#18 Magic and the Modern Girl by Mindy Klasky
In the beginning of Magic and the Modern Girl, Jane Madison hasn’t used her powers in quite a while. She doesn’t really think of the consequences until she looks in the basement of her cottage to discover that her runes have dissolved and her books are almost wiped clean. After contacting her Warder, David, Jane discovers something very disturbing. Since she has neglected her magical abilities, she is losing them. In a desperate attempt to jump start her powers, she attempts a large spell, but things do not go as planned. Meanwhile, Jane has even more things to worry about. Her grandmother is getting married and seems to be planning the most extravagant wedding of the century. Her mother, Clara, has announced that she is once again, leaving. And of course there’s Will Dexter, a charming and very normal guy who may convince Jane to give up magic for good.
Magic and the Modern Girl is the third and final Jane Madison book. To be honest, I’m glad that they’re ending the series here because the books are beginning to fall into a bit of a formula. Each book has Jane facing a magical dilemma. A new romantic interest in introduced and the relationship doesn’t quite turn out how Jane expects. Add in some snarky comments from Neko, flakiness from Clara, tension with David, and friendship moments from Melissa, and you pretty much have a Jane Madison novel. Now that’s not to say that these books aren’t enjoyable to read. I absolutely loved Girls Guide to Witchcraft, and found Sorcery and the Single Girl to be a blast, but when picking up Magic and the Modern Girl, the similarities to past books did end up hampering my enjoyment.
Now that’s not to say that I did not enjoy this volume as it was plenty fun to read. I liked the fact that we got resolutions on a lot of the conflicts between characters. I like the fact that we had a love triangle that wasn’t “girl must chose between truly decent guy and jerk-off guy.” So, even though it was a step down from the previous books in the series, it was far from a complete disappointment, and ended up ending things quite well. I plan on continuing to read Mindy Klasky’s books (although I kind of wish she would write another straight fantasy book, as chick lit is less my thing). I know she’s planning on starting a similarly themed series involving genies coming out this year, and I’m curious to see what she’s come up with.
Rating: three and a half out of five stars
Length: 411 pages
Source: Christmas Gift
TBR Pile: 150 books
Similar Books: The previous Jane Madison books, Girls Guide to Witchcraft and Magic and the Modern Girl. This is not a book, but it reminds me a lot of the Sabrina the Teenage Witch TV series.
Other books I've read by this author: The Glasswrights’ Apprentice, The Glasswrights’ Progress, The Glasswrights’ Journeyman, The Glasswrights’ Test, The Glasswrights’ Master, Season of Sacrifice, A Girls Guide to Witchcraft, Sorcery and the Single Girl
I also just finished the graphic novel “Midnight Nation” by J Michael Straczynski. Expect my glowing review to be posted within the next couple days.
Xposted to bookish and temporaryworlds