A review by hncbixby
The Summer War by Naomi Novik

4.5

Naomi Novik is a master at storytelling.  Even though this was a novella, I still found myself captivated by the premise and the characters.  The story focuses on Celia, a young witch, who only discovers that she has powers when she accidentally curses her brother.  The rest of the novella follows her and her two siblings as they deal with the consequences of this.  

I finished this quickly and enjoyed the read.  It is a great vacation read or a novella to enjoy between longer, heavier reads.  While others have said that they wish this were longer, I am impressed by Novik's ability to weave a powerful story in such a concise manner.  The characters, setting, and conflicts were flushed out enough that I didn't feel like anything was lacking detail.  My only complaint is that, to the best of my knowledge, I don't have a full-length Novik book to look forward to for awhile. 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore for an advanced copy of this novella.