A fitting sequel that deepens the magical world and its well-developed characters.
In this follow-up to Charmed Life (2023), Hasani finds herself faced with questions, choices, and her biggest magical challenges yet.
Hasani and her best friends, Luz, Angelique, and Dee, are back in this third series installment. Still fresh from hearing the news that she’s a witch and having spent her summer at witch camp, Les Belles Demoiselles, Hasani is trying to balance learning more about her magical side as a wildseed with being on the school’s Mathletes team. She’s also continuing to grow her YouTube channel, MakeupontheCheapCheap. This entry involves some chapters from the perspective of LaToya, Hasani’s fellow witch who’s something of a rival; she appears to be up to some grand scheme that apparently involves all of Riverbend Middle School. While strange and possibly dangerous occurrences at school related to LaToya crop up, Hasani and friends are uncertain of exactly what’s going on, and they try to figure out LaToya’s plan and to determine whether they should intervene or “live and let live,” as is the custom of witches. As they embark on their search for answers, they discover more about themselves, each other, and the magical society in which they exist. Dumas continues to expand the worldbuilding while adding layers to the characters’ histories and personalities. Readers should be familiar with the previous volumes to fully immerse themselves in this book.
A fitting sequel that deepens the magical world and its well-developed characters. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781419772733
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
Guaranteed to enchant, enthrall, and enmagick.
An elderly witch, a magical girl, a brave carpenter, a wise monster, a tiny dragon, paper birds, and a madwoman converge to thwart a magician who feeds on sorrow.
Every year Elders of the Protectorate leave a baby in the forest, warning everyone an evil Witch demands this sacrifice. In reality, every year, a kind witch named Xan rescues the babies and find families for them. One year Xan saves a baby girl with a crescent birthmark who accidentally feeds on moonlight and becomes “enmagicked.” Magic babies can be tricky, so Xan adopts little Luna herself and lovingly raises her, with help from an ancient swamp monster and a chatty, wee dragon. Luna’s magical powers emerge as her 13th birthday approaches. Meanwhile, Luna’s deranged real mother enters the forest to find her daughter. Simultaneously, a young carpenter from the Protectorate enters the forest to kill the Witch and end the sacrifices. Xan also enters the forest to rescue the next sacrificed child, and Luna, the monster, and the dragon enter the forest to protect Xan. In the dramatic denouement, a volcano erupts, the real villain attempts to destroy all, and love prevails. Replete with traditional motifs, this nontraditional fairy tale boasts sinister and endearing characters, magical elements, strong storytelling, and unleashed forces. Luna has black eyes, curly, black hair, and “amber” skin.
Guaranteed to enchant, enthrall, and enmagick. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61620-567-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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