Review by valeriejane -- The Secret of Magic

[Valerie Garske]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Secret of Magic" by Natassa Louppou.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Secret of Magic is a novel by Natassa Louppou. This is an uncomplicated science fiction novel geared for young adults. This is the first book in a series and basically sets the stage for additional adventures. If you enjoy history and can appreciate the idea of traveling back in time with a talking rabbit and a twelve-year-old girl, then you may enjoy this book. Unfortunately, the content contains profanity and therefore is inappropriate for younger children. Nevertheless, this is a fun story, and I would have no problem reading this to my children (sans the profanity).

The story begins on Tania’s birthday and the magician hired for her party inadvertently leaves his suitcase at Tania’s house. As a typical twelve-year-old, Tania can’t resist exploring the content of the magician's suitcase. Unbeknownst to Tania, she inadvertently triggers the magic and is sent back in time. Hopping from one significant event to another, Tania has many adventures. With each hop across time, Tania encounters fascinating historical figures and events. Furthermore, she is frequently challenged with precarious circumstances. Tania experiences firsthand the sinking of a ship, meets a famous artist, and barely escapes the wrath of German soldiers. Nevertheless, with each predicament, Tania’s confidence grows and she learns a thing or two about history. Best of all, she learns it is never too late to do the right thing.

What I liked most about the book were the built-in history lessons. Although the premise of time travel is unoriginal, the subplots establish unique opportunities and challenges for Tania. With each jump, there are hints as to where Tania might have landed. Eventually, she figures out who the notable individual is and what historical event is about to occur. It was fun to try to speculate where Tania was or who she was addressing. The story made me wonder where I might want to go or who I would like to meet if I could go back in time.

In contrast, what I did not like about the book was the use of profanity. Even though there were only a few occurrences, the use of profanity eliminates the pre-adolescence age group as a potential audience. Furthermore, I don’t believe it was in character for Tania to curse. Tania is highly intelligent and would be capable of using creative vocabulary to express her disregard for schoolyard bullies.

With unlimited historical content to choose from, this book has the potential for an ongoing interesting series. I look forward to the next installment. However, the novel contained several editing errors such as spelling and punctuation that undermined the overall quality of the book. Consequently, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.

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The Secret of Magic
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[Sushan Ekanayake]

Seemingly a nice sci-fi fantasy with a historical component. Thanks for the nice, descriptive, and well balanced review

[Valerie Garske]

Thank you for the kind words regarding my review.

[Valerie Garske]

Seemingly a nice sci-fi fantasy with a historical component. Thanks for the nice, descriptive, and well balanced review

Thank you for your kind response to my review.