A review by stacyxmarie
A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I’m torn about this book. I really liked the beginning of it. It had a really fun spooky atmosphere and was immediately a little more serious than I thought it would be, which I liked. Sometimes middle grade fantasy can lean a little too whimsical and silly and doesn’t really work for me. However then I feel like we went a little too far into the serious. There are some moments in this book that made me feel uncomfortable and that I wouldn’t want my middle grade child to just see normalized. The way men are described as reacting to Fliss gave me the ick. She’s 16, works as a bartender serving rowdy drunk men, and is described the whole book as beautiful and drawing attention from every man she sees. I believe that this is setting up Fliss to have a little growth as she’s originally seen as vain and flirty.  I think the author could have done this in a different way though. Having grown men described as watching her “hungrily” grossed me out and was unnecessary. I also didn’t love the normalization of alcohol and drunkenness. These young girls (the youngest is 6) are constantly around drunk people. I’m not a prude by any means and drink myself occasionally but I just don’t think this is a great environment to be represented as normal for young readers. Lastly there is mention of suicide quite often in this book. If any of these issues had had any sort of discussion about them that would lead to a teaching moment for the young reader it would have been a completely different story but they aren’t. I wouldn’t normally have an issue with any of these elements in an adult book where they would be more expected. It’s just that in a middle grade they sort of ruined the whimsy and made the book feel like it should have been at least YA. I also didn’t love the ending. 
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