Old Magic

I REALLY like this book. It's really a coming of age story for both the hero and the heroine, but especially for Jarrod, who has a LOT of growing to do. The magic is really interesting and the big bad guy is REALLY scary! My only complaint: There wasn't NEARLY enough kissing. ;) I wish there had been one more scene at the end...... ( )

Bought my copy for less than a dollar. I started reading it at least three times, but I couldn't get past the first chapter each time. Finally, on a Friday night when our ISP sucked big time and I had no internet to distract me from reading, I went through the pile of to-read books beside my bed.

The story eventually picked up, and I finished it in this sitting! The description at the back of the book didn't hint anything about what happened in the second half, so:



And I happened to be a sucker for (spoiler) "TT", so it was a pleasant surprise! And that new..."setting" fascinated me so. It was like reading a different book!

I kept going back to the pages where the family tree was detailed - because you know what usually happens with "TT" - but nothing happened. The twist in the curse, that's what happened. I wasn't contented with the explanation behind the breaking (or not) of the curse.

One thing that got me really excited was the fight: specifically, the choice (or not) between weapon and magic. That was pretty wicked.

I don't know what exactly was refreshing about reading this: that it was set in Australia (and somewhere else that was not in America), or that it was set in an earlier time (haha!), or the story itself. But what I knew is that I can't believe I gave up on this earlier! ( )

http://fiction-freak.blogspot.com/2011/11/old-magic-by-marianne-curley.html

I walked into Half Price Bookstore, expecting to find a little treausure among all the discarded books. I mean, a person's trash can be another person's treasure, right? And guess what I foudn...Old Magic. The cover drew me in, the title hooked me on, and the summary sealed the deal.

This book had all the cliches of a fantasy/paranormal novel. New guy. Check. Cute. Check. Something freaky happens. Check. Secrets are found. Double check. But hey, we all need a little cheesiness in our lives right? Anyways, in this story, the roles are reversed. As many readers know, the new kid always has a mysterious past and is hiding a secret and the narrator is the oblivious one. Now, its vice versa.

Onto the author's writing style. I think Marianne has a nice writing style and the reactions are right and all that. There was one thing I hated though. One thing that constantly got on my nerves. One thing that was a big part of the story. Jarrod. Throught the story, he kept annoying me. Why? Because he kept denying over and over that he had magical, and powerful, blood. For half the book. Usually, denial only lasts one chpater. Here? Not the case. So if you're planning to read it, expect that.

Character time! As we all know, I hate Jarrod. So much in fact, that I started rooting for the antagonist. Seriously, I was just that pissed off...until I remembered that Kate would've been killed too...in some way. (I'm not spoiling anything) Anyways, slowly I started cheering for Jarrod, but you don't know how hard it was until he finally did something helpful. All in all, it was a pretty OK book. Not the best...not the worst...sorta close to it though.

Short story: It'll leave you mildly suprised, smug, and relieved. It'll make you twitch for one moment, then relax. Not enough for a scream or tears, but a twitch. Doesn't make sense? Well, that's the best I can say.

Summary: Kate Warren believes in magic - she might try to hide it from the rest of her small town, but she and her grandmother can both do witchcraft. So when the new kid, Jarrod Thornton, starts demonstrating power beyond anything Kate's ever dreamed of, power that's out of his control, Kate's the only one to recognize it for what it is. But Jarrod doesn't believe in magic, and thinks the strange outbursts that occur whenever he's angry or worked-up are just part of the bad luck that's plagued him and his family his whole life. Kate knows better though, and thinks that the root of it might be in a centuries old-curse placed on Jarrod's family. But how can they break the curse when Jarrod doesn't even believe that it's real?

Review: I didn't go into this book with particularly high expectations - the blurb and the cover (and probably my summary up there, as well) all make it look like pretty run-of-the-mill YA paranormal romance. And, for the first half of the book, that's more-or-less what it delivered. I mean, good YA paranormal romance, but nothing particularly standout, other than the paranormal part was witchcraft rather than vampires or werewolves or what have you.

But the good news is, the book wound up pleasantly surprising me. About halfway through, the book takes a left turn into time travel and historical fiction, which added a very interesting layer onto the standard YA romance that I haven't come across before. I mean, I'm not sure that the metaphysics of time travel would play out like they did in this book, but there's something undeniably charming about forcing your two leads, who haven't even admitted that they like each other much, to play-act at being married, because why else would they be together unchaperoned in the Dark Ages? It was a fun twist to the story, and it's a much stronger book for not sticking strictly to formula.

I did have a few issues with this book. My primary one was that there was too much tell-but-not-show-ing going on, particularly when it came to the character development. Kate's chapters involve a lot of her telling Jarrod (and the reader) how much of a coward he is - primarily because he doesn't believe in magic - when his actions, even in the beginning of the book, don't really match that assessment. After a while, I was at the point of grumbling "He's not being spineless, he's being rational, you daft girl." every time it came up... which was a lot. I get that Jarrod developing his courage was supposed to be his major character arc, but I never entirely bought it, mostly because I didn't think he was that bad in the first place.

I'm also ashamed to admit how long it took me to realize that Marianne Curley was Australian. I spent an embarrassingly large part of this book thinking that it took place in the Pacific Northwest - my only reference for somewhere that has both rain forest and seasonal snow - and it wasn't until someone mentioned kookaburras outside their window that I finally twigged. And then I realized that what I'd been taking for strange narrative tics and weird turns of phrase were probably actually Australian colloquialisms. Whoops! 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Even if you're feeling burnt out on teen paranormal romance, I think Old Magic is a good choice for a light, fun read that manages to have a number of unique elements but still feels comfortable at the same time. ( )

History, magic and teen romance! All my favourite things rolled up together. ( )