Summary:
Ivy Nichols O'Reilly has grown up in a wealthy family full of magic, fantastical creatures, and emotional abuse - but when her narcissistic mother arranges an unwanted marriage for her, the young witch reaches her breaking point. She drops out of college, changes her name to Georgette, and flees across the country with her best friend, a Wood Nymph named Mei-Xing.
Georgette is determined to build a new identity and a new life. But her journey leads her to cross paths with a number of magical characters - a Werehyena searching for his kidnapped wife, a Vampire who runs a unique magical business, a curandero, a shamanistic practitioner of traditional medicine, and a Valkyrie who, along with her raven partner, wants to make a risky deal - who make it clear to her that the past is not so easily left behind. In order to grow into her new identity, help her new friends, and develop a healthy relationship with a man she's beginning to care for, Georgette will have to confront the privileges that have shielded her from the pain and ugliness of the magic community in which she was raised - and to find the strength to overcome the trauma of her childhood.
My Thoughts:
Starting off, toward the beginning of the book was not easy to get into. It had some interest, but it was kind of forgettable. However, it does get better.
Georgette is a great character. It takes a lot of strength to leave toxic situations. There are only really a couple of issues I have with her - first being that she leaves her younger sister behind with little thought for most of the book, until she suddenly remembers later on. While I understand that she might not have been able to safely take her on the journey, you would think that she would either give words of advice or think about her more. The second is how fast she falls in love with Neil and trusts him. I'm not saying that you can't fall in love that fast, but it seems unrealistic when you think about how Georgette has trust issues from her family. I wish that this was explored more in the novel.
Ishak also has trust issues, as he is searching for his wife, who was kidnapped and sold off. I absolutely love his character. You can tell that he cares so much; he doesn't just say it. While we don't really get a look at his backstory, his character is very well developed throughout the book. My only concern is that it seems like he got more development than Georgette, the main character.
The Valkyrie and her raven are barely in the book at all, and I am hoping that will change as the author writes the sequel (s). Mei-Xing was actually pretty well developed, though not as much as I'd like.
I do very much like the way that trauma is handled in this. Since it is a young adult novel, there are obvious things that may not be appropriately and accurately portrayed, but it is definitely enough to go on with younger audiences.
Overall, I did really enjoy this book, and it is definitely recommendable to a few of my friends.
My Rating: 4 stars
