The Girl Without Magic
I received The Girl Without Magic by Megan O'Russel for review from the publishing company Curiosity Quills Press and I am so thankful I was able to read this story! Overall, I enjoyed Maggie's adventure and I am excited to follow her to her next world!
One of my favorite things about this book was the creativity and well thought out plot. I have noticed for other books, the world may be amazing and creative but not well thought out or well explained. This was not one of these books. Maggie's experience with the Siren's Realm and Malina made complete sense and the logic of each world was explained. I was never confused about how a world worked, what their rules were, or if it "made sense". Each world was logical and well thought out, which I can appreciate!
Another thing I really enjoyed about this book were the characters! Maggie is a person that is kind, compassionate, and defensive of innocent people. Her kindness allows her to befriend Bertrand, Abeyla, Mina, and Tammond while her defensiveness allows her to do what needs to be done in order to protect her friends. Each character had their own personality, even ones that are not mentioned often, and are very realistic. I never felt that a character was two dimensional or flat throughout the book. I especially liked Bertrand! Not only does he give off a grandfatherly feeling with Maggie, but his love for adventure and magic made me want both as well! I loved the interactions between Maggie and Bertrand, as well as Maggie and Mina. Many of the characters were funny, cute, and overall good guys! I did wish I could have seen more interactions between Maggie and Jax, especially to up the evilness of his character!
Some things I didn't necessarily like, or I thought could be better was the romance, the pacing, and descriptions. Maggie and Tammond begin to fall in love during their time in Malina together and while I'm all for a characters happiness, I thought the romance between them seemed forced and premature. I don't think that Bertrand and Maggie were in Malina long enough for a real love interest to start between Tammond and Maggie, besides a crush. It was frustrating reading the instant attraction between them, besides the obvious, "wow, he/she is attractive!".
For the pacing, I felt like some areas were steady and paced well. I was able to read through the scene and understand what is going on without feeling like it was dragging or being rushed. Other areas were rushed in my opinion. I felt that some areas of the story could have been developed more, such as Malina's training scene with Tammond. If these scenes were not only longer, but explained more and given more details, it would turn it from a fast paced, rushed scene into a captivating and exciting moment in the book. Which kind of goes hand in hand with the descriptions. I felt like some things were explained and described well while others were rushed a bit. I feel like the author could have taken more time to develop the book and provide more descriptions of what everything looks like and what is going on.
My final thought is that I was completely thrown off by the beginning. In the beginning of the story Maggie thinks she is dead, which is a really cool way to start the book! But then she realizes she is in another magical world and I find myself confused as to how she got there, why she thought she was dead, and what she is going to do now. I think if the beginning had been the scene before she was sent to the Siren Realm, I would still be confused but have a bit more context as to what is going on, but that is just my personal preference.
So to keep this like all my other reviews, here is my breakdown of stars! I gave this book 3/5 stars!
So here is how I got my rating:
I give reviews based on five separate categories: plot, characters, description, pace, and extras. Each point earns a total of 1 star - which is what gives my five star rating.
Plot: 1/1 stars. I really enjoyed the plot and thought it was a fun and creative idea! Maggie's adventure is one many of us dream of and I had so much fun following along with her!
Characters: 1/1 stars. All of the characters were realistic, well developed, and easy to read. I never felt like a character was flat, even for minor characters. Their personalities, wants, needs, and human qualities were all there and I had fun meeting new people with Maggie!
Description: 0.5/1 stars. Some areas of the book were clear on what was going on and I could easily visualize what is happening in that scene. Other times, it was rushed and I had trouble forming an image in my mind. I took off half a point due to inconsistencies with different sections in the book, not necessarily due to the lack of descriptions in certain scenes.
Pace: 0/1 stars. Pacing was all over the place for me. The beginning it was a slower, but steady pace that felt natural. As the book went on it was like the reader hops into a rocket ships and blasts off. The pacing got very fast in the middle and took off until the end. I wish the pacing was slower so I wouldn't feel as if the story was rushed, but that could also be due to the inconsistencies in description.
Extas: 0.5/1 stars. This world is creative and I loved seeing the Siren's Realm as well as Malina! The worlds were not only interesting but well thought out and I had to give a half point to that creativity!
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and had a fun time following Maggie on her adventure in the Siren Realm and in Malina! I can't wait to see what other adventures she goes on in the future and to, hopefully, see her real home one day!
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HAPPY READING!!!
