Reviews

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

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ohclaire's review

5.0

5 Stars for the experience of reading this book! I feel like this book captured the absurdity of high school pretty well, I loved the friendships and the queer rep, and while it is a little melodramatic/weird pacing/idk some aspects just rubbed my wrong, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book so much! And that's what matters, I think, above all else. I'm not saying it's literature. I'm saying I had a great time with this book. :)

barnesbookshelf's review against another edition

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3.0

This book was a little hard to get into. It starts in media res, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it took me a while to actually care about the main characters and what was going on for them. I also struggled to tell the characters apart at first, especially Maryam and Marcelina because their names start with the same letter.

Overall, the story is fine. It's not the most intriguing plot, but the story is more about friendship and women supporting women than anything. Still, it really didn't feel like the stakes were that high. Also, Alexis was angry and sad for most of the book, which was understandable given the events it starts with, but got tiresome after a while.

I found it to be a pretty average book. I wish I had gotten to know the characters before Prom night because I feel I would've been more concerned for them. I totally called Gina though.

amandaboyer's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

piratebaker's review

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

naliscribbles's review

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

farmv8's review

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3.0

I loved all the diversity in race, culture, family structure and sexuality that is present in this novel. Magic is entwined in this realistic setting in a beautiful way. I was interested in what would happen next throughout the story. This book’s plot is unique and stands out in the YA genre.

Although, the narrator Alex isn’t a likeable character to me. She ended up killing a boy out of jealousy, and she got away with it. While she struggles with accepting that her friends love her and she ponders whether she deserves their love, I was thinking the same thing. Although Alex and her five friends lost aspects of themselves such as the inability to dream and seeing gray instead of the color green, that pales in comparison to the loss of life. Throughout the whole book I couldn’t appreciate the romance and bonding because the wrongful death of a nice teen boy was in the front of my mind.

Also, characters like Gina and and Marcelina were underdeveloped as there wasn’t enough space for them in the story. 6 main characters is a lot. I wish this story had a more fair ending. I don’t think Alex deserves to be with the girl of her dreams and surrounded by the love of her brother and parents and friends after covering up a murder.