I was annoyed on similar grounds, Arahsae dearest, with the modern words spewing forth from Victorian mouths. This book has all kinds of problems that arise in the books my mother makes me read, the kind we call “bodice rippers.” My mother reads them because they are funny and “educational.” She learns things about the time period – what people wore, what the social parameters were – and likes that it feels like SHE is the main character, with her modern sensibilities mushed about and voiced by a strong(ish) female character.

Having said all that critical stuff, once I realized where this book fit, genre-wise, I sat back and enjoyed it. The language was nice here and there, and the obvious plot didn’t bug me too much. The book had everything required of a Harlequin historical/fantastical romance: bad accents, “exotic” settings and characters, comic relief from the peasantry, and graceless inclusion of researched facts.

I have to agree, the most convincing, and therefore interesting, parts were those exploring the girls’ relationships with one another.

On the good side, Bray did an excellent job capturing the power struggles within the girls’ friendships, and their especial cruelty.

This read very First Novel-ish to me. Some parts were clunky, others suffered from too much TELLING the reader instead of SHOWING. There is a lack of originality in some of the plot twists and the story overall was very predictable.

Finally, it was obviously set up for a sequel (series?). I don’t know. Maybe it’s just overkill of the “We are girls with magic powers and we kick ass and look cute at the same time! Yay!” and there seems to be so much of that out there right now.

A writing buddy of mine lent this to me, and I’m glad she did. I gobbled it up in just a few days. What a great, magical tale!