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.
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