In this case, it separates the lower classes and upper classes pretty effectively, and pulls together Kim's not-quite-on-the-level world with sort of "thief's jargon" - so I liked this in the beginning. It's always such a tricky one, because the way characters talk can give a really good sense of place, time, and even character itself. Real magic versus stage magic, London's seedy underbelly versus the seedy underbelly of uppercrusty manor homes - they play really nicely off of each other, and I couldn't help but get sucked in. The reader is always plunged right in, which I enjoy, but Wrede still manages to make the world understandable.
Wrede's world-building is always a cut above, even in a very quick MG/young-YA novel like this.(And Mairelon.) I can't wait to see where the two of them go and how they play off of each other in The Magician's Ward.
The reader has no trouble understanding her motivations or wanting her to come out on top, and you just can't help but love her. She just nails character dynamics and interactions. I really couldn't help but love Kim, Mairelon, and even Hunch. She never fails to make me connect or draw me in to her worlds, which is why I found myself craving this book. I'm going to make it a quick mini-review, and just separate this into 2 basic pros and 2 basic cons, because I feel the book sort of did that naturally. (ie This review has nothing whatsoever to do with Jane Austen, and is thrown in here on the flimsiest of excuses. ha! So I figured I'd just embrace it, and even share it with you guys, in case you find yourself in want of something not-quite Janey, but slightly Jane-like. This time, I reached for a book I'd been wanting to read, A Matter of Magic (that cover), only to find that I wasn't quite escaping Janeification - the book is set in Regency England. I find myself in Jane-Overload, and I have to do something un-Janeified and irresponsible, that in no way helps me with the event, just to sort of shake it off. His magic is real.Īs much as I love my Jane, I sometimes hit a wall when I prepare for events like this. Kim wonders how tough it could be faking a bit of hocus pocus.īut Mairelon isn't an act. Until he suggests she become his apprentice. When he catches her in the act, Kim thinks she's done for. He isn't like the other hucksters and swindlers that Kim is used to. Having grown up a waif in the dirty streets of London-disguised as a boy!-has schooled her in one hard lesson: steal from them before they steal from you.īut there is something odd about this magician.
Kim isn't above a bit of breaking-and-entering. Kim doesn't hesitate when a stranger offers her a small fortune to break into the travelling magician's wagon in search of a silver bowl.
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