characters. But as they are both males, I missed a few times that the current POV was a female. The timing and emotions of the characters are clear.
I listened to this at 1.5 which I found as the most comfortable.
I had a difficult time with audiobook, mostly because there are at least six POV’s and while there were two narrators, there is no introduction of which character POV is being told. Without seeing the text or hearing a chapter heading, it was hard to follow a switch although the narrators did have different voices for the main characters.
I also didn’t care for the witches being activated by cutting them out of their current lives regardless of their situations. Specially leaving a young son believing his mother is dead and he must live with his abusive and neglectful father.
There are three quick relationships (F-F, M-F, M-M) in the story that actually seem manipulative in more than one way.
More disturbing, the school administration is recording and watching everything for the benefit of their own community. Inside private rooms. Creepy. They justify it as their world is dying and they need to find a solution.
I will look for an ebook copy to see if I can clarify a couple of confusing points. I may continue the series to make sure the mother is able to save her son, and to find out how the magical community fixes the poisoned water.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Macmillan Audio.
A Course in Magic series #1. Mandatory adult magic school. LGBTQ+ Fantasy romance. Cliffhanger. Multiple POV. Multiple relationships.
Prospero is a powerful witch from the magical land of Crenshaw. She believes in a prophecy that has an uninitiated witch as a the key in saving their homeland. Prospero takes steps to ensure that powers are awakened. Three new witches arrive in Crenshaw and must learn the rules of their new situations.
🎧 I listened to an audiobook copy of this narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Max Meyers. The performances were well done, and each had a specific voice for the characters. But as they are both males, I missed a few times that the current POV was a female. The timing and emotions of the characters are clear.
I listened to this at 1.5 which I found as the most comfortable.
I had a difficult time with audiobook, mostly because there are at least six POV’s and while there were two narrators, there is no introduction of which character POV is being told. Without seeing the text or hearing a chapter heading, it was hard to follow a switch although the narrators did have different voices for the main characters.
I also didn’t care for the witches being activated by cutting them out of their current lives regardless of their situations. Specially leaving a young son believing his mother is dead and he must live with his abusive and neglectful father.
There are three quick relationships (F-F, M-F, M-M) in the story that actually seem manipulative in more than one way.
More disturbing, the school administration is recording and watching everything for the benefit of their own community. Inside private rooms. Creepy. They justify it as their world is dying and they need to find a solution.
I will look for an ebook copy to see if I can clarify a couple of confusing points. I may continue the series to make sure the mother is able to save her son, and to find out how the magical community fixes the poisoned water.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Macmillan Audio.
February 2, 2024
I’m not sure this book knew what it wanted to be. It was marketed as a romance, but the romance is shallow. Ellie and Prospero are seemingly the main characters in the blurb, yet there are multiple other characters with their own chapters. The marketing of the novel is incredibly misleading, and that hurts its reception.
The idea of being normal and then suddenly finding out you’re not normal is a strong premise that could go any direction. I was excited at the idea of these characters learning to adjust to their new lives, but the novel paired the characters off with love interests immediately, not giving the characters—or even the relationships—time to develop. The use of multiple POVs was interesting at first, but when nearly every character mentioned got a chapter, it ruined any suspense that had been built.
Initially, I found Maggie’s story to be the most compelling. Anyone who rejects a call to action because of genuine (and external) stakes is always going to be the most interesting to me. The others didn’t have a strong enough drive or a sympathetic goal that that I wanted to root for. The relationships were almost entirely physical, so I couldn’t even understand why the couples were so attached. I had no reason to care, both positively or negatively, about any of these characters, and that hadn’t changed by the end.
The story was pretty fast-paced, which I both appreciated and resented. I thought the plot was interesting, at least when it was present, but it wasn’t meaty enough to carry the book. That is where strong characters (or a strong romance, you know, as advertised) could’ve helped, but the focus was too scattered to connect to anyone.
Overall, this book had ambitions that were greater than its page length. I didn’t hate the story, but I feel pretty apathetic about it. Some ideas worked, a lot didn’t. Maybe future books will help strengthen the world and the characters, but as of now, I am not interested in continuing.
ENDING cliffhanger
POV multiple (6) / third person
RATING 2 / 5
Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The idea of being normal and then suddenly finding out you’re not normal is a strong premise that could go any direction. I was excited at the idea of these characters learning to adjust to their new lives, but the novel paired the characters off with love interests immediately, not giving the characters—or even the relationships—time to develop. The use of multiple POVs was interesting at first, but when nearly every character mentioned got a chapter, it ruined any suspense that had been built.
Initially, I found Maggie’s story to be the most compelling. Anyone who rejects a call to action because of genuine (and external) stakes is always going to be the most interesting to me. The others didn’t have a strong enough drive or a sympathetic goal that that I wanted to root for. The relationships were almost entirely physical, so I couldn’t even understand why the couples were so attached. I had no reason to care, both positively or negatively, about any of these characters, and that hadn’t changed by the end.
The story was pretty fast-paced, which I both appreciated and resented. I thought the plot was interesting, at least when it was present, but it wasn’t meaty enough to carry the book. That is where strong characters (or a strong romance, you know, as advertised) could’ve helped, but the focus was too scattered to connect to anyone.
Overall, this book had ambitions that were greater than its page length. I didn’t hate the story, but I feel pretty apathetic about it. Some ideas worked, a lot didn’t. Maybe future books will help strengthen the world and the characters, but as of now, I am not interested in continuing.
ENDING cliffhanger
POV multiple (6) / third person
RATING 2 / 5
Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 22, 2024
This makes for two almost back to back Bramble titles that completed lacked in the good vibes gene. Whereas the first make me angry and frustrated, this one just made me bored, confused, and frustrated. So at least it’s a little different.
This had a very awkward and abrupt start for a story and I was feeling very much dragged along against my will as I struggled to understand who these characters were (mostly our main one) before they were thrown into fantastical situations as well as into their respective romances. Except.. see aforementioned awkward and abrupt and also poorly transitioned scenes. We jump around to quite a few POVs actually and each chapter is short and that just adds to the strangeness of the whole story. We’re getting introduced to characters so quickly and then fleeing their perspective before we understand anything about them beyond the cardboard cut-out explanations that are offered us.
And to compound that weirdness everyone is pairing up ridiculously quickly and for no reason whatsoever considering the unknown and uncertain realities of their circumstances and how suspect and side-eye everything is. Why. Make it make sense.
The last thing I’ll complain about, because I gave up on this before I could accumulate even more things to complain about in order to avoid another long ranty review (oops sorta missed the mark on that one but also I’m just trying to save my sanity) is if there’s a translation spell to make everyone understood no matter their native tongue why did the Norwegian character speak as if he was using babelfish translate? That doesn’t track.
Also also sorry one last thing. It’s 2024. Stop with the Harry Potter references please. For all books but especially queer ones. Be considerate of your readers.
Anyway, don’t know how this ends because I couldn’t even be bothered to skim the bit that was left but I’ll definitely be thinking thrice before I pick up another Bramble title in the future (exception being the Broadbent series but I was intrigued about those even before the trad deal.. though they might prove my point anyway! who knows. not me.. not yet).
1.5 stars
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
This had a very awkward and abrupt start for a story and I was feeling very much dragged along against my will as I struggled to understand who these characters were (mostly our main one) before they were thrown into fantastical situations as well as into their respective romances. Except.. see aforementioned awkward and abrupt and also poorly transitioned scenes. We jump around to quite a few POVs actually and each chapter is short and that just adds to the strangeness of the whole story. We’re getting introduced to characters so quickly and then fleeing their perspective before we understand anything about them beyond the cardboard cut-out explanations that are offered us.
And to compound that weirdness everyone is pairing up ridiculously quickly and for no reason whatsoever considering the unknown and uncertain realities of their circumstances and how suspect and side-eye everything is. Why. Make it make sense.
The last thing I’ll complain about, because I gave up on this before I could accumulate even more things to complain about in order to avoid another long ranty review (oops sorta missed the mark on that one but also I’m just trying to save my sanity) is if there’s a translation spell to make everyone understood no matter their native tongue why did the Norwegian character speak as if he was using babelfish translate? That doesn’t track.
Also also sorry one last thing. It’s 2024. Stop with the Harry Potter references please. For all books but especially queer ones. Be considerate of your readers.
Anyway, don’t know how this ends because I couldn’t even be bothered to skim the bit that was left but I’ll definitely be thinking thrice before I pick up another Bramble title in the future (exception being the Broadbent series but I was intrigued about those even before the trad deal.. though they might prove my point anyway! who knows. not me.. not yet).
1.5 stars
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
November 19, 2023
I picked up this book because hey, sapphic fantasy, sure let's give it a go! Tragically, this book was a bit of a hot mess, but I turned my brain completely 100% off and rode along with the nonsense. The characters repeatedly made the most baffling choices. The world was about as internally
in
consistent as you can get. All of the queer rep was just... odd, and relied heavily on tropes and stereotypes. But in all fairness, the non-queer characters were also paper-thin. They were all a bit like someone had a box full of Lego-shaped character traits and stuck 'em together into a human shape.
But despite or perhaps because all this, I weirdly enjoyed it, hence the very generous star rating. I was very tired while reading this and it had exactly the right amount of nonsense for me to just laugh at it. I did not have to expend any processing power whatsoever while reading this book. It has so many issues but it's also the right amount of issues for me to have just existed in a constant state of bafflement. The ending, especially, was nonsense.
This book is recommended for week nights where your brain is mush and you're channeling your inner potato.
But despite or perhaps because all this, I weirdly enjoyed it, hence the very generous star rating. I was very tired while reading this and it had exactly the right amount of nonsense for me to just laugh at it. I did not have to expend any processing power whatsoever while reading this book. It has so many issues but it's also the right amount of issues for me to have just existed in a constant state of bafflement. The ending, especially, was nonsense.
This book is recommended for week nights where your brain is mush and you're channeling your inner potato.
February 1, 2024
This was an okay read for me. I liked some parts more than others. Pros: FMC is a small town librarian and single mother with latent magical witchy powers, there's a great cast of queer characters and an interesting magical parallel universe in need of saving.
Where I started to get bored was when Ellie is basically kidnapped and forced to attend a magical college where she is put through a series of tests to see if she might be the one foretold in a prophecy to save this magical town/world.
The middle of the story seemed to drag for me and I was hoping for more action and romance if I'm completely honest. I was also a little confused by the choice of narrators, since one of the female characters sounded like a male narrator.
Overall kind of a mixed bag but I would be interested in seeing what happens next in this new series. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!
Fav quote: 'Never cross a librarian, they catalogue everything.' >> I need this on a t-shirt ASAP!
Where I started to get bored was when Ellie is basically kidnapped and forced to attend a magical college where she is put through a series of tests to see if she might be the one foretold in a prophecy to save this magical town/world.
The middle of the story seemed to drag for me and I was hoping for more action and romance if I'm completely honest. I was also a little confused by the choice of narrators, since one of the female characters sounded like a male narrator.
Overall kind of a mixed bag but I would be interested in seeing what happens next in this new series. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!
Fav quote: 'Never cross a librarian, they catalogue everything.' >> I need this on a t-shirt ASAP!
November 30, 2023
I was gifted this arc copy by a bookseller family member. The best way I could describe this book is that it was like eating an over done steak. There were good pieces, but it was overall pretty dry and chewy.
February 11, 2024
Audiobook provided by the publisher and Netgalley for an honest review.
Remedial Magic is the first book in A Course in Magic a new series by Melissa Marr. It is supposed to be a cozy little Romance set when a which awakens to her new power and is transported to a magic land. I’m not a huge fan of F/F love interests, but when done by a trusted author I usually will give them a shot. Even though the blurb only talks about one romance, there are actually three happening a F/F, M/F and M/M
I was a bit disappointed in the overall story, which seemed like it didn’t know what it really wanted to be. There are 6 different PoVs happening and so you always know what everyone is thinking, there is no build up no suspense and all of the romances totally happen in a lust at first site kind of way that seems so shallow.
The Good
I enjoyed the start-up of the story. Most people do not come into their magic until their life is put into danger. That is the moment it will most likely activate and then the people of Crenshaw, all witches will come to retrieve you to help you settle into your new power. Only the magical are allowed in Crenshaw though so you have to leave everything from your previous life behind. Sometimes that is not problematic and for a few of our characters they really didn’t have a lot to go back to. But one main character is a mother and being told she is to be separated from her son for months while they decide if she can stay or go is problematic for her.
Maggie’s (the afore mentioned mother) arc was the most interesting to me. She has the most in the outside world to keep her tethered there. Her dilemmas were the easiest to relate to. Dan was probably my second favorite character as he has significant reason to want to stay. He was dying of cancer in the real world, but in this magical place he is cured. Returning means certain death to him so he is willing to make a few questionable choices to be able to stay. I really loved how honest he was about all of that and if that meant he possible joined up with the Dark Side all the better.
Crenshaw is dying, the water is tainted and there is a fowl smell in the air. Some of the witches want to return to the real world, others want to move their magical town. Each faction will try to skew the new witches to their side and use them as needed for the town.
I was intrigued by this plot at first with the fractioning sides but as the story progressed it wasn’t really going anywhere and I really had problems will all the Witches of Crenshaw by the end.
The Bad
I honestly was so disappointed that something that was supposed to be a cozy romance story was so filled with Social Justice Warrior verbiage and biases. There are all the things like racism, people having issues with gay lifestyles, white priveledge, ableism and so much more in something that is supposed to be a light read. I would like to encourage all authors to check themselves and if you aren’t creating an escape for your readers you have probably failed at your job a little. If it was just one thrown out comment about gay equality or the persecution of witches in the past (which actually made sense in the context of the story) I wouldn’t mention it. But if I am rolling my eyes at the number of times I’m taken out of the story so someone can “preach” their biases it isn’t a fun read anymore.
There was a lot in this book that has potential. I think if it focused on one couple instead of three we would have had more depth to the characters. But as is no one really got enough page time to be really developed. Sanche the headmaster of the school was the most complex character and even with him we only scratch a surface.
The ending was a bit rushed and didn’t make a ton of sense, but I was ready for the book to be over. I was hoping to see more of the magical classes but there are only a few scenes without much detail to them. The magic in the community seemed cool but again just brushed over. The Hobbs, magical creatures that help out the Witches, much like house elves of harry potter also seems really interesting but we don’t really delve into that much either.
I’m not sure this is a series I will continue as I enjoy a bit more depth to most of my characters. But Dan’s circumstances is interesting and I would like to see Maggie and how her new situation at the end was working out. My continuation of the series would depend heavily on those two characters.
Narration
Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Max Meyers were the narrators for the book. I think they captured most of the characters well although Prospero sounded a bit like a man to me in the story. All the voices and pacing were overall done really well. I enjoyed Dan's voice the most and Sanche has a very distinguishable tone that was really pleasing to the ear. I normally listen at 1.5x speed but needed to increase to 1.75x speed for the story to flow correctly for me.
Remedial Magic is the first book in A Course in Magic a new series by Melissa Marr. It is supposed to be a cozy little Romance set when a which awakens to her new power and is transported to a magic land. I’m not a huge fan of F/F love interests, but when done by a trusted author I usually will give them a shot. Even though the blurb only talks about one romance, there are actually three happening a F/F, M/F and M/M
I was a bit disappointed in the overall story, which seemed like it didn’t know what it really wanted to be. There are 6 different PoVs happening and so you always know what everyone is thinking, there is no build up no suspense and all of the romances totally happen in a lust at first site kind of way that seems so shallow.
The Good
I enjoyed the start-up of the story. Most people do not come into their magic until their life is put into danger. That is the moment it will most likely activate and then the people of Crenshaw, all witches will come to retrieve you to help you settle into your new power. Only the magical are allowed in Crenshaw though so you have to leave everything from your previous life behind. Sometimes that is not problematic and for a few of our characters they really didn’t have a lot to go back to. But one main character is a mother and being told she is to be separated from her son for months while they decide if she can stay or go is problematic for her.
Maggie’s (the afore mentioned mother) arc was the most interesting to me. She has the most in the outside world to keep her tethered there. Her dilemmas were the easiest to relate to. Dan was probably my second favorite character as he has significant reason to want to stay. He was dying of cancer in the real world, but in this magical place he is cured. Returning means certain death to him so he is willing to make a few questionable choices to be able to stay. I really loved how honest he was about all of that and if that meant he possible joined up with the Dark Side all the better.
Crenshaw is dying, the water is tainted and there is a fowl smell in the air. Some of the witches want to return to the real world, others want to move their magical town. Each faction will try to skew the new witches to their side and use them as needed for the town.
I was intrigued by this plot at first with the fractioning sides but as the story progressed it wasn’t really going anywhere and I really had problems will all the Witches of Crenshaw by the end.
The Bad
I honestly was so disappointed that something that was supposed to be a cozy romance story was so filled with Social Justice Warrior verbiage and biases. There are all the things like racism, people having issues with gay lifestyles, white priveledge, ableism and so much more in something that is supposed to be a light read. I would like to encourage all authors to check themselves and if you aren’t creating an escape for your readers you have probably failed at your job a little. If it was just one thrown out comment about gay equality or the persecution of witches in the past (which actually made sense in the context of the story) I wouldn’t mention it. But if I am rolling my eyes at the number of times I’m taken out of the story so someone can “preach” their biases it isn’t a fun read anymore.
There was a lot in this book that has potential. I think if it focused on one couple instead of three we would have had more depth to the characters. But as is no one really got enough page time to be really developed. Sanche the headmaster of the school was the most complex character and even with him we only scratch a surface.
The ending was a bit rushed and didn’t make a ton of sense, but I was ready for the book to be over. I was hoping to see more of the magical classes but there are only a few scenes without much detail to them. The magic in the community seemed cool but again just brushed over. The Hobbs, magical creatures that help out the Witches, much like house elves of harry potter also seems really interesting but we don’t really delve into that much either.
I’m not sure this is a series I will continue as I enjoy a bit more depth to most of my characters. But Dan’s circumstances is interesting and I would like to see Maggie and how her new situation at the end was working out. My continuation of the series would depend heavily on those two characters.
Narration
Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Max Meyers were the narrators for the book. I think they captured most of the characters well although Prospero sounded a bit like a man to me in the story. All the voices and pacing were overall done really well. I enjoyed Dan's voice the most and Sanche has a very distinguishable tone that was really pleasing to the ear. I normally listen at 1.5x speed but needed to increase to 1.75x speed for the story to flow correctly for me.
April 22, 2024
first of all, this is being marketed terribly. this is such a complex world and i wish it had been expanded on. loved that every character has real distinct motivations. highly recommend and looking forward to more in this series.
February 19, 2024
I received a digital copy of "Remedial Magic" by Melissa Marr from Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This will be exceedingly honest.
Ellie Brandeau doesn't know it, but she's a witch. Her powers start awakening after a compelling encounter with a beautiful, mysterious woman named Prospero. A near-fatal accident sends Ellie to Crenshaw, a magical Brigadoon-like place where witches live in peace, safe from the centuries of persecution witches experience in what the witches call the "Barbarian Lands." Except, things are very, very wrong in Crenshaw. The land and water are polluted, witches are dying, and Ellie is the key to fixing all of it.
This is the worst book I have read in a very long time. The marketing for this book would lead you to believe that it's a cozy, sapphic, witchy romantasy. It has a cute cover, a cute description, a cute setting. All lies.
A romance implies a happily ever after. There is nothing happy about the ending. A romance implies two people consenting to being in a loving relationship: THERE IS NO CONSENT IN THE CONCLUSION. I can't describe it without spoiling it, but Ellie emphatically and specifically does not agree to be in the relationship she ends up in. I was horrified.
As far as the technical aspects of the story, here's a quick summary: none of the characters act like real humans with real human emotions. There is only one potentially happy relationship but they are side characters and even then I have my doubts. The writing is awkward. The world-building is superficial at best. The plot would be interesting (Let's save the day!) but the Big Serious Problem is not actually resolved. I mean, at all. The book just ends before the Crenshaw is saved from danger. There are a ton of other, minor dangling plot threads.
I am guessing this is meant to be a first book in a series and that those things will be resolved in a future story. There's a suggestion that even the nonconsensual relationship issue will be resolved at some point. I will not read any further books to find out.
There are two things I liked. First, Crenshaw is a place where members of the LGBTQIA community are safe to live and love whomever they choose. It's about the ONLY thing that's safe in Crenshaw but at least there's that. Second, when people break Crenshaw law, they are temporarily turned into badgers. Why badgers? Who knows, but I did find that amusing.
I would have ordinarily DNF'd this early on because I had doubts very quickly. But I committed to reading it for NetGalley and I take that seriously. I genuinely wish I hadn't. I typically believe that when a book is not to my taste, there will still be readers who like it. So I review accordingly and while I may criticize, I try to consider who might actually enjoy it. My first draft of this review was a pages-long, sputtering mess and I still can't think of anybody I'd recommend "Remedial Magic" to.
Ellie Brandeau doesn't know it, but she's a witch. Her powers start awakening after a compelling encounter with a beautiful, mysterious woman named Prospero. A near-fatal accident sends Ellie to Crenshaw, a magical Brigadoon-like place where witches live in peace, safe from the centuries of persecution witches experience in what the witches call the "Barbarian Lands." Except, things are very, very wrong in Crenshaw. The land and water are polluted, witches are dying, and Ellie is the key to fixing all of it.
This is the worst book I have read in a very long time. The marketing for this book would lead you to believe that it's a cozy, sapphic, witchy romantasy. It has a cute cover, a cute description, a cute setting. All lies.
A romance implies a happily ever after. There is nothing happy about the ending. A romance implies two people consenting to being in a loving relationship: THERE IS NO CONSENT IN THE CONCLUSION. I can't describe it without spoiling it, but Ellie emphatically and specifically does not agree to be in the relationship she ends up in. I was horrified.
As far as the technical aspects of the story, here's a quick summary: none of the characters act like real humans with real human emotions. There is only one potentially happy relationship but they are side characters and even then I have my doubts. The writing is awkward. The world-building is superficial at best. The plot would be interesting (Let's save the day!) but the Big Serious Problem is not actually resolved. I mean, at all. The book just ends before the Crenshaw is saved from danger. There are a ton of other, minor dangling plot threads.
I am guessing this is meant to be a first book in a series and that those things will be resolved in a future story. There's a suggestion that even the nonconsensual relationship issue will be resolved at some point. I will not read any further books to find out.
There are two things I liked. First, Crenshaw is a place where members of the LGBTQIA community are safe to live and love whomever they choose. It's about the ONLY thing that's safe in Crenshaw but at least there's that. Second, when people break Crenshaw law, they are temporarily turned into badgers. Why badgers? Who knows, but I did find that amusing.
I would have ordinarily DNF'd this early on because I had doubts very quickly. But I committed to reading it for NetGalley and I take that seriously. I genuinely wish I hadn't. I typically believe that when a book is not to my taste, there will still be readers who like it. So I review accordingly and while I may criticize, I try to consider who might actually enjoy it. My first draft of this review was a pages-long, sputtering mess and I still can't think of anybody I'd recommend "Remedial Magic" to.
February 11, 2024
DNF @42%
I loved the idea of a secret magical community and a sapphic witchy romance… however, the actual story was nothing like the synopsis. The author tried to accomplish too many things and in doing so left me, much like the newest witchy residents of Crenshaw, incredibly confused. I had three main issues: the number of POVs, the storytelling, and the romance.
My first issue was that the story had far too many POVs. At the 42% mark, I counted six POVs and none of these voices were well developed. At one point, we hear from the chief witch in charge as he assembles a town hall style meeting and discusses dangers threatening the witchy community, but there is no intro to his character. Aside from the three new witchy residents, the reader is given no background about these other characters other than they believe themselves the hero and everyone else a villain. If this sounds confusing, it is and I still don’t know what was happening.
My second issue was the storytelling. There’s no explanation about this community that is somewhat hidden from the “barbarian realm” (i.e. the rest of the world). People are “relocated” (i.e. kidnapped) by these witchy leaders following a near death experience when they suddenly can then use magic . What happens when they get there? They have to attend a witchy community college but if they choose not to, are stripped of their memories and their magic is siphoned. But leadership is cagey about how long they’ll actually be stuck in Crenshaw, so this leaves the newest witchy residents with no other choice but to seduce the leaders into giving them answers.
Which brings me to my final issue… the romance. This story is not a cute, cozy witchy sapphic romance. It’s totally bizarre and full of unreliable, unlikable voices. Everyone is using each other and insta lust is just not a trope I personally enjoy.
I really believe the marketing hurt this story and sets readers up to be disappointed. I rarely (never) DNF books but I just couldn’t make it through this story. It just tried to incorporate too many voices and mystery and in doing so, was rather strange and confusing.
I loved the idea of a secret magical community and a sapphic witchy romance… however, the actual story was nothing like the synopsis. The author tried to accomplish too many things and in doing so left me, much like the newest witchy residents of Crenshaw, incredibly confused. I had three main issues: the number of POVs, the storytelling, and the romance.
My first issue was that the story had far too many POVs. At the 42% mark, I counted six POVs and none of these voices were well developed. At one point, we hear from the chief witch in charge as he assembles a town hall style meeting and discusses dangers threatening the witchy community, but there is no intro to his character. Aside from the three new witchy residents, the reader is given no background about these other characters other than they believe themselves the hero and everyone else a villain. If this sounds confusing, it is and I still don’t know what was happening.
My second issue was the storytelling. There’s no explanation about this community that is somewhat hidden from the “barbarian realm” (i.e. the rest of the world). People are “relocated” (i.e. kidnapped) by these witchy leaders following a near death experience when they suddenly can then use magic . What happens when they get there? They have to attend a witchy community college but if they choose not to, are stripped of their memories and their magic is siphoned. But leadership is cagey about how long they’ll actually be stuck in Crenshaw, so this leaves the newest witchy residents with no other choice but to seduce the leaders into giving them answers.
Which brings me to my final issue… the romance. This story is not a cute, cozy witchy sapphic romance. It’s totally bizarre and full of unreliable, unlikable voices. Everyone is using each other and insta lust is just not a trope I personally enjoy.
I really believe the marketing hurt this story and sets readers up to be disappointed. I rarely (never) DNF books but I just couldn’t make it through this story. It just tried to incorporate too many voices and mystery and in doing so, was rather strange and confusing.
February 23, 2024
not the story advertised, far too many povs, insta-love, inherent ableism. not a book i'd recommend.
February 1, 2024
Three people, thrown into a world of magic and forced to go to witch college all the while deal with relationship drama, new powers, and no escape. This story is told in about 6 POVS and the three main characters are Ellie ( a local librarian who lives a cozy life), Maggie (a lawyer who is trying to escape her abusive ex and save her son), and Dan (a guy who went hiking and was dying of cancer but has a second chance at life). Ellie meets Prospero, a mysterious woman who kisses her ( Prospero was going to kill her but decided not to, she was sent to retrieve Ellie because there was a prophecy about Ellie saving the magic world). Maggie gets into a car crash that was planned by her husband that would have killed her and her son but her magic awakened when she saved them both only for her to be whisked away by the handsome Sondre, the headmaster of the witch college, and Dan awakens after a hiking accident at the witch college. Ellie is excited about the prospect of having magic and falling for the beautiful woman who kissed her. Maggie wants nothing more than to escape and go back to her son, but that wont stop her from sleeping with Sondre. Dan refuses to leave, he wants to stay at witch college forever. All the while witches are dying from a mysterious disease and the Ellie has to solve the prophecy. This book was a if you took three drops of paint and put it into water, muddy, all over the place, and lacking any clear distinction and the end product is just something that is unclear and not pretty. Initially I was so excited to read this book but it immediately fell flat, and I kept pushing myself to finish it and the fact that this is the first book in the series is a big no thank you, especially with how this book went. I definitely will not be continuing this series. This book starts off abruptly and is all over the place, the characters all lacked depth and actual interesting aspects to them, the world building felt nonexistent, and cohesive story where? The book doesn't really feel like much is happening and for a book that was advertised as The Magicians meets One Last Stop, it gave neither to me and I enjoyed both of those books. This book was not for me, and unfortunately I should have DNF'ed by the second chapter because it just kept dragging on and I just was left disappointed by the end. This one is not for me and if you like magic school and relationship drama then give it a go, I guess, maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did.
*SPOILER* The ending itself was just not it ( the fact that Maggie is forced into a marriage and to have her and her sons minds warped and she has to obey Sondre while Ellie is forced into marriage and mindwipe by Prospero all the while Dan ( who barely even had any personality or characterization throughout the book and really did NOTHING, seriously go on Dan, give me nothing) gets to just enjoy life. I felt ick, just so much ick,
*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Bramble for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*
*SPOILER* The ending itself was just not it ( the fact that Maggie is forced into a marriage and to have her and her sons minds warped and she has to obey Sondre while Ellie is forced into marriage and mindwipe by Prospero all the while Dan ( who barely even had any personality or characterization throughout the book and really did NOTHING, seriously go on Dan, give me nothing) gets to just enjoy life. I felt ick, just so much ick,
*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Bramble for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*
April 5, 2024
4/5/23 edit: jk this i just a 1 it aged like milk to me
1.5? i think?
this was a mess and i'm not entirely sure it knows what it's supposed to be. based on the synopsis, i figured this would be a fun, easy romantasy. probably dual pov. not many thoughts needing to be in my head. WELL, JOKE'S ON ME, I GUESS.
there is nothing about this book that makes you think it will contain six (6!!!!!) povs and some buckwild subplots and an even more batshit ending. conceptually, adults at magic school is neat and interesting but the way this was executed was not it at all. also the romances were so ???? i don't think they're particularly bad or anything, just extraordinarily messy in a way that was uninteresting for me to read about (there's a f/f, m/f, and m/m here, which again, i wasn't expecting at all). but even though i said there were six povs, only three ever really stuck in my head at any point in time, and part of that is because i definitely wasn't expecting one of the plot lines to be a mother desperately trying to get back to her son to keep him away from her abusive ex. i often forgot dan even existed, which is uh. great, to forget an entire pov character and his plotline. i mean, the characters in general didn't do much of anything at all for me except for maggie, but that's because she spends the whole novel going, "please, get me the fuck out of here, i have to save my son." the ableism came out of goddamn nowhere and while i don't find the ending egregious broadly speaking (idk, i like psychological horror! i like a dead dove!!!) it's an absolutely unhinged ending for something allegedly calling itself a fantasy romance. i'm certain everyone will get their HEA but jesus christ some of them do not actually deserve it, my god.
in any case. the characters: annoying. the plot: bizarre. the romance: unhinged. for what it's worth, apart from the ableism, i think had this been better executed i would've actually liked it if i had different genre expectations. but the cover and the synopsis made this seem like a cutesy romantasy focusing on one couple, and that's just not what this is at all. also, you know, the weird as shit "no one in magic land has disabilities" thing. the fuck was that.
1.5? i think?
this was a mess and i'm not entirely sure it knows what it's supposed to be. based on the synopsis, i figured this would be a fun, easy romantasy. probably dual pov. not many thoughts needing to be in my head. WELL, JOKE'S ON ME, I GUESS.
there is nothing about this book that makes you think it will contain six (6!!!!!) povs and some buckwild subplots and an even more batshit ending. conceptually, adults at magic school is neat and interesting but the way this was executed was not it at all. also the romances were so ???? i don't think they're particularly bad or anything, just extraordinarily messy in a way that was uninteresting for me to read about (there's a f/f, m/f, and m/m here, which again, i wasn't expecting at all). but even though i said there were six povs, only three ever really stuck in my head at any point in time, and part of that is because i definitely wasn't expecting one of the plot lines to be a mother desperately trying to get back to her son to keep him away from her abusive ex. i often forgot dan even existed, which is uh. great, to forget an entire pov character and his plotline. i mean, the characters in general didn't do much of anything at all for me except for maggie, but that's because she spends the whole novel going, "please, get me the fuck out of here, i have to save my son." the ableism came out of goddamn nowhere and while i don't find the ending egregious broadly speaking (idk, i like psychological horror! i like a dead dove!!!) it's an absolutely unhinged ending for something allegedly calling itself a fantasy romance. i'm certain everyone will get their HEA but jesus christ some of them do not actually deserve it, my god.
in any case. the characters: annoying. the plot: bizarre. the romance: unhinged. for what it's worth, apart from the ableism, i think had this been better executed i would've actually liked it if i had different genre expectations. but the cover and the synopsis made this seem like a cutesy romantasy focusing on one couple, and that's just not what this is at all. also, you know, the weird as shit "no one in magic land has disabilities" thing. the fuck was that.
March 1, 2024
I'll preface this by saying I've always enjoyed Melissa Marr books and had a brief obsession with the Wicked Lovely Series in high school. I have such a fondness for her and I was very excited to read this new book. Unfortunately, the excitement did not last. Between the combination of bad marketing and worse writing, this was a miserable reading experience from beginning to end. By all advertising indications, this was allegedly meant to be a cozy fantasy romance. The summary itself makes you think that! But it is really, really not. It's also incredibly boring with no direction or real plot and frankly a tad poorly written. I'm incredibly disappointed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bramble for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bramble for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 26, 2024
Loved the worldbuilding + character at the beginning, just wasn't it for me at the end.
The cliffhanger was decent, but pretty forgettable if I'm being honest. Decent book. Definitely not the best, but not the worst.
The cliffhanger was decent, but pretty forgettable if I'm being honest. Decent book. Definitely not the best, but not the worst.
February 7, 2024
This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and unfortunately it didn’t give what it promised to.
Remedial Magic is billed as a cross between One Last Stop and The Magicians, but with the exemption of the magical college it didn’t mirror either. Another bummer is that is is laden with problematic ableist content. All in all it didn’t make for a cozy read as the blurb alluded to and instead left me feeling icky. Crossing my fingers some of these issues can be addressed prior to publication.
TW: Ableism, Shaming of Depression & Addiction, Magical Healing Trope, Lack of Informed Consent
Thank you Bramble and Macmillan for the ARC & ALC.
March 15, 2024
Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and Tor Publishing for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.
Read this book if you like: Multiple POV, LGBTQ representation, enemies
This had promise, but it was quite different than I expected. It's all over the place. There are too many POVs. Not sure why we needed people that weren't the couple.
Read this book if you like: Multiple POV, LGBTQ representation, enemies
This had promise, but it was quite different than I expected. It's all over the place. There are too many POVs. Not sure why we needed people that weren't the couple.
February 28, 2024
Hoo boy. I wanted so badly to like this book. The premise was everything. The follow through was horrendous. Oh my gods the ending was atrocious. The entire rest of the book was questionable at best, but the ending made me want to throw the book. I maintain, if I didn't think too hard about anything that was happening, I could've given it three stars. With an ending that bad, it rounded out to two. I'm going to go wash my brain now.
Read
February 5, 2024DNF. This physical arc was provided to me as a bookseller. Teenage me enjoyed Marr’s writing, so I was excited for this one. Unfortunately, I found it pretty uninspired and derivative, and honestly kind of boring. There were also worldbuilding elements I found problematic.
The hobs were cool, but not cool enough to make me want to finish this book.
The hobs were cool, but not cool enough to make me want to finish this book.
March 7, 2024
Melissa really out does herself with the world building in this book. It gives me Good Omens vibes with all of povs in each chapter and how they all tie together. There are several things left untold, so I assume another book is on the rise to provide the closure I need. Looking forward to more.
April 30, 2024
This was an adorable read, I loved this world and these characters and their romance, it was adorable!
November 9, 2023
Bit rushed and illogical at the end, but I loved this book. Super queernormative and sex positive <3.
Read
March 20, 2024DNF at ~40%. That's the last time I pick up a book without checking goodreads first. The cover and description looked so promising! But the writing was yikes, the excessive POV's were frustrating, and the story elements weren't clicking at all. Alas.
Read
April 30, 2024dnfed @ 27%
rep: lesbian, hetero, achillean.
just wasn't vibing. idk if i'll come back to it at some point, but at the moment, no, i won't.
rep: lesbian, hetero, achillean.
just wasn't vibing. idk if i'll come back to it at some point, but at the moment, no, i won't.
April 22, 2024
DNF at page 45. You can’t write a queer book that also references Harry Potter and explains away the concept that disabled people cannot exist in a magic world in one fell swoop.
Not only was it not very engaging from the beginning, but the summary and marketing really sell this book as something that it is not. The summary acts as though this is a cozy romance book between two women, when it’s a fast paced books from three points of view.
Not only was it not very engaging from the beginning, but the summary and marketing really sell this book as something that it is not. The summary acts as though this is a cozy romance book between two women, when it’s a fast paced books from three points of view.
March 28, 2024
I’m so disappointed by this. The premise sounded great but the execution and writing was… not great.
March 1, 2024
DNF'd at 44% (Chp 22)
I don't often DNF a book because I really like to give things a try. This book was marketed as cozy magic, "The Magicians meets One Last Stop". I can definitely see the comparison with The Magicians - a similarly dark story, but I don't see any of One Last Stop in here.
The book starts out with 3 POVs, Maggie, Ellie, and Dan. I don't mind 3, when there is more connection, but for some much of this book it felt very clunky and discombobulated. It was hard to feel connected to any of the characters because each chapter keeps switching to others. Then 3 more POVs are introduced, Prospero, Sondre, and the "Chief Witch". Truthfully I started to get really confused on who's chapter was who's, and even forgot who main characters were.
I don't think there was too many characters, I love a large cast, but so many of them didn't feel fleshed out and with the rotating POVs I had just had enough by the time I reached the 6th one.
I also didn't care for the explanations of the world and magic. It felt very text book, instead of weaving it into the story, there was so much unnecessary expose. The first three characters all have a chapter where they are wisked away to the magical world and then are explained essentially the same thing on page. We don't need that much when character development could be explored instead. Similarly, Prospero is described as so very white and flawless skin that boarded to me on the line of cringe. It's okay to make your characters whatever skin color you want, but why describe in such a way, in several sentences? It felt forced/shoehorn in there - As if we really really needed to know how very white and beautiful she was. 😬
There is a lot of erasure of disability/illness/injury that reads as Ableism. When they are in the other world with magic, they are able to heal and be perfect. It's startling to see this concept in a queer book - because the queer community is all about imperfections. So many of us are disabled, nerodivergent, have chronic issues and I don't think the answer is just to have a world where all of that is erased. It doesn't read as "better" to me.
Lastly, Maggie gets into a horrific car crash in her first chapter - which I feel needed a warning and definitely does not fit under the "cozy" category. It was hard to read, rather traumatic, and I had to step away from reading it for a while before trying to get back in.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.
I don't often DNF a book because I really like to give things a try. This book was marketed as cozy magic, "The Magicians meets One Last Stop". I can definitely see the comparison with The Magicians - a similarly dark story, but I don't see any of One Last Stop in here.
The book starts out with 3 POVs, Maggie, Ellie, and Dan. I don't mind 3, when there is more connection, but for some much of this book it felt very clunky and discombobulated. It was hard to feel connected to any of the characters because each chapter keeps switching to others. Then 3 more POVs are introduced, Prospero, Sondre, and the "Chief Witch". Truthfully I started to get really confused on who's chapter was who's, and even forgot who main characters were.
I don't think there was too many characters, I love a large cast, but so many of them didn't feel fleshed out and with the rotating POVs I had just had enough by the time I reached the 6th one.
I also didn't care for the explanations of the world and magic. It felt very text book, instead of weaving it into the story, there was so much unnecessary expose. The first three characters all have a chapter where they are wisked away to the magical world and then are explained essentially the same thing on page. We don't need that much when character development could be explored instead. Similarly, Prospero is described as so very white and flawless skin that boarded to me on the line of cringe. It's okay to make your characters whatever skin color you want, but why describe in such a way, in several sentences? It felt forced/shoehorn in there - As if we really really needed to know how very white and beautiful she was. 😬
There is a lot of erasure of disability/illness/injury that reads as Ableism. When they are in the other world with magic, they are able to heal and be perfect. It's startling to see this concept in a queer book - because the queer community is all about imperfections. So many of us are disabled, nerodivergent, have chronic issues and I don't think the answer is just to have a world where all of that is erased. It doesn't read as "better" to me.
Lastly, Maggie gets into a horrific car crash in her first chapter - which I feel needed a warning and definitely does not fit under the "cozy" category. It was hard to read, rather traumatic, and I had to step away from reading it for a while before trying to get back in.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.
February 22, 2024
3.5⭐
2🌶️
"Anything you want is on my bill, Ellie. Name your desire, and I'll do my best to give it to you."
Content Warning: mentions of abuse, trauma, manipulation, cancer, death of a loved one (past), mentions of homophobia
I am going to start off by saying based on the blurb, I was not expecting as many POV's as we got. I believe I counted 6 in total. This is advertised as a fantasy romance, it is not that. This is fantasy book with some romance elements in it.
This book starts off with a whole lot of trauma being experienced by some of the witches that are coming into their power, near death experiences. Ellie has a kiss in the library that gave her electric shock, but the plan was backed out of and she ends up in a car accident later. Maggie had her brakes tampered with and had been traveling with her teenage son. Dan was mountain climbing and was already weak and frail and dying from cancer. It's a lot to absorb in. These near death experiences cause their magic to awaken and they find themselves in Crenshaw where they are told they must attend the school of remedial magic. They will go through some courses for a period and then eventually the time will come to decide if they are staying or if their magic will be siphoned and they can return home. Some of the characters are more keen to stay than others. As being a witch in Crenshaw their magic heals them from certain ailments like Dan's cancer. If their magic were to go the disease would return.
Crenshaw is in disarray with problems of it's own and it's very dependent on hoping that at least one of these new witches can help fix the problems there.
This book had tidbits of inspiration from other things I have read before and even mentions of things like some Harry Potter references and the Hobs in the story really felt like house elves, but with being told that they should be nice and earn their respect. The magic types really made me think of the Grishaverse and the types of powers they can wield. I really enjoyed the description of how Ellie's powers were done and I really wished her and Prospero would have been the main focus of the story. Where this is a decently sized book, we don't move very far in time or get to absorb much of the world because we are bebopping in between all these multiple pov.
There are a few things that I didn't enjoy with this book like the non-witches being called barbarians, the way my brain thought there was a whole other world the first few times it was brought up only to realize ohhh we are talking about people without powers. I thought it was just another conflict that Crenshaw was facing. Also with how the story played out the insta love between Ellie and Prospero just did not fit with this story. Their love was not the primary focus and it just wasn't elaborated on enough.
The book is definitely slow to get into at first, but picks up right around the time that classes actually begin to start and one of the classes they go through had me laughing so hard. So if you get injured in this book, moreso a not serious injury, and you are being healed you are hit with pleasant hormone and basically you are guaranteed satisfaction. The way I was laughing at the awkwardness of the lesson.
This book ends on a cliffhanger and I definitely want to see where book two goes.
This book was sent to me by the publisher, these thoughts and opinions are my own.
2🌶️
"Anything you want is on my bill, Ellie. Name your desire, and I'll do my best to give it to you."
Content Warning: mentions of abuse, trauma, manipulation, cancer, death of a loved one (past), mentions of homophobia
I am going to start off by saying based on the blurb, I was not expecting as many POV's as we got. I believe I counted 6 in total. This is advertised as a fantasy romance, it is not that. This is fantasy book with some romance elements in it.
This book starts off with a whole lot of trauma being experienced by some of the witches that are coming into their power, near death experiences. Ellie has a kiss in the library that gave her electric shock, but the plan was backed out of and she ends up in a car accident later. Maggie had her brakes tampered with and had been traveling with her teenage son. Dan was mountain climbing and was already weak and frail and dying from cancer. It's a lot to absorb in. These near death experiences cause their magic to awaken and they find themselves in Crenshaw where they are told they must attend the school of remedial magic. They will go through some courses for a period and then eventually the time will come to decide if they are staying or if their magic will be siphoned and they can return home. Some of the characters are more keen to stay than others. As being a witch in Crenshaw their magic heals them from certain ailments like Dan's cancer. If their magic were to go the disease would return.
Crenshaw is in disarray with problems of it's own and it's very dependent on hoping that at least one of these new witches can help fix the problems there.
This book had tidbits of inspiration from other things I have read before and even mentions of things like some Harry Potter references and the Hobs in the story really felt like house elves, but with being told that they should be nice and earn their respect. The magic types really made me think of the Grishaverse and the types of powers they can wield. I really enjoyed the description of how Ellie's powers were done and I really wished her and Prospero would have been the main focus of the story. Where this is a decently sized book, we don't move very far in time or get to absorb much of the world because we are bebopping in between all these multiple pov.
There are a few things that I didn't enjoy with this book like the non-witches being called barbarians, the way my brain thought there was a whole other world the first few times it was brought up only to realize ohhh we are talking about people without powers. I thought it was just another conflict that Crenshaw was facing. Also with how the story played out the insta love between Ellie and Prospero just did not fit with this story. Their love was not the primary focus and it just wasn't elaborated on enough.
The book is definitely slow to get into at first, but picks up right around the time that classes actually begin to start and one of the classes they go through had me laughing so hard. So if you get injured in this book, moreso a not serious injury, and you are being healed you are hit with pleasant hormone and basically you are guaranteed satisfaction. The way I was laughing at the awkwardness of the lesson.
This book ends on a cliffhanger and I definitely want to see where book two goes.
This book was sent to me by the publisher, these thoughts and opinions are my own.
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