Review of ‘Magic Dark and Strange’

The Bone Witch meets Sherlock Holmes in this thrilling historical fantasy about a girl with the ability to raise the dead who must delve into her city's dangerous magical underworld to stop a series of murders.

Catherine Daly has an unusual talent. By day she works for a printer. But by night, she awakens the dead for a few precious moments with loved ones seeking a final goodbye. But this magic comes with a price: for every hour that a ghost is brought back, Catherine loses an hour from her own life.

When Catherine is given the unusual task of collecting a timepiece from an old grave, she is sure that the mysterious item must contain some kind of enchantment. So she enlists Guy Nolan, the watchmaker's son, to help her dig it up. But instead of a timepiece, they find a surprise: the body of a teenage boy. And as they watch, he comes back to life--not as the pale imitation that Catherine can conjure, but as a living, breathing boy. A boy with no memory of his past.

This magic is more powerful than any Catherine has ever encountered, and revealing it brings dangerous enemies. Catherine and Guy must race to unravel the connection between the missing timepiece and the undead boy. For this mysterious magic could mean the difference between life and death--for all of them.

Review

Magic Dark and Strange may be short, but the pacing drags the story out, making it feel underdeveloped all around.

Pacing and Storytelling

Considering the novel’s length and what the novel is about, I was expecting a faster-paced novel. It is said to be like The Bone Witch and Sherlock Holmes, with magic that brings back the dead and a mystery revolving around a magical time peace everyone seems to want. However, the novel makes the reader want more as it barely delivers magic, fantasy, and mystery.

Now, the story takes place in Invercarn, a place reminiscent of Victorian England. The description of the place is well done. It might be too well done because as I was reading, I forgot that this was not Victorian England, leading it to be a little distracting. There was this question of whether or not magic was well-known in this setting, which twisted up my perception while I was reading the novel.

Moreover, there was an air of mystery surrounding her magic, the ability to wake the dead for an hour. This is also part of why I had trouble losing myself in the story and why I had trouble getting lost in the setting. Again, early I was unsure of whether her magic was a secret or not. The answer is both yes and no. It is a secret because it does cost her an hour of her life, but it is not secret because she is magic. There are others in the story with magic; readers do not get to see enough of it.

Characterization

The characters themselves are also not engaging enough. Catherine herself is forgettable. She has a bland personality as she tries to figure out this mystery of Owen’s death and her employers. She can be better, be engaging, with an exciting job and power, but overall, she lacks vitality.

The same can be said for Guy. He is boring. They both are, to be frank, so following them is not an engaging story. They lack depth; they lack emotion and personality. Even with the apparent romance forming between them, it lacks passion.

There is nothing about the characters that makes them worth reading or being invested in. They exist to move the story along.

Final Thoughts

Magic Dark and Strange had promise. However, it would have benefited being longer to give more dimension to the characters, ground the reader in the storytelling, and make the mystery more engaging.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

• Writing Quality: 7 out of 10.
• Character Development: 4 out of 10.
• "Couldn't Put It Down"-ness: 6 out of 10.
• Intellectual Depth: 4 out of 10.
• Originality: 7 out of 10.

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About the Author

Cynthia Bujnicki graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has always loved to read since she was a child. A contributing writer for YA Fantasy Addicts, she is also the Editor-in-Chief for Cyn's Workshop. She lives in sunny South Florida with her husband and son and their two cats, Mr. J the Kitten and Nyx.