Audrey's Guide to Black Magic by Jody Gehrman

 
Website: Author's Website and Author’s blog

Publisher: Magic Genie Books

Publication Date: September 7, 2013 

Introduction 

                Audrey is back with a new section to her guide-the guide to black magic! Sadie takes Meg and Audrey back to the Land for protection and Audrey’s training. There she meets the handsome Ramone, the curt and inhospitable Kalinka, the sweet Leila, and her maternal grandmother, who happens to be the Land matriarch. Audrey’s mother is still fighting the evil Cormack, she misses her boyfriend, Julian, and one person on the Land has betrayed them and is working with Cormack. Audrey has to train, deal with boyfriend and little sister problems, and find the traitor before Cormack makes his next move.

                I was a beta reader for this book last year and I am so grateful for the experience! With a final release of the book, I happily re-read it.

Cover

                The colours are gorgeous! I can’t say I like the model used (I can’t look away from her chest and disconnected head), but the colours of the dress and background are stunning.

Story

                There is a lot more happening in this book than the previous book, Audrey’s Guide to Witchcraft. They are far removed from the contemporary life we are familiar with. The Land is amazing; it is full of magic, yet magic also absent because they do everything by hand if they can (a far cry from the Harry Potter universe). Not being at home keeps the pace moving fast.

Meg

                First and foremost, I love what Gehrman did with Meg in this book. There is a steep role reversal here. I am so glad that the author didn’t do what most uninspired authors would do: have Meg continue to be the center of attention as the social butterfly that she usually is. On the Land of Mad River, she is the outsider, the outcast. Audrey is new, but welcome. In fact, a lot ride on Audrey being there. Meg is an ignorant interloper. I can honestly say that if someone in my family had magical powers and I didn’t I’d die of jealously. Meg’s frustration at being politely shunned by the entire community for being mundane was well-done.

Sadie

                The lady of ultimate cool is back to help. This installment gives her lots of attention, delving into her personality, interests, and hopes for her future. Her interest in black magic and why she’s interested is very compelling. It would be nice to see her magic in a fight, unless her magic isn’t offensive. The first book and the second had her absent from the final fights and I hope that we get to see her in action in the future.

Audrey and Julian

                There is not much development for Audrey. We get the reveal about what Julian means to Audrey’s magic, but nothing notable changes for her. She is her usual self and she goes about her adventure. There has a little inner conflict relating to Cormack, and that’s all that stood out to me, and that’s disappointing. I’d really like to see more done with Julian. Other than being the love interest, there isn’t that much that he does in this book. Now that we know what he is, I’d like to see him more involved in the action.

Final Verdict

                I highly recommend this book. In fact, I recommend this more highly than the first book. Lots of magic, action, and conflict. It’s an enchanting read that will fascinate girls who love the story of a witch defending what matters most to her. I cannot wait for a possible third installment to develop Julian and Audrey further, and you can never go wrong with more Sadie!  

 

Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman

Published: June 30th 2012
Publisher: Magic Genie Books 
Author’s website 
Author’s blog 

Introduction

Audrey is a normal girl until a face appears in her Crème Brulee. This is the same day that her mother goes missing and her mysterious “cousin”, Sadie, appears at her doorstep. Intuition screams that something is dangerously amiss, and strange occurrences abound, eventually leading up the revelation that she is a witch. At 17-years-old, Audrey has to hone her rare abilities, save her mother, protect herself, and fall in love, all the while keeping her normal sister, Meg, in the dark about everything to do with magic.

Story

                This is a Guidebook. The first of many (well, at least two, thus far). She lives in the human world while trying to learn about her witchy abilities in secret. It’s about magic and love-maternal and the boy-crush kind of love. This all happens while going to school and dealing with the high school mean girl, and other everyday girl problems.   

Audrey

                My favourite aspect of Audrey is that she is far from perfect. She has many positive aspects: protective, independent, thoughtful, and funny. She also makes mistakes, such as going off on handsome boys about things that have absolutely nothing to do with them. Inside my head I was freaking out, thinking, Audrey! Stop it! Stop it now! She is snarky, cynical, and at times irrational. Her imperfections make her a believable character and someone you can root for. And she is a baker-you can’t go wrong with a witch that bakes.

Sadie

                The characters are far removed from the danger most of the time, as they are not with the central hub of witches. Audrey has to learn how to use magic to defend herself against the antagonist, and Sadie steps in, even though she cannot adequately tap into Audrey’s special abilities. The moment that Sadie arrives, she is cool, confident, and beautiful. Surrounded by animals, she holds answers and more mysteries that she keeps to herself. By far my favourite character here, I adore the mystifying way she handles herself. Her presence kept me wondering throughout the book.

Meg

                Meg is the little sister who is the foil to Audrey, yet she shares some similarities with Sadie. She is confident, manipulative, ambitious, social, and beautiful. She fronts the suggestively named band Cherry. It sounds like Meg always gets what she wants. However, Meg is a human with no magical abilities. If you do some digging and analyzing, you’ll see that she is arguably the most emotionally complex character in the cast thus far. Not a throw-away character. Not a character that is the “little sister” and nothing more. The family dynamics here are phenomenal.

Believability

Personally, I’m tired of heroines being unrealistically heroic or stubbornly buried in denial. Her mother goes missing and she discovers that she is a witch. After some healthy skepticism, she picks up the mantle to go help her mother fight, or rather, fend off, the big bad, knowing that she can’t possibly offer much help. It’s different from Harry Potter-this is the beginning of her new magical life, and she isn’t going to be killing He Who Must Not Be Named because skill wise, she isn’t there yet. Yes, it’s a little depressing to put yourself in her shoes, and it’s refreshingly realistic. It’s about survival and love.

Ending/Mysteries

                If you read my other reviews, you’ll note that I don’t mind open endings, as long as they don’t end in the middle of something important like a fight or a conversation. Some mysteries left unsolved are fine. In fact, they are awesome if it means that the book will get a sequel and this book does! Even if this book didn’t have a sequel (and I didn’t know it did when I read it), I like thinking about the possibilities that remaining mysteries leave behind. You know, sometimes an author leave these mysteries unsolved intentionally. 

Verdict

I received this book about a year ago, and it is still one of my favourite books, largely, in part, due to the characters, and the way that it is believable. I want more Guidebooks written by Audrey Oliver-it was one of my top three favourites in 2012. I recommend this for a teen book club read as it is relatable without being crass. Yes, it has witchcraft. Good witchcraft! And recipes for chocolate cake and crème brulee! I highly recommend this for girls into the paranormal but are perhaps sick of the overblown paranormal romances that are circulating.