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justlily's review against another edition
1.0
And my streak of horrible books continues!
Basically my main problem with this book is this: Nola is literally too stupid to live. There is a difference between characters making misinformed choices and having to deal with the consequences... And the author MAKING the character make such STUPID decisions that NO ONE would be so dumb as to make, just to progress the story the way they want it to go. It's weak and amateurish writing. Every single plot turn or advancement was made because Nola made one more stupid decision. And then had the gall as one point to think "Even though I had never been a naive child, or at least not for a very long time." YOU ARE THE BIGGEST MORON TO EVER LIVE! THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE!
Every character in this book is pathetic and annoying and I hated them. The first chapter was so promising but it was just absolute shit after that. I've seen this author's name thrown around a lot but you couldn't pay me to read another of their books at this point.
Basically my main problem with this book is this: Nola is literally too stupid to live. There is a difference between characters making misinformed choices and having to deal with the consequences... And the author MAKING the character make such STUPID decisions that NO ONE would be so dumb as to make, just to progress the story the way they want it to go. It's weak and amateurish writing. Every single plot turn or advancement was made because Nola made one more stupid decision. And then had the gall as one point to think "Even though I had never been a naive child, or at least not for a very long time." YOU ARE THE BIGGEST MORON TO EVER LIVE! THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE!
Every character in this book is pathetic and annoying and I hated them. The first chapter was so promising but it was just absolute shit after that. I've seen this author's name thrown around a lot but you couldn't pay me to read another of their books at this point.
kathriner's review against another edition
2.0
Eh. For such a short book, it felt like it took forever for anything to happen. The mystery was mild, the fear of being caught was most of the suspense. The love connection was non existent... But they somehow ended up together. Felt like a forced ending. It all wrapped up a little too neatly. But I suppose it also would have felt incomplete if they had just walked away at the end.
I'm also glad my copy had a different cover
I'm also glad my copy had a different cover
mskristi4's review against another edition
2.0
This book felt very much like a YA, "perfect ending" fairy tale novel.
The main character Nola did spend most of the book making poor choices and having to make even more desperate choices to try and cover for what she had already done. The basic idea of the story, of a young witch having to come to grips with her powers and learn how to manage them and accept the consequences, sounded interesting to me. But by about halfway into the book, I spent the whole time I was reading waiting for something to happen. The story started to seem less developed and flat. The ending seems forced and too trite for me.
The main character Nola did spend most of the book making poor choices and having to make even more desperate choices to try and cover for what she had already done. The basic idea of the story, of a young witch having to come to grips with her powers and learn how to manage them and accept the consequences, sounded interesting to me. But by about halfway into the book, I spent the whole time I was reading waiting for something to happen. The story started to seem less developed and flat. The ending seems forced and too trite for me.
lberestecki's review against another edition
3.0
This was a fine little story, but it was difficult to empathize too much with Nola because she made everything so much more difficult for herself than it needed to be.
nerfherder86's review against another edition
4.0
Clever mystery, with humor, in an interesting medieval time period, where people really can do magic. Nola and her mother move from town to town trying to stay ahead of the authorities who want to burn them or ban them when they learn that Nola can "bespell" water via witchcraft. It's really just a simple spell, toss a hair into water and she sees what that person is doing at the moment. But when she witnesses a murder and tries to extricate herself from being involved, things just get worse. Okay, so Nola can also make herself appear to look just like anyone else. Cool spell, but using it complicates matters when the constable sees her as another servant who is a witness! It's very clever and funny, and I liked it. Short and sweet.
chironeis's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
hissingpotatoes's review against another edition
1.5
It flowed, but the plot was so simplistic that the beats were glaringly obvious (e.g. she's about to get away, but oh no, freak accident keeps her there). It's not necessarily a problem, but I'm definitely out of the age range this book is targeted toward.
What did bother me, though, was the hypocrisy throughout the book in order for it to conclude with the emotional happy ending. The main character, Nola, does some very questionable things, which the book acknowledges but excuses because she does them for "good," whereas the antagonists doing bad things are punished for doing them. The moral lessons were all mixed up. Nola finally manages to escape the main situation, but for some reason decides to completely unnecessarily come clean about her major secret she's been hiding in fear for her entire life to the one person with authority to arrest her for it, who after less than 24 hours of knowing her throws away his moral code because of instalove. Painful.
What did bother me, though, was the hypocrisy throughout the book in order for it to conclude with the emotional happy ending. The main character, Nola, does some very questionable things, which the book acknowledges but excuses because she does them for "good," whereas the antagonists doing bad things are punished for doing them. The moral lessons were all mixed up. Nola finally manages to escape the main situation, but for some reason decides to completely unnecessarily come clean about her major secret she's been hiding in fear for her entire life to the one person with authority to arrest her for it, who after less than 24 hours of knowing her throws away his moral code because of instalove. Painful.
chocolatebooksthunderstorms's review against another edition
This is a hard review to write; I really wanted to like this book! Vivian's writing style in Magic Can Be Murder was probably worth three or four stars, and the character building worth three, but the plot just wasn't enough to interest me, so I didn't finish it. :(
library_brandy's review against another edition
Just not holding my interest. Picked it up for my review group, but then the review group dissolved, so I'm off the hook.
ejderwood's review
3.0
It was good, but again - a pretty quick read, and nothing that makes you really latch on to the characters. I did cheer when Nola kicked that farmer in the knee, though. Especially given that her mother tells her her dead father has just told her to.
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