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dragongirl271's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Sexism, and Racism
Minor: Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, and Homophobia
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
First of all, I love the concept of this. I wish more short story anthologies were more collaborative stories like this because I feel like I'm more invested. I also think teens would be more drawn to them than the regular short story anthologies that are being published (of which there are too many in my opinion, but I digress!).
My main issue is I think there are a tad too many characters in this one. There's a lot to remember between the stories, and widdling it down to fewer authors (which means maybe they get to write more parts?) would help with the overall clarity. And maybe a character map if you're going to have this many characters.
The mystery intertwined with the fantasy though, I enjoyed that! I loved the magic school setting, too. Such a fun concept that just needs a little bit of tweaking to really put it over the edge.
My main issue is I think there are a tad too many characters in this one. There's a lot to remember between the stories, and widdling it down to fewer authors (which means maybe they get to write more parts?) would help with the overall clarity. And maybe a character map if you're going to have this many characters.
The mystery intertwined with the fantasy though, I enjoyed that! I loved the magic school setting, too. Such a fun concept that just needs a little bit of tweaking to really put it over the edge.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Gore
Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Sexism
displacedcactus's review
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I'm not always a fan of books that change narrators frequently, but I knew going into it that the central conceit of this book was that each chapter would follow a different student... written by a different author! With that in mind, I settled in and went along for the ride.
I never read that other magic school book -- you know, the one that was adapted into a movie series and has a ton of merch and oh yeah, a super-TERFy creator? But thanks to its cultural dominance over most of the last couple decades, I'm aware enough of it that I could tell how much this book was an answer to that series and other very similar series. Because this book is about all of the *other* students at the magical school. The queer kids. The BIPOC kids. The disabled kids. The poor kids. The troubled kids.
It's also about a school that claims it's trying to overcome its prejudiced legacy, but is certainly stumbling along the way.
Anyway, this was a fun read. Every student has their own motivation for trying to solve the mystery -- to prove they didn't do it, to gain the approval of an elder, to get things back to normal, or for a few, because they believe they are, in fact, The Chosen One. Some of these kids were really enjoyable characters and I could have read an entire book or series featuring them, and the kids that I didn't enjoy as much, well, I only had to spend a chapter in their heads. And none of the narrators were truly annoying.
If you're a fan of YA, give this a read. You'll probably enjoy it, and you'll likely encounter a few new-to-you authors to check out later!
I never read that other magic school book -- you know, the one that was adapted into a movie series and has a ton of merch and oh yeah, a super-TERFy creator? But thanks to its cultural dominance over most of the last couple decades, I'm aware enough of it that I could tell how much this book was an answer to that series and other very similar series. Because this book is about all of the *other* students at the magical school. The queer kids. The BIPOC kids. The disabled kids. The poor kids. The troubled kids.
It's also about a school that claims it's trying to overcome its prejudiced legacy, but is certainly stumbling along the way.
Anyway, this was a fun read. Every student has their own motivation for trying to solve the mystery -- to prove they didn't do it, to gain the approval of an elder, to get things back to normal, or for a few, because they believe they are, in fact, The Chosen One. Some of these kids were really enjoyable characters and I could have read an entire book or series featuring them, and the kids that I didn't enjoy as much, well, I only had to spend a chapter in their heads. And none of the narrators were truly annoying.
If you're a fan of YA, give this a read. You'll probably enjoy it, and you'll likely encounter a few new-to-you authors to check out later!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Racism, Transphobia, and Homophobia
aileron's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Racism, Sexism, Ableism, Classism, and Transphobia
onthesamepage's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was pleasantly surprised by the structure of the anthology when I started. Instead of each story standing on its own, the stories were all part of a single narrative: a murder mystery. Reading this felt like reading a regular novel, which made it easier for me (usually anthologies take me a long time because I try to leave space between different short stories), but ultimately I don't think it quite came together.
The pacing of the murder mystery is slow because of this structure. It makes sense that each author wants to use their short story to flesh out their character, and put their stamp on this shared space. However, this means a lot of repetition, like the text of a letter that is introduced in one of the first stories, and then reiterated over the next 5 or so. There are also flashbacks within some of these (again, this makes sense from a character development perspective), but it means that there is no urgency whatsoever to the plot, even though they're supposedly looking for a killer. And even the bigger threads woven throughout this never really come to fruition. One of the stories introduces a character from another dimension who gets embroiled in the investigation, but that just kind of fizzles out towards the end, and her story is never resolved. There is mention of a prophecy and a chosen one, but this is another element that was ultimately underutilized, even though it could have been an interesting part of the project.
I did like all the representation this book offers, and how each author managed to put their own spin on what magic is like for their specific character and their background/culture. It made the magical school feel so diverse, and I loved that.
I was pleasantly surprised by the structure of the anthology when I started. Instead of each story standing on its own, the stories were all part of a single narrative: a murder mystery. Reading this felt like reading a regular novel, which made it easier for me (usually anthologies take me a long time because I try to leave space between different short stories), but ultimately I don't think it quite came together.
The pacing of the murder mystery is slow because of this structure. It makes sense that each author wants to use their short story to flesh out their character, and put their stamp on this shared space. However, this means a lot of repetition, like the text of a letter that is introduced in one of the first stories, and then reiterated over the next 5 or so. There are also flashbacks within some of these (again, this makes sense from a character development perspective), but it means that there is no urgency whatsoever to the plot, even though they're supposedly looking for a killer. And even the bigger threads woven throughout this never really come to fruition. One of the stories introduces a character from another dimension who gets embroiled in the investigation, but that just kind of fizzles out towards the end, and her story is never resolved. There is mention of a prophecy and a chosen one, but this is another element that was ultimately underutilized, even though it could have been an interesting part of the project.
I did like all the representation this book offers, and how each author managed to put their own spin on what magic is like for their specific character and their background/culture. It made the magical school feel so diverse, and I loved that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Racism
Moderate: Gore
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