Review of The Secret of Magic
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darkspadille
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Review of The Secret of Magic
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Secret of Magic" by Natassa Louppou.]
The Secret of Magic by Natassa Louppou is an interesting, well-written book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The book’s many plot twists, character development, and the unique storyline kept me wanting to read the next page. I recommend this book to a preteen or early teenage audience because the main character is around that age. The plot revolves around magic, which is a topic that would appeal to a young-aged audience. Additionally, the book is written in simplistic language, which would be easy to understand for an audience that is 10-13. This type of writing would be boring to an older age group. There are no audiences that should not read this book. The book is also targeted toward people who are interested in history, as many historical scenes are mentioned in the book as significant settings (Titanic, Leonardo’s studio, etc).
The book starts with a contextualization of the main character (Tania)'s life. It is her 12th birthday, and we are introduced to her party, at which there is a magician. After the party, the magician leaves his belongings in the main character’s house. The main character plays with the belongings and is teleported to a different place. They escape the previous setting. The main character continues being teleported to other areas, such as Greece and Italy. The main character becomes friends with historical figures, such as Leonardo da Vinci and the main character's grandmother. At last, the main character gets teleported back to her own house and returns to school. The cycle of teleportation continues.
There are many commendable aspects of The Secret of Magic. There was ample detail in describing the purple dress and the main character’s necklace. This description was also evident in the way the author described the settings she used in the book. For example, there was a chaotic scene aboard the Titanic, and this mood was brilliantly conveyed. This description also helped make the book difficult to set down. The characters in the book were crafted skillfully and thus were easy to care about. For example, the main character helped strangers that she met, which made me more invested in the characters’ lives. An additional example is how the book helped me learn about the lives of poor characters who were forced to live in fear of the police – they could not buy food or play outside in peace. Readers, such as myself, would sympathize with these characters. On a similar note, I also enjoyed reading about the main character’s interactions with other characters, such as her friendship with Leonardo. Also, I liked how the story came full circle, starting and ending with reality. By the end of the book, I came away with a valuable lesson: you should believe in yourself, the seemingly small person can cause huge waves.
There were also some negative parts of The Secret of Magic. When it comes to the plot, I would say it was relatively abrupt as the plot proceeded. For example, Tania was looking through a birthday gift in one paragraph, and then she was suddenly being magically transported without a transition. Also, there was a dissonance in character development, because, at times, the main character comes off as knowledgeable in history (ex. Information about the Titanic), but at other times, she is ignorant of the fact that there was no Google during World War II. Also, For a book that is so focused on history, there was an issue I had when Leonardo (da Vinci) started speaking English, when there is no evidence that he would have known the language, as an Italian painter. In the end, the book randomly took a turn when Tania got called “Muslim” in a derogatory manner which was abrupt and unexpected. Also, I wish there was more backstory about Tania’s dad not being present.
I rate The Secret of Magic 4 out of 4 stars. The book had excellent, invigorating character development, an interesting storyline that made the book difficult to put down, and historical relevance for the most part. The ingenuity of the plot outweighed the abrupt ways the plot changed and the subtle rare dissonances in the character development. Additionally, when it comes to the style of writing, I liked that the book was written in a simple style, which did not interfere with my enjoyment of the book.
******
The Secret of Magic
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Secret of Magic by Natassa Louppou is an interesting, well-written book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The book’s many plot twists, character development, and the unique storyline kept me wanting to read the next page. I recommend this book to a preteen or early teenage audience because the main character is around that age. The plot revolves around magic, which is a topic that would appeal to a young-aged audience. Additionally, the book is written in simplistic language, which would be easy to understand for an audience that is 10-13. This type of writing would be boring to an older age group. There are no audiences that should not read this book. The book is also targeted toward people who are interested in history, as many historical scenes are mentioned in the book as significant settings (Titanic, Leonardo’s studio, etc).
The book starts with a contextualization of the main character (Tania)'s life. It is her 12th birthday, and we are introduced to her party, at which there is a magician. After the party, the magician leaves his belongings in the main character’s house. The main character plays with the belongings and is teleported to a different place. They escape the previous setting. The main character continues being teleported to other areas, such as Greece and Italy. The main character becomes friends with historical figures, such as Leonardo da Vinci and the main character's grandmother. At last, the main character gets teleported back to her own house and returns to school. The cycle of teleportation continues.
There are many commendable aspects of The Secret of Magic. There was ample detail in describing the purple dress and the main character’s necklace. This description was also evident in the way the author described the settings she used in the book. For example, there was a chaotic scene aboard the Titanic, and this mood was brilliantly conveyed. This description also helped make the book difficult to set down. The characters in the book were crafted skillfully and thus were easy to care about. For example, the main character helped strangers that she met, which made me more invested in the characters’ lives. An additional example is how the book helped me learn about the lives of poor characters who were forced to live in fear of the police – they could not buy food or play outside in peace. Readers, such as myself, would sympathize with these characters. On a similar note, I also enjoyed reading about the main character’s interactions with other characters, such as her friendship with Leonardo. Also, I liked how the story came full circle, starting and ending with reality. By the end of the book, I came away with a valuable lesson: you should believe in yourself, the seemingly small person can cause huge waves.
There were also some negative parts of The Secret of Magic. When it comes to the plot, I would say it was relatively abrupt as the plot proceeded. For example, Tania was looking through a birthday gift in one paragraph, and then she was suddenly being magically transported without a transition. Also, there was a dissonance in character development, because, at times, the main character comes off as knowledgeable in history (ex. Information about the Titanic), but at other times, she is ignorant of the fact that there was no Google during World War II. Also, For a book that is so focused on history, there was an issue I had when Leonardo (da Vinci) started speaking English, when there is no evidence that he would have known the language, as an Italian painter. In the end, the book randomly took a turn when Tania got called “Muslim” in a derogatory manner which was abrupt and unexpected. Also, I wish there was more backstory about Tania’s dad not being present.
I rate The Secret of Magic 4 out of 4 stars. The book had excellent, invigorating character development, an interesting storyline that made the book difficult to put down, and historical relevance for the most part. The ingenuity of the plot outweighed the abrupt ways the plot changed and the subtle rare dissonances in the character development. Additionally, when it comes to the style of writing, I liked that the book was written in a simple style, which did not interfere with my enjoyment of the book.
******
The Secret of Magic
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Making Sense of Poetry by Rex W Last
