Reviews

A Bitter Magic by Roderick Townley

myriadreads's review

5.0

A glass castle and a black rose. Whispering dresses. A lobster on a golden leash. A Bitter Magic is lyrical and original, a tale of magic that avoids cliches and draws the reader forward with a dark family mystery. It subtly tackles class division and income inequality, and left me feeling uplifted and satisfied. A great read.

lisa_mc's review

4.0

What an inventive story. Cisley's mother and uncle are famous for their magic shows. Thing is, Uncle is an illusionist but Mom is actually magic. But when she disappears for real one day (not a spoiler; this happens at the beginning), Cisley has to try to figure out what happened to her, as well as what her non-magical uncle is up to trying to get powers of his own in the forbidding glass castle they live in. The writing is good, the characters are well-drawn and the plot moves at a good pace with some interesting turns.