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A review by flying_monkeys
Will Do Magic for Small Change by Andrea Hairston
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Will Do Magic for Small Change combined West African religion (Orisha and masquerades) and science fiction (aliens and time travel) in a story told almost entirely through dialogue.
Cinnamon Jones was easy to relate to, and I liked her gumption. But at the same time I was confused by two things: 1) to me, she didn't read like a 15-year-old and 2) she didn't ask for help from her aunt and grandparents who obviously had special "gifts" of their own. Though, Confusion #2 is something typical of young adult books -- no one goes to the adult who could actually assist with the problem at hand. Confusion #1 however, was exacerbated by all the teen angsty bits of the story. It seemed so out of character for Cinnamon to pine over Klaus and Marie, who came across more like frenemies than actual friends. And I never really felt like Cinnamon's body issues were properly addressed. People either told her to eat more or eat less, and her mom's treatment of her, woo boy.
Recommended to those looking for a more complex "young adult" blend of religious beliefs and magic and the paranormal -- in addition to deeper topics like gender, sexuality, and race. Also, if you don't mind being told 90% of the story, that'll help your level of enjoyment.
3 stars
(Will Do Magic for Small Change may have suffered a bit by the fact that I had finished Brown Girl in the Ring the day before.)
Bookmarked quotes:
"To kill a people without spilling blood, steal their stories, then feed them self-serving lies. Blood is nothing without story."
"A wise woman, tall and fierce, with lightning eyes and hurricane hands, once told me, The most a person can do for another is believe in 'em 'til they come true. Storytellers do this."
"Somso fingered a crossroads talisman at her neck. She sacrificed to the stringy haired orisha who walked on water and raised the dead. His followers ate his body, drank his blood, and named Eshu the devil--a powerful, mysterious cult."
"...Every time we read, we keep the Wanderer from jumping off a bridge. The Wanderer is an alien from the spaces between things and needs us, like light needs an object to shine on or darkness wins. The Wanderer has broken into fragments and scattered, maybe into Ariel the actress. There's nobody believing in the whole Wanderer. The Chronicles is the spell to put the Wanderer back together. Believing can make a body whole."
"What you think you know that ain't so can make you a slave was a great line for her Eshu poem."
"Sekou said everybody is queer. But powerful wizards cast mega-cloaking spells so we no longer know who we are. We think we're who the wizards say we are. Consensus Delusion."
Cinnamon Jones was easy to relate to, and I liked her gumption. But at the same time I was confused by two things: 1) to me, she didn't read like a 15-year-old and 2) she didn't ask for help from her aunt and grandparents who obviously had special "gifts" of their own. Though, Confusion #2 is something typical of young adult books -- no one goes to the adult who could actually assist with the problem at hand. Confusion #1 however, was exacerbated by all the teen angsty bits of the story. It seemed so out of character for Cinnamon to pine over Klaus and Marie, who came across more like frenemies than actual friends. And I never really felt like Cinnamon's body issues were properly addressed. People either told her to eat more or eat less, and her mom's treatment of her, woo boy.
Recommended to those looking for a more complex "young adult" blend of religious beliefs and magic and the paranormal -- in addition to deeper topics like gender, sexuality, and race. Also, if you don't mind being told 90% of the story, that'll help your level of enjoyment.
3 stars
(Will Do Magic for Small Change may have suffered a bit by the fact that I had finished Brown Girl in the Ring the day before.)
Bookmarked quotes:
"To kill a people without spilling blood, steal their stories, then feed them self-serving lies. Blood is nothing without story."
"A wise woman, tall and fierce, with lightning eyes and hurricane hands, once told me, The most a person can do for another is believe in 'em 'til they come true. Storytellers do this."
"Somso fingered a crossroads talisman at her neck. She sacrificed to the stringy haired orisha who walked on water and raised the dead. His followers ate his body, drank his blood, and named Eshu the devil--a powerful, mysterious cult."
"...Every time we read, we keep the Wanderer from jumping off a bridge. The Wanderer is an alien from the spaces between things and needs us, like light needs an object to shine on or darkness wins. The Wanderer has broken into fragments and scattered, maybe into Ariel the actress. There's nobody believing in the whole Wanderer. The Chronicles is the spell to put the Wanderer back together. Believing can make a body whole."
"What you think you know that ain't so can make you a slave was a great line for her Eshu poem."
"Sekou said everybody is queer. But powerful wizards cast mega-cloaking spells so we no longer know who we are. We think we're who the wizards say we are. Consensus Delusion."