Tag: Magical Fiction

Spellbinding doesn’t even begin to describe this book.

I have always been interested in well-written “otherworldly” novels. Some stories that deal with magic are fanciful and some are downright ridiculous. I believe that there is magic all around us and some people are more in tune with it than others.

I guess, in other words, I like a little bit of realism with my magic.

And that is why I absolutely loved this book.

The author has created a story within a world that I found to be entirely plausible. The characters were realistic and “normal”…until they weren’t. And everything made sense to me, as I accepted it as it was told.

As I mentioned, I am very open to that sort of thing, so it was easy for me. But I think that even skeptics could enjoy the book as a fantasy novel – again, because of the realism.

I liked Sophie’s character. She seemed like an unfinished book to me (fitting, because of her profession and the focus of the story). Her story was being written as the story played out. It was an effective story-telling method.

Her life was broken into two parts: childhood memories of the Library and her adult life after she and her father left the Library. With a big gap of missing memory for the transition.

There’s a reason for that, and the author wisely gives the reader hints and drops clues as Sophie herself tries to recover her past.

One of the things that struck me – again, adding to the realism – is that Sophie questions her memories of childhood. Her father never spoke of them, and she is left wondering if she had imagined things or if it was real.

I think we all do that. How much of our memories are actually our own and how much are from what people have told us about what they remember? And if nobody talks to us about our memories, then it is natural for us to question whether or not they are real.

I also liked the way that the author rolled out the information. As I mentioned, there were just enough hints for the reader to grasp the underlying current, but the bigger reveals happened at just the right moments.

I guess that’s just another way to say that the pace and plotting were well-done.

I don’t usually like to mention other author’s books in a review, but this case needs the exception. One of my favorite books (and series) is A Discovery of Witches. I can re-read it repeatedly and always find something new.

I got the same vibe from very early on in this book (from both the plot itself and the way the story was told. I kept thinking about how I couldn’t wait to read it again and discover new aspects I didn’t catch the first time around.

I really enjoyed this author’s The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall and liked this one even better. I very much look forward to more from this author!

Author Bio

Jessica Thorne saw Star Wars at an impressionable age and life was never the same. She’s loved fantasy, romance, and science fiction ever since and spends her time looking for adventure – in the pages of her books.

Sometimes she is Ruth Frances Long and won the European Science Fiction Society Spirit of Dedication Award for Best Author of Children’s Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2015.