BINGO: “Free” for the “G” because I don’t have a G book queued up and time’s a-running out.
hot take it’s nice but a bit all over the place and I’m not certain I vibe with the ultimate message.
Amusingly, this isn’t billed as #2 in a series even though it’s clearly a follow up to The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches which I remember enjoying. There’s a similar feeling to the world and to the magic–lots of vibes and feelings, less on the details of how magic is made. And, honestly? That’s fine! We don’t always need rules and logic that need to be followed, as long as there’s not a large conflict that is solved by illogical magic ex machina. Pick a lane and stick to it, and everything is okay.
However, this might have taken what was good at TVSSoIW and doubled down without realizing that restraint was part of its charm. In this novel, Sera Swan is a half-Indian (?) half-Icelandic (or has Icelandic family?) witch with similar sort of handwavy powers. As a matter of fact, she’s the specialist special witch in a generation, with so much magic that she’s immediately whisked away to the magic school for strict magic rules to learn rules and stay under the watchful eye of the Big Bad Villain, the head of the magic society which keeps track of all the rules. However, very very quickly (like, within the first few pages) she does an emotional thing–she brings back to life her beloved aunt using a spell that a sketchy talking fox insists will work–loses her magic and gets banned for life from Polite Magic Society.
The conflict here is a) how (or when, if you’ve never read a book before) will Sera get her magic back? and b) how will the retrograde magic society be reformed to be kinder and more inclusive? I didn’t mind plot a, and actually really enjoyed all of the middle–Sera and the MMC run around looking for elusive things like “a radiant sunbeam” or “heart’s fire” by chucking items into an enchanted teapot that grades their attempts. Their romance is slow, funny, and feels real. The endless references to how Sera’s magic used to be universe of twinkling galaxies and is now just a handful of cold, distant stars gets to be a bit much (how many times can that metaphor be used??) but when she does get her powers back you, as a reader, are genuinely delighted.
HOWEVER what I couldn’t countenance was plot b, even though the Chekhov Gun was planted quite early on. In a non-spoiler-y way, it’s not great optics. With spoilers: [why is the only solution to the unchecked power of Andrew (?) the Overly Powerful Head of Magic that Sera has to lose her powers forever? All those magicians from stodgy old money and mostly white and the woman of color has to sacrifice the power that she loves and only just got back to save them all? HARD PASS. ]
Hence, a really disappointing end to a cute book–once again, read too soon for spooky month!