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A review by linked_soul
There's Magic Between Us by Jillian Maria
5.0
I received an e-ARC of this book in exchange for a review, so here it is!
First, I literally devoured the whole book in one reading. The voice of this book? Unmatched. Unparalleled. I kept on sending quotes to my friends because I found them so fucking funny. To start with the title of Chapter 14, "Good to know a lack of heterosexuality runs in the family." BRILLIANT. Lydia is an amazingly voicy and FUN narrator and I'd read a whole series with her at the MC in a heartbeat.
She's also a really compelling and fun main character, who takes rash decisions and dives into things head first and takes everything in stride. It's never STATED that she has ADHD but she.... 100% has ADHD. I love it. From her spur on the moment decisions to her moods and the way she deals with everything, she's extremely fun and interesting and endearing. She's messy and flawed and so very human it's an absolute pleasure to see her grow into a better, more mature person through the various events of the book. She's impulsive and sassy and I love her for it. She strikes a good balance between spunky and endearing: I was never annoyed at her flaws or her antics, because she just felt like... a normal ADHD teen with problems and emotions and stuff, and also because her voice is just so fun and original.
Her romance with Eden??? 10/10. Eden is such a good balance for Lydia: calm and composed, more withdrawn and a little socially awkward and it's such a delight to see them interact and banter and grow to like each other. I loved seeing Eden's first reaction to Lydia (pure confusion) gradually turn into real fondness, to see Eden opening to Lydia little by little as they meet up and go on adventures together. They really are ADORABLE together and I truly love that they don't shove the issues that come up under the rug. They DEAL with the stuff, eventually. It's part of the plot itself. The romance truly weaves itself into the adventure plot, because it's Lydia's interest in Eden or feelings about Eden, good or bad, that spurs her to do things or move the plot into a certain way. TMBU has an amazing balance/combo of adventure and romance which means I wanted the characters to get to the end of the plot AND to get together at the same time. They also have plenty of little moments together that further their relationship and might not further the plot itself, but allow for exposition or character development (and definitely serve the romance development).
The pacing itself might seem like it starts slow because of that, but the beginning is still filled with adventures - not necessarily action, but adventures and shenanigans that also teach you more about the characters, their lives, and the city and history of Fairbrooke and its magic. I honestly thought it was really well-done and kept on reading and reading just because... I wanted to see more of the characters together and see where everything was going to go. I read the whole book in one sitting even though I wanted to go to sleep after the midpoint so.... yeah, the pacing's definitely good in my opinion. TMBU is the opposite of boring. I let my eyes get dry for that book and I'd do it again *blinks furiously*.
I also loved the focus on family there is in TMBU, like Lydia's fierce protectiveness for her mom, or just... the relationship between Lydia and her grandma? I loved Dorothy as a grandmother, she's kind and determined and FUN and her relationship with Lydia is true friendship. There's no distance due to age or a generational gap, they're both close and complicit and I'm kinda happy to see that kind of relationship in books (especially as someone who is NOT close to her grandparents at all). It's just so interesting and sweet and leaves you with plenty of fuzzy family feeling. It's so nice to see this kind of same "found family" closeness with actual family? And there is family conflict but it's not about the relationship between its different members but what happened to them, the secrets they have, etc. They're all supportive of one another and pushing one another forward. Overall I loved the positive family relationship and the importance it has in the book.
TMBU is such a fun, endearing and compelling book I can only recommend it. It has sweet, tropey, piney (and interracial because Eden is Asian!) sapphic romance, the most amazing voice ever, plenty of adventures and events to keep you hooked, interesting characters and great character dynamics. It's also great ADHD rep and has lot of queer stuff... and lots of queer jokes. The amount of queer jokes IS a selling point. Like find yourself another book that includes the quotes:
"I do my best not to put the pan in panic"
"Does she mean that in a gay way?"
"I'm a useless pansexual who sort of likes the idea of helping a damsel in distress. Sue me."
"It's enough to turn me into a queer conspiracy theorist."
So please treat yourself and give TMBU a read: I promise you won't regret it.
First, I literally devoured the whole book in one reading. The voice of this book? Unmatched. Unparalleled. I kept on sending quotes to my friends because I found them so fucking funny. To start with the title of Chapter 14, "Good to know a lack of heterosexuality runs in the family." BRILLIANT. Lydia is an amazingly voicy and FUN narrator and I'd read a whole series with her at the MC in a heartbeat.
She's also a really compelling and fun main character, who takes rash decisions and dives into things head first and takes everything in stride. It's never STATED that she has ADHD but she.... 100% has ADHD. I love it. From her spur on the moment decisions to her moods and the way she deals with everything, she's extremely fun and interesting and endearing. She's messy and flawed and so very human it's an absolute pleasure to see her grow into a better, more mature person through the various events of the book. She's impulsive and sassy and I love her for it. She strikes a good balance between spunky and endearing: I was never annoyed at her flaws or her antics, because she just felt like... a normal ADHD teen with problems and emotions and stuff, and also because her voice is just so fun and original.
Her romance with Eden??? 10/10. Eden is such a good balance for Lydia: calm and composed, more withdrawn and a little socially awkward and it's such a delight to see them interact and banter and grow to like each other. I loved seeing Eden's first reaction to Lydia (pure confusion) gradually turn into real fondness, to see Eden opening to Lydia little by little as they meet up and go on adventures together. They really are ADORABLE together and I truly love that they don't shove the issues that come up under the rug. They DEAL with the stuff, eventually. It's part of the plot itself. The romance truly weaves itself into the adventure plot, because it's Lydia's interest in Eden or feelings about Eden, good or bad, that spurs her to do things or move the plot into a certain way. TMBU has an amazing balance/combo of adventure and romance which means I wanted the characters to get to the end of the plot AND to get together at the same time. They also have plenty of little moments together that further their relationship and might not further the plot itself, but allow for exposition or character development (and definitely serve the romance development).
The pacing itself might seem like it starts slow because of that, but the beginning is still filled with adventures - not necessarily action, but adventures and shenanigans that also teach you more about the characters, their lives, and the city and history of Fairbrooke and its magic. I honestly thought it was really well-done and kept on reading and reading just because... I wanted to see more of the characters together and see where everything was going to go. I read the whole book in one sitting even though I wanted to go to sleep after the midpoint so.... yeah, the pacing's definitely good in my opinion. TMBU is the opposite of boring. I let my eyes get dry for that book and I'd do it again *blinks furiously*.
I also loved the focus on family there is in TMBU, like Lydia's fierce protectiveness for her mom, or just... the relationship between Lydia and her grandma? I loved Dorothy as a grandmother, she's kind and determined and FUN and her relationship with Lydia is true friendship. There's no distance due to age or a generational gap, they're both close and complicit and I'm kinda happy to see that kind of relationship in books (especially as someone who is NOT close to her grandparents at all). It's just so interesting and sweet and leaves you with plenty of fuzzy family feeling. It's so nice to see this kind of same "found family" closeness with actual family? And there is family conflict but it's not about the relationship between its different members but what happened to them, the secrets they have, etc. They're all supportive of one another and pushing one another forward. Overall I loved the positive family relationship and the importance it has in the book.
TMBU is such a fun, endearing and compelling book I can only recommend it. It has sweet, tropey, piney (and interracial because Eden is Asian!) sapphic romance, the most amazing voice ever, plenty of adventures and events to keep you hooked, interesting characters and great character dynamics. It's also great ADHD rep and has lot of queer stuff... and lots of queer jokes. The amount of queer jokes IS a selling point. Like find yourself another book that includes the quotes:
"I do my best not to put the pan in panic"
"Does she mean that in a gay way?"
"I'm a useless pansexual who sort of likes the idea of helping a damsel in distress. Sue me."
"It's enough to turn me into a queer conspiracy theorist."
So please treat yourself and give TMBU a read: I promise you won't regret it.