Reviews

Innate Magic by Shannon Fay

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las2912's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

maevebillings's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

gillothen's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.0

Oh dear. I stuck this out to the end, but I'm really not sure why. The author chose to set the story in a "reimagined" fifties London, but showed very little awareness of the period or culture - it was full of things that just weren't there in 50s Britain - telephone calls to a not very affluent Liverpudlian family, for example. A "Candy Store". There were also egregious mistakes - two characters meet at Marylebone Station, one planning to travel to Liverpool, the other to Dereham in East Anglia. Just no.

A really good story can make one overlook such bloopers. This did not succeed in doing so. I didn't really come to care about any of the characters and found myself constantly jolted out of the story - "Aces" as an all-purpose exclamation of approval, for example, or constant ham-fisted references to class which did little more than show the author didn't really have a clue. I wouldn't recommend this to any British reader.

Content Warnings