Reviews

Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner

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coreysees's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

A mostly fun read with some emotion in parts. The characters are pretty good, but it took a significant portion of the book for the two plots to finally cross. The identity of the murderer was easy enough to guess, but there were still a few good twists. It almost felt like ya, except for all the sex and violence.

thephdivabooks's review

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3.0

A bit messy in the plot structure at times, but a good fantasy novel for non-fantasy readers to get into the genre a bit without being too overwhelmed!

I saw another reviewer refer to Onna as “Hermione-esque” and it is such a great description, though Onna has a bit more perception to overcome than Hermione. Onna is one of the cleverest spell-casters in her class, and is easily able to outperform her male cohort. But Onna also is denied entry to the premiere magical university. Doomed to a more provincial life than anticipated, Onna is not one to settle for being a good girl who doesn’t use her brain for her own goals. She leaves for the city of Hexos to find a university that would welcome her as a student, and becomes engrossed in the murders of four trolls.

Meanwhile Tsira is a troll who despite being part of the magical class, is non-magical due to having a human father. Tsira wants to be the dominant partner in a relationship (a reig), but custom (and her own mother) say she should try to be a submissive partner (a vahn). But Tsira doesn’t think she could be happy with a quiet, submissive home life. When a human soldier shows up on her doorstep barely hanging on to life, Tsira can’t deny her interest in this downtrodden man. Overtime, the two form a bond in this small cabin. But that bond will be tested when they emerge into the world, particularly when an attempt is made on Tsira’s life.

The stories converge as the two are separately pursuing the mystery of the murdered trolls.
I found Tsira’s story much more compelling than Onna’s for some reason. I think Tsira just felt so fresh and new—something totally different for me. Onna is the classic intelligent, precocious young woman who is disadvantaged by the men in her life. Tsira felt like much more of an underdog. I don’t read a ton of books with magic but I find it rare to have a non-magical character lead in a magical world. I loved that this story was included. Jeckran is frankly a bit square, but not really to the detriment of the plot. Tsira and Jeckran felt more broadly relatable. I liked that the book is inclusive and queer normative—in that any character can be in any sort of relationship and characters fluidly range from gay to bisexual to straight (in addition to the intra-species relationships, if that is what you can call them).

This book had a ton of plot threads that felt dropped or forgotten in places, only to be picked up again. I wasn’t sure how the whole book would come together, and that is where I describe the plot as a tad messy. Still, this was an enjoyable read with great dialogue, characters, and world-building. A great fantasy book for even non-fantasy readers.

fuzzball's review

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dark funny tense slow-paced

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

4.0

crimsoncor's review

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5.0

As it started, I thought I knew exactly where it was going. Oh this is going to be some sort of earning her place story at a magical school. And then, nope, that wasn't the story at all. It is an interesting narrative device to start the story with a recurring character but who isn't the main character. Onna's story weaves around the edges, but the heart of the story is the relationship between Tsira and Jeckran. And that is for the best. Onna is a bit of a magical girl anime character: she doesn't have the arc or the personality to really carry the book, but is an amazing supporting character. And this is a much more earthy, grimy novel than the first chapter/cover might leave you believe. The sex and gender dynamics between the humans and trolls are really fascinating.