Member Review

The Laws of Magic by M.Ullrich

Thank you Netgallery and Bold Stroke books for an ARC for an unbiased review.

Oh how I wanted to love this book. It was, from the synopsis, something that usually I'd snap up.

This isn't a sophisticated or difficult read, and while that isn't necessarily something that hurts a book, in this instance I felt it did. The 1st irritant for me was how frequently the words 'strip mall' were used. But that turned into incredulity when it was mentioned that Isla lived in an apartment above her shop. I'm a Brit, & while here in the UK that might be more commonplace on a similar stretch of shops/stores we have (even if we don't call them strip malls,) as far as I'm aware this isn't something that happens in the United States.

Then we come to Lu. I really enjoyed the characterisation to begin with, but then the betrayal aspect seemed too great for Isla to forgive. Okay, Isla 'read' Lu after defeating the big bad, and it helps explain why Isla was then willing to forgive and make a go of their relationship, but ahead of that, it all just felt too easy. The conflict they had with each other just seemed too neatly wrapped up.

Now, this doesn't mean the story wasn't without its good points. Daria and Christopher in particular were great additions, as were Kayla and Lilly - although not as frequently - to the main characters. The dynamics with them all allowed me to enjoy the book more than I would have done if it was more focused on Isla and Lu.

The twists were okay. The 1st one I didn't expect, but the 2nd I was expecting a similar connection, so it didn't perhaps have the impact it would have done.

I was trying to figure out how best to rate this, and ultimately decided on 3/5, although in fairness it probably is closer to 2.5/5 but I felt there was enough to not drop it to 2/5 stars ⭐️

As always, others might find more to enjoy about the book. I'd say this isn't necessarily an overall bad story, but I just couldn't get into the vibe or story as much as I had wanted to.