Book Review: Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 
Pages: 204
Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary

From Goodreads:

Libby Kelting had always felt herself born out of time. No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum. But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset. Her cat-loving coworker wants her dead, the too-smart-for-his-own-good local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, her gorgeous sailor may be more shipwreck than dreamboat — plus Camden Harbor’s haunted. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem.

Review

I'd make one of those lanyard friendship bracelets and give it to Libby

Libby is the type of girl who I would be total BFFs with at summer camp. She's fun, sweet, creative, peppy, and (best of all) she's a very girly, feminine history nerd! My heart is all a-pitter-patter at the thought of gushing over cute outfits and historical factoids with the same person.

Libby and I would do everything together at summer camp and we'd swear we'd write to each other during the school year. But then we wouldn't end up writing because, well, life. And, while she's a ton of fun to hang out with, Libby doesn't have the chops to be a real full-year, ups-and-downs kind of BFF.

Looking for a fluffy read?

That's also kind of how I feel about this book. It's fun and light and sweet and everything, but it didn't leave much of a mark on me. Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink is the perfect summer read. It isn't too serious (there are the usual messages about Lite Interpersonal Drama with Friends and Boys), and I did smile at a bunch of scenes (though no laughing out loud).

The plot moves at a fairly moderate pace and pretty much follows the script of your average romantic comedy. It's predictable, but in a book like this that's more of a comfort than a negative. The ending was over the top silly and not particularly believable, but who cares! It was fun and it made me smile.

The setting in a historical reenactment summer camp was pretty much a dream come true for a history nerd like me and was a welcome change from the more usual beach or traditional summer camp settings that populate this genre. I wish there were more historical factoids thrown in, but that's because I really am a super history nerd.

Also, the little girls Libby teaches are ADORABLE! 

Let's talk about what's important here: Boys!

There are three main guys vying for Libby's attention: A buff sailor who looks great with his shirt off, a somewhat geeky reporter who has a hate-turned-like thing going on with Libby, and a totally gay best friend who whips up historically appropriate dresses faster than Cinderella's fairy godmother.

All of them were just kind of ok for me. I appreciated the mental imagery of the sailor, but, well, you'll see. And, much as I love hate-turned-love, this one was much more "cute" than "swoony" for me. The gay best friend was good for a few laughs, but he was so over the top cliche that I had a hard time believing his character (but that doesn't really matter. He's funny, and that's what matters).

Bottom line

If you're looking for a quick, light summer read with a fluffy romance, then I'd definitely recommend giving Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink a shot. I will definitely check out whatever Stephanie Strohm writes next, but this isn't the type of book I would personally auto-buy.

I will be ordering a copy for my library girls, especially since I think this will work with some of the older tween girls as well as the YA readers. Good for Meg Cabot fans.

This is a standalone.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink that I haven't addressed?
Feel free to ask in the comments!

Add it on Goodreads
Buy it on Amazon

Looking for another book like this?

You might like:

 Click on the pictures to go to my reviews.

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Book Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 
#1 in the Grisha series
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. 
Pages: 368
Received: ARC from publisher 
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars, Special Shelf

Summary

From Goodreads:

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

Review

The girl who lived!

Look, I know, I'm totally supposed to be over the plot of "ordinary kid finds out they're THE ONE and will vanquish all evil and bring about paradise on Earth" yada yada. And I know I'm probably supposed to roll my eyes at yet another book centering around that tired plot...but guess what?

I'm still so completely ON that bandwagon. I don't care how many times it's been done. Finding out Alina may be THE ONE was pretty much a Score! moment for me.

Alina is also a character I just straight up liked. Sure she may get down on herself sometimes because she's plain and not a stunning beauty (even though I picture her as very pretty, just like I do for all my main characters. I'm shallow like that), but I liked that she isn't perfect.

Up until the events of the book, Alina lived life as an orphan soldier (badass + orphan bonus points!). And, given that the setting is loosely based on Tsarist Russia, yeah, Alina's used to HARD living (the Russian Army wasn't known for its creature comforts). She's reluctant, cautious, and reserved. But, I also get the sense that she would be a blast at a sleepover party if she felt comfortable. And that's a good thing, because I'm totally extending an invitation to her (and her best friend. That girl totally needs to use her magic on me).
 

I'm caught in the middle of a love triangle

I think Alina's pretty much made up her mind at this point, but I certainly haven't! There are two guys but this isn't one of those dreaded love triangles with an indecisive main character who strings both guys along. Alina is never untrue and she never plays the part of the indecisive floozy.

You can leave that role to me though, because my gosh, I want BOTH of those guys! The Darkling is all Tall, Dark, and Handsome mixed with a heavy dose of Mysterious and a gigantic helping of Dangerous thrown in for good measure. He is seriously scary and I'm pretty sure he's evil in the Real Deal actual evil kind of way.

But oh boy is he hot. There's this one scene where Alina's feeling the whole "This is so wrong but it feels so good that I don't really care if I die just so long as I can continue this kiss for a minute more" kind of thing and I was equally swept up in the moment.

The Darkling is The Fourth Pastry: that fourth pastry calling out to me all seductively sweet and I just know I shouldn't eat it and I already ate three and I really shouldn't eat more...buuuut, oooh I so want to devour it. He's like that. Bad for me, but soooo good.

The other guy Mal is the best-friend-maybe-more love interest who reminded me a little of Gale from The Hunger Games with his steadfast friendship and outdoorsy masculinity. He's the kind of guy I picture having "capable hands." There's also a little protectiveness ala Jay from The Body Finder thrown in for good measure, too. Mal and Alina grew up together as orphans and then served together in the army, so they're particularly tight.

Sadly Mal doesn't have as much pagetime as I would have liked (but the Darkling helped fill the void). He's there in the beginning and then he comes back toward the end, but he's gone for pretty much the whole middle. BUT, what he's doing during that time is, oh my, well, I can't spoil anything for you!

What about the rest of the story?

I know I'm focusing on the characters a lot, but that's completely because I'm a character girl and not at all because there isn't much plot to talk about. Because there is a TON of plot to talk about! It's my favorite kind, too.

Let's see, the book starts with some basic Setting the Stage and quickly takes a trip into the Shadow Fold. What is this Fold? It is terrifying! The ARC cover for Shadow and Bone was perfect for this scene: Pitch dark and splattered with blood. It was so awesome! I appreciated a lot of things Leigh Bardugo did as an author, but this scene, aaahh this scene! Perfection. It was like I was standing right there.

Then the plot moves into my beloved court setting! You know what that means, right? Big house oogling, balls, fancy extravagant things, and INTRIGUE! And Alina goes to this court to learn, so it's really like a cross between a court setting and a boarding school. More points! AND, she doesn't just go to learn bookish stuff, but she also learns how to fight magically with lessons from both the hot Darkling and a creepy old lady who sometimes veers into sweet old lady territory but is totally hiding some Big Secrets. Even more points!!

THEN, (yes, there's more!) then we move into the questing part of the story. There isn't a whole lot of time spent on this, but the time that is spent there was glorious and everything I want out of a good quest. Which is to say it was both exciting and romantically charged. But then bad things happen and my heart was in my throat because I couldn't imagine how my beloved characters were going to get away ok. It was all so fantastically tense.

Bottom line

All of the elements came together perfectly for me and there is not even the slightest bit of hesitation as I add Shadow and Bone firmly to my Special Shelf.

The ending isn't a cliffhanger, but it isn't tied up neatly either. Stuff is brewing on the horizon, especially as fallout after everything that just happened, but for now Alina and I can take a deep breath and prepare. Or, you know, impatiently count down the days until the release of Siege and Storm (book 2).

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about Shadow and Bone that I haven't addressed? 
Feel free to ask in the comments!

Add it on Goodreads!
Buy it on Amazon!
Shadow and Bone releases today--No More Waiting!

Did you catch the interview Ruby and I did with Leigh Bardugo? Complete will all the very important questions!

Looking for another book like this? 

You might like: 

  

Click on the covers to go to my reviews and/or Goodreads.

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Character Interview: The Princes Charming

Click to make larger. All pictures illustrated by Todd Harris.

Please Welcome the Princes Charming!

Or is it the Prince Charmings? *ahem* I mean, please welcome Prince Liam, Prince Gustav, Prince Frederick, and Prince Duncan! The stars of The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom were kind enough to stop by today and answer some of my very important questions.

Prince Liam, totally swoony.

Q: Which characters would you most want to kiss?

Liam: This is a bit of a sore subject for me. I’m going to pass.

Frederic: Hmm, this doesn’t sound like a proper type of question to be answering in such a public venue.

Gustav: Stop waffling, Captain Romance! Just answer the question.

Frederic: Well, Ella of course. She’s my fiancée. I did kiss her that night at the ball, but strangely enough, never since then. Hmm.

Duncan: I would choose J.P. McWiggins! He’s a squirrel who lives in my backyard. I think his whiskers would tickle.

Frederic: But, Duncan, what about Snow White? She’s your wife.

Duncan: Yes, and I already know what it’s like to kiss her. I don’t know what it’s like to kiss a squirrel.

Frederic: Well, what about you, Gustav? Whom would you kiss?

Gustav: Nobody. Next!

Prince Gustav, wishing his sword weren't so tiny

Q: Which characters do you most want to slap or give a verbal tongue lashing to?

Gustav: Ah, now we’re getting somewhere! Let’s see… Lady Lipless, Captain Garbage-Hair, Tressie McTressington, Corporal Pipsqueak, Babyface von Vexmonger…

Liam: Are we supposed to know who any of those people are?

Frederic: I think I might say myself. I could probably use a kick in the rear sometimes to get me going. But at least I know I’d be gentle about it.

Duncan: J.P. McWiggins. He steals far too many of my acorns.

Prince Frederic, the hilariously dainty.

Q: Which scene would you most want to reenact? Which scene would you never want to repeat?

Liam: Honestly, I can’t think of any I’d want to repeat.

Frederic: I think I’d have to agree. Although if you forced me to reenact one scene, I guess I’d pick something toward the beginning of the book, since I got progressively dirty as the story went along. And I’d certainly never want a repeat of me getting sat upon by a troll.

Gustav: Any scene with me punching someone is a pretty good one to repeat. As long as we cut it off before the end.

Duncan: I don’t even remember where J.P. McWiggins came into the story, but I think I’ll say that scene.

Liam: For reenacting or for never repeating?

Duncan: Either.

Prince Duncan, odd duck.

Q: Which scene do you think will surprise readers the most?

Liam: I think people will be surprised to hear what the bards got wrong about us in those original “Prince Charming” stories. For instance, I don’t think most readers will know I’ve been saving lives since I was three years old.

Frederic: Yes, and the way my father used to discipline me as a child by feeding me to a tiger.

Gustav: And what a horrible person Rapunzel is.

Frederic: Rapunzel is not a horrible person! She’s perfectly lovely.

Gustav: Eye of the beholder, Beanpole. Eye of the beholder.

Duncan: I think readers will be shocked by the betrayal of Monday Bird.

You should really click to view this one large!

Q: What is one piece of advice you would give the reader?

Liam: Believe in yourself and your own special talent. There’s a hero inside every one of us and—

Gustav: Boring! Here’s my advice: Always attack your enemy head on. They’ll never see it coming.

Frederic: You can get through most problems by asking yourself, “What would Sir Bertram the Dainty do?”

Duncan: Never trust a squirrel to hold onto your wallet for you. I learned this the hard way. Curse you, McWiggins! Oh, who am I kidding? I can’t stay mad at you. Come here, little cutie squirrel. Here’s my wedding ring; put it someplace safe, okay?

Readers should add The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom to their To Be Read list if they like...

Books about:
     Fairy tales, princes, princesses, bandits, trolls, witches, retold or reimagined stories, snarky dialogue, slapstick, wordplay, swordplay, uncovering mysteries, saving kingdoms

Books/movies like:
     The Princess Bride, The Sisters Grimm, Wicked, Shrek, Tangled

About The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom:

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You've never head of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as "Prince Charming." But all of this is about to change...

Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it's up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other associated terrors to become the heroes no one ever thought they could be.


Author bio:

Christopher Healy spent years reviewing children’s books and media online and in print before setting off to write The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, his first children’s book. He lives with his wife and their two children in New Jersey. You can find him online at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you so much for stopping by, guys!

Are you laughing as hard as I am? I seriously can't get enough of these guys. Last month I reviewed The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, and later on this month I'll have a review for the audio version. So that's three times I've hung out with these guys and I'm still begging for more!

Have you read The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom?

How would you answer these questions?
(Remember, no spoilers please!)

If not, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! 
(Click that to read the first 75 pages!) 

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Designing your blog? Keep these features in mind!

This post is a little more technical, but don't worry! I've tried to break everything down to the basics. The goal of this post is to give you a starting off point and introduce you to some technical concepts, why they're important, and what they mean for your blog.

I've also included a little advice on how you can apply these concepts to your own blog. If you are trying to make your blog accessible to as many people as possible, then it would be a good idea to follow these tips.

BUT, please keep in mind that your blog is YOUR blog, and ultimately you should do what makes YOU happy.


Screen resolution

What is it? Screen resolution is a measure of pixels displayed in each dimension. Don't know what that means? Don't worry. For our purposes, screen resolution means how your blog looks on different screen sizes.

Why is it important? Screen resolution immediately affects how people view your blog. If your blog does not fit comfortably on their screen, then readers are more likely to leave and never return.

What should you do? You will never be able to please everyone, so try to design for the majority. Sign up for Google Analytics to see what screen resolutions are most popular among your readers.

The majority of my readers run 1280x800, 1388x768, and 1024x768. Your readers are probably similar.

Then test your blog on different screen resolutions. The higher the screen resolution you're using to test this, the better (because otherwise you're limited by your own computer's resolution).

Um, but what do you DO? There are three ways that you'll apply this practically: Your header, your sidebars, and your post body.

• Design your header so it takes up no more than 45% of the screen (less is better!).
• Horizontal scroll bar = BAD! You need to make your blog narrower.
• Images cut off on the sides? Not good! You need to make your blog narrower.

This is what my blog looks like on a screen with 800x600 resolution. Good thing the vast majority of my readers use larger screen resolutions!

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Java, Flash, etc.

What is it? These are different kinds of programming languages (sort of). For our purposes, think of this as your blog having a conversation with your readers' computers. Your blog's code is the language your blog is "speaking" in. The result of this conversation is what your readers see on their screens.

Why is it important? If your blog is speaking one language and your readers' computers are speaking a different language, then you won't be able to communicate.

Some people use older browsers or devices (phones, some tablets, feed readers, etc) that cannot speak these languages. Some people have installed blockers like NoScript, which are the equivalent to saying "Lalala I'm not listening" to languages like JavaScript, Java, and Flash.

Bottom line: If your readers' computers can't or won't speak your blog's language, then your readers won't see and be able to use your blog properly, or even at all. See how dramatic the difference can be:

Stop & Shop's website as viewed with scripts disabled

Same page, but now with scripts enabled.

What should you do? Design your blog using basic HTML and CSS whenever possible. Avoid using JavaScript, Java, Flash, and similar languages or plug ins. This will ensure the largest number of people can see and use your blog.

Um, but what do you DO? Some features that are commonly written using these languages-to-avoid are:

• Countdown widgets
• Drop down menus
• Widgets from sites like LibraryThing and Goodreads
• Rotating images
• Videos
• Images that change when you roll over them
• Certain types of spoiler tags (more on this in a future T&T post!)
• Pretty fonts
• Toggle menus (like the "Readers Also Enjoyed" menu on Goodreads)
• Certain commenting systems

If you avoid using any of those or similar features, then you should be good to go. Of course, a lot of those features are really nice and it would be a shame not to include them on your blog. So here is where you compromise. Include some that you really want, but also understand that not every reader will be able to see them (so maybe don't make them an integral part of your blog post).

If you're really curious, try installing NoScript and see what it blocks. Everything that's blocked isn't written using basic HTML or CSS and may not be visible or functional for all your readers. Keep in mind: Just because NoScript doesn't block something, that still doesn't mean the element will display for everyone (ex: pretty fonts).

Scripts not allowed or Flash not compatible. This is what I see in your sidebar. Attractive, huh?

Scripts allowed or Flash compatible. Oh! It's a loud, moving poster! Er, great. (or, it would be a loud moving poster if this example weren't just a screen cap)

Stay tuned for part 2 with even more tips!

Click here to read previous Tips & Tricks Posts 

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May Recap

In case you missed anything, here's a recap of what was posted in May. 

Reviews

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

 
Medusa the Mean (Goddess Girls #8) by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
Ladies in Waiting by Laura L. Sullivan
Ordinary Magic by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #3) by Jennifer Estep 
The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman (DNF)

(Click on the links to go to my reviews)

Events

The Enchanted Chocolate Pot Blog Fest

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Celebrate the release of Suffocate by S. R. Johannes with a giveaway

Today is the last day to enter!

Features

If I Like...Court Fantasy
Recommendations for books that fall into this genre

Cover Review: First Impressions

Miss anything last month? Click here to read a Recap. 

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Book Review: Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep

Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep
#3 in the Mythos Academy series
Release Date: May 29, 2012
Publisher: Kensington
Pages: 336
Received: ARC from publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is a review for the third book in the Mythos Academy series. This review probably DOES contain spoilers for the previous books. 


Don't want spoilers? Read my review of the first book, Touch of Frost instead!

Summary

From Goodreads:

I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me?

It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

Review

Are all my favorite characters back?

Yes! Daphne, Carson, Logan, Metis, Grandma Frost, Oliver, and (my two personal favorites) Nott (the wolf from Kiss of Frost) and Vic all make an appearance. Lots of squealing points for that!

But, sadly, their appearances are small. Daphne and Logan spend most of the book pissed off with Gwen and avoiding her calls, which was on one had totally disappointing because I love them and wanted them to be in the story more.

But, on the other hand, it was nice to get so much one on one time with Gwen. Gwen makes a kick butt loner in that Nancy-Drew-solo-mystery-solver kind of way. And with her very thorough first person narrative, it felt like me and Gwen were sleuthing together and hanging out like BFFs. 

Vic and Nott also played a decent role, which is awesome because I love them even more now than I did before (is that even possible?). And, even though Daphne, Logan, and Grandma Frost were MIA for a good part of the book, Jennifer Estep spilled some much-anticipated secrets about all three (yay!)

Does the plot start to suffer from series stretching?

The book kicks off with a bloodbath of awesome then follows with a dropped clue, a hunt for the Helheim Dagger, Daphne's magic revealing itself, Gwen's magic developing further (and here I thought her psychometry couldn't get any cooler), more fights with Reapers, sleuthing through Gwen's mom's high school journals, combat with Loki's evil champion and her talking sword (as much as the action of these scenes made me read with a white-knuckled death grip, the verbal sparring between Vic and the Reaper's sword stole the show and made me laugh out loud), more sleuthing to find a stolen ring, and all leading up to a gigantic climax of pure win (and heartbreak)!

So, yeah, I was pretty entertained. 

Also? Puppies make everything better.

I noticed the writing

It's been a while since I read the previous book in the series, so I was a little rusty on the details. Thankfully, Jennifer Estep is a recapping master and she filled me in on everything that went down in Touch of Frost and Kiss of Frost. So I was totally caught up to speed without having to take time I don't have to reread the previous books. Major points for that!

But the repetitive stuff also got a little too much after a while. If you've read the first two books then you're already familiar with Gwen's tendency to repeat things again and again and again. She still does it, but I love her so much that even while I'm sort of rolling my eyes because, yeah, I KNOW you have violet eyes and you saw something really awful with that girl and your mom died, its just, it's so Gwen. And I love Gwen.

The writing is also really heavy on the foreshadowing, and while I usually consider myself a big blind dunce when it comes to figuring things out early, I pretty much guessed every twist and turn with chapters to spare.

This really could have been annoying and admittedly it did remove some tension for me. But, the predictability combined with my feelings for Gwen made it feel more like I was rereading an old favorite where I know what's going to happen because, you know, I've already read it, but I still like settling in for a marathon reading session with my favorite characters.

Bottom line

The Mythos Academy series is like my favorite old sweatshirt. It may not look perfect anymore and it may not have the flash and excitement of a new outfit, but it's comfortable. Every time I put it on I'm instantly happy and I can sit curled up on the couch wearing it for hours of cozy bliss.

I love the character Jennifer Estep has created with Gwen and I'm pretty much at the point with her now where I'll read any book she stars in, regardless of the plot (even though Gwen is totally wrong about the food choices in the cafeteria. They sound divine).

Though thankfully, the plot of this series is looking pretty good. I can't wait to find out what happens in the fourth book, because, oh gosh, things did not end on a pretty note! It's not a total cliffhanger with the bottom dropping out right at a critical moment, but big end of the world stuff is imminent, and you know I'm always up for that.  

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about Dark Frost that I haven't addressed?
Feel free to ask in the comments!


Dark Frost comes out today! No More Waiting!
Add it on Goodreads
Buy it on Amazon

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Book Review: Ordinary Magic by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

Ordinary Magic by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 288
Received: ARC from author
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Summary

From Goodreads:

In Abby’s world, magic isn’t anything special: it’s a part of everyday life. So when Abby learns that she has zero magical abilities, she’s branded an “Ord”—ordinary, bad luck, and quite possibly a danger to society.

The outlook for kids like Abby isn’t bright. Many are cast out by their families, while others are sold to treasure hunters (ordinary kids are impervious to spells and enchantments). Luckily for Abby, her family enrolls her in a school that teaches ordinary kids how to get around in a magical world. But with treasure-hunting kidnappers and carnivorous goblins lurking around every corner, Abby’s biggest problem may not be learning how to be ordinary—it’s whether or not she’s going to survive the school year!

Review

I'm a character girl

Abby is cute as a button and totally real. She's shy and awkward in some situations, but she's laid back and fun around people she feels comfortable with. She wears her emotions on her sleeve, which makes her a great first person narrator, but sometimes gets her into trouble when dealing with other characters. She can also be a little slow to pick up on things sometimes, but that's because she's still a kid.

Buuut, Abby is very much a young character. She evoked all of my "Oh honey!" adult responses where I just want to hug her until her cute little eyes pop out of her head, but I'm not looking to invite her to any sleepover parties. I'm sure she'll be a hit with the target audience, though.

The other characters were all very nice, but they were all either just as young as Abby, or they were older but presented through Abby's younger eyes. So, very sweet to read, but I didn't get that personal connection from them (though I think I would love to be older sister Alexa's roommate. She's all prim and proper and I bet she's a heck of an organizer. I'd also tease her SO HARD about her romantic relationship Abby hasn't quite picked up on yet).

The strength of the characters for me came more from their interactions with one another than from any one individual character. I love that "big happy family" feeling where my face starts to ache from smiling so much and Abby's family made my cheeks ache they were so heartwarming. Abby's family could have gone the more typical route of evil step mothers and Cinderella-like shunning, but instead they were like a dream come true. Think the awesome Weasley family.

How about that plot?

The plot was pretty good, but for me it was all a little too slow and "lite." The plot reflects Abby's age, and while I'm sure it will be an edge of your seat adventure for the target audience, it was a little too predictable without enough high stakes for me.

True, there is a darkness to everything (they sell children in this world! And then put them to work in dangerous situations until they die young!), but I never felt like anything truly BAD would happen to the characters when it was all said and done.

Speaking of working in dangerous situations, is it just me, or does that sound kind of cool? These kids are immune to magic, so they're basically used by adventurers to go on quests thwarting magical spells and stealing treasure. And yeah, sure, ok, maybe they do often, you know, DIE, but I wish the story had focused on that life path. It sounds a heck of a lot more interesting to read about than following Abby as she learns how to non-magically scrub dishes.

It's like Harry Potter!

The world building is top notch and I am such a sucker for good world building. I was the kind of kid who spent about 90% of my play time setting things up (my Barbie always had her wardrobe and hairstyles planned for the next seven days before we even began to think about actual imaginative play), so the stellar world building was enough to carry the entire book for me.

The world reminded me a lot of Harry Potter, but it is different enough that it doesn't feel like a cheap copy. It's more like, imagine the world of Harry Potter, and then imagine what it would be like if within that world there was a school for squibs (non-magical kids born into magical families, like Abby). Now combine that with the idea of a Defense Against the Dark Arts class for non-magical kids who are immune to magic, and you pretty much have Abby's school. Isn't that cool?

But the world building doesn't end there. There's political world building, too! There's a king with a hidden past and he may or may not be a totally good guy (though I so want him to be good). This first book only hinted at the king's secrets, but I'm guessing the next book will peel back more layers and set straight some of the questions I have about him. I am VERY intrigued.

But let's get serious for a sec—is there kissing?

No, no there is not. Sorry. Abby is young so she's not really old enough to understand swoon. And even though there are adults, it's not like they're making out in front of her and she's pretty clueless about picking up on any lingering looks.

BUT, *I* picked up on some, and even though Abby doesn't realize it, there's a certain someone who totally has a crush on her. So no kissing NOW, but I'd bet money there will be at least a little hand holding in future books.

Bottom line

Ordinary Magic ends, not exactly on a CLIFFHANGER, but things are left pretty dangly. There's a character still in peril, a villain on the loose, and of course there's all those courtly secrets I want answered. I'm hooked enough to check out the sequel, but I'm also content to wait (my favorite characters aren't the one in danger, thankfully).

While I don't feel the burning need to keep my copy for myself, I have ordered a copy for my library kids and I think they're going to love Abby and her world. Ordinary Magic is perfect for kids who are old enough for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but still a little too young to handle Order of the Phoenix through Deathly Hallows.

A note on those stars? They reflect my personal enjoyment only. This is the kind of book where my star rating would be much higher if I gave out objective ratings, because I really do think Ordinary Magic will be a hit among the target audience. 

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

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