Review Detail

Perfectly cozy and magical, and perfect for anyone both wanting to dip their toes into the fantasy genre without having to commit to 800 pages of worldbuilding.

A Curious Kind of Magic by Mara Rutherford is a YA fantasy novel about a girl who runs a enchanted curio shop, that isn't all the magical. Everyone in Ardmuir knows that Willow Stokes is a charlatan, including Willow herself. Her father's shoppe hasn't sold anything magical in decades, and it's only hanging on by the skin of the fake dragon's teeth Willow sells as charms, along with “enchanted” ostrich eggs, taxidermied chimeras, and talismans made of fools' gold. Until outlander Brianna Hargrave appears and turns Willow's fakes into exactly what they're purported to be. But try as Willow might to enlist Bri's help, she wants nothing to do with Willow and her curiosities. Because Brianna is harboring a secret of her own: everything she touches turns to magic, and the consequences have chased her all the way to Ardmuir. All she wants to do is find a particular missing grimoire, which contains a spell that can finally put an end to her curse. Desperate to keep her father's shoppe, Willow proposes a bargain that could save them both. Together with the frustratingly handsome printer's assistant, the girls will uncover a plot that goes far deeper than either could have imagined. But when Willow is forced to participate in an ambitious collector's quest for the rarest magical object in the world-a quest that risks almost-certain death-she learns that not all treasure is for sale, and that true magic is closer than she ever could have imagined.

Okay, I must admit that most of Mara Rutherford's previous titles have been hit or miss for me. Unfortunately most have been on the miss side of things. HOWEVER THIS BOOK. THIS A CURIOUS KIND OF MAGIC is my new instant favorite of hers. It has everything a fantasy reader is looking for, a delectable world, a unique magic system, and characters that don't fall flat with each trial and tribulation they endure. Now, mind you, A Curious Kind of Magic is considered a cozy fantasy, so the stakes aren't that high. But boy does Rutherford not hold back. Much so that I am sad that I finished it, and there aren't more adventures to go on with Willow and Brianna and Finlay.

The only thing I really found off-putting about this book, was it's plot. I felt like some of it was rushed and had no real explanation or backstory to support. And the general amount of times I wanted to shake Willow for being a slightly irritable teenager. (But mind you, she is a TEENAGER, and that is totally applicable and normal for a younger protagonist)

Regardless, A Curious Kind of Magic is a whimsical, cozy fantasy that is prefect for fans of Margaret Owen's Little Thieves and Dianna Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle.