Review of Mishaps of Marvelouz Witch

Maduabuchi Okwiya N Eze · Post by **Maduabuchi Okwiya N Eze** » 11 Aug 2023, 13:00

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mishaps of Marvelouz Witch" by Karen Fronterhouse.]

3 out of 5 stars

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Upon visiting her sister, Sparkleful, and getting to know about her amazingly flourishing garden, Marvelouz immediately decides to grow a garden of her own and is too hasty to even take the time to research the right course of action. Marvelouz also shows this competitive attitude in her practice of magic, often comparing herself to her sister and hardly taking the time to understand her unique field of magic or the varied experience occasioned by the difference in their age bracket. She will pay some price for this attitude, and if she's lucky enough and open to correction, she might have a second chance to right her wrongs.

This was a short read—just 32 pages. I was impressed with the amount of creativity displayed on those short pages, especially the vivid narration. For example, the "blue eyes that sparkled like crystals hanging in the sun" gave me just the right information about what Sparkleful's eyes looked like. The story began on a pretty catchy note, and I felt a kind of connection with Marvelouz and a consequent pull to find out what life held for her following her coming of age and settlement into her home near Crystal Creek. The plot progression was okay, although there were narrative bits I considered unnecessary and of little or no value to the plotline, like the introduction of the mystery mouse.

Karen Fronterhouse did amazingly well with the development of the characters Marvelouz and Sparkleful. The variation of their abilities and approaches to issues was remarkably helpful in advancing the thematic preoccupations of the story, one of which is the reality of planned and hasty decisions. I especially appreciated the development of Sparkleful and her overall conduct. There was a vivid description of her physique; at a point, I guessed she must have gotten her name from those sparkling blue eyes!

However, I found some drawbacks to this story. First, the practice of magic in this story was light. One of the few scenes that moved me was when Marvelouz and her cat assistant, Pounce, were trying to resuscitate the garden with magic. This situation was not so good because I expected something intense. Again, it appears that Sparkleful's so-called sophistication in the art of magic was only theoretical; I didn't see her prove her "worth" when she had the chance at her sister's garden. The process was somewhat ordinary and rushed. I was disappointed.

Generally, this is clean work. However, there are some grammatical and typographical errors in it. So another round of editing is required. I rate Mishaps of Marvelouz Witch: Marvelouz Grows a Garden three out of five stars because I was impressed with the character development and the gripping, vivid narration. It lost two stars because of the errors, the inclusion of characters with little or no plot value, the light magic, and the failure to show in an actual sense how sophisticated Sparkleful is in the art of magic. Those aside, this book will appeal to fans of sci-fi and fantasy, given that it still has wonderful aspects that could make up for its lapses. It can also satisfy the literary thirst of readers who are not attached to any specific genre of literature.

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Mishaps of Marvelouz Witch
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Post by **Elendu Clement Ekechukwu** » 01 Sep 2023, 05:31

I won’t read this book considering it has too many errors. I think I would wait for a better version of the book before reading.

NetMassimo · Post by **NetMassimo** » 01 Sep 2023, 14:49

A light-hearted story about using magic can be fun to read, especially when the protagonists are well developed despite the short length. I hope the author does proper proofreading to avoid distractions. Thank you for your great review!