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Magic's Return #1
The Fairytale Curse
Most people only wake up with hangovers after parties. Seventeen-year-old Violet wakes up with frogs falling out of her mouth whenever she speaks, and her twin sister CJ’s dripping diamonds with every word. As if starting at a new high school wasn’t hellish enough, they’ve been hit with a curse straight out of a fairy tale, with not a handsome prince in sight.
Apparently Mum and Dad don’t work for the military after all, but for a secret organisation dedicated to keeping the magical denizens of the world safely locked away. These are not the harmless fairies of children’s tales, but powerful beings with a score to settle for their long years of imprisonment. Now the barriers are failing, and if Vi can’t find answers fast the world will be overrun with vengeful fairies. And then there’ll be no happily ever after for anyone.
Apparently Mum and Dad don’t work for the military after all, but for a secret organisation dedicated to keeping the magical denizens of the world safely locked away. These are not the harmless fairies of children’s tales, but powerful beings with a score to settle for their long years of imprisonment. Now the barriers are failing, and if Vi can’t find answers fast the world will be overrun with vengeful fairies. And then there’ll be no happily ever after for anyone.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 8, 2016
79 people are currently reading
614 people want to read
About the author
Marina Finlayson
31 books252 followersMarina Finlayson is a reformed wedding organist who now writes fantasy. She is married and shares her Sydney home with three kids, a large collection of dragon statues and one very stupid dog with a death wish.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 19, 2016
This was a really fun read. Firstly it is set in Sydney which is always a bonus. Then there are evil fairies, a really evil Morrigan, curses and fairy stories coming true. As a young adult book the whole is set against school life, proms and teenage romance, but none of this gets in the way of an older reader's enjoyment of the story.
The book is the first in a series and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes next. Oh and I must mention that it deserves a whole star just for its stunningly beautiful cover.
The book is the first in a series and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes next. Oh and I must mention that it deserves a whole star just for its stunningly beautiful cover.
October 19, 2016
Wow that was SO good. Have just downloaded the next one. Loved it.
May 22, 2016
I’ve loved everything the author has written to date, so this was right at the top of my reading list. It’s not my usual fare (YA? High school? Proms? Really not my thing) but Finlayson achieved the seemingly impossible and taught me to love werewolves, so I was pretty confident she could work the same magic again.
Here’s the premise: 17-year-old twin sisters CJ (the pretty one) and Violet (the other one) wake up after a party to find they’ve been cursed. Whenever they speak, they spit diamonds (CJ) or frogs (Violet) from their mouths. And they’re not the only ones to find themselves on the wrong end of a fairytale curse. But strangely, Mum and Dad aren’t quite as surprised as might be expected. Turns out they’re part of a whole organisation devoted to keeping the unpleasant fairies (Sidhe) harmlessly locked away. And wouldn’t you just know it, those evil fairies are breaking out and looking for revenge.
Cue all sorts of mayhem and dramatic goings on, and (since this is YA) there’s a hefty dollop of romance in the background too. This was a lot of fun, and I loved that the schoolkids were, in the end, instrumental in restoring some semblance of normality, with only a little help from the grown-ups. There are a bunch of unanswered questions left dangling for the next book in the series, but the immediate threat was resolved very neatly. This felt just a tad too YA for my personal taste, but that’s the only thing keeping this to four stars.
Here’s the premise: 17-year-old twin sisters CJ (the pretty one) and Violet (the other one) wake up after a party to find they’ve been cursed. Whenever they speak, they spit diamonds (CJ) or frogs (Violet) from their mouths. And they’re not the only ones to find themselves on the wrong end of a fairytale curse. But strangely, Mum and Dad aren’t quite as surprised as might be expected. Turns out they’re part of a whole organisation devoted to keeping the unpleasant fairies (Sidhe) harmlessly locked away. And wouldn’t you just know it, those evil fairies are breaking out and looking for revenge.
Cue all sorts of mayhem and dramatic goings on, and (since this is YA) there’s a hefty dollop of romance in the background too. This was a lot of fun, and I loved that the schoolkids were, in the end, instrumental in restoring some semblance of normality, with only a little help from the grown-ups. There are a bunch of unanswered questions left dangling for the next book in the series, but the immediate threat was resolved very neatly. This felt just a tad too YA for my personal taste, but that’s the only thing keeping this to four stars.
October 22, 2022
I have mixed feelings about this one. The potential was there but it was just unused.
I liked the story idea a lot- Faeries enter our world and start throwing around fairy tale curses, the protagonists get hit with a curse where one is throwing up diamonds and the other one is throwing up frogs whenever they speak. They need to solve that by the end of the book and that's the story.
But- I feel like the villains were super under used, Puck and Morrigan had so much potential but they were both super obviously evil from the start so I got super frustrated when they suspected anyone and everyone but Ms. Moore when she was so obviously evil. It really felt like the target audience would be super dumb and not get it.
Also there is so much fluff in this story, so many scenes that are just there to pad up the time, so many moments that look like they might be important later but are not, and gosh don't get me started on the main characters, both main characters do things that someone younger than them would do, Zac is so uninteresting as a love interest that I didn't end up rooting for him and Violet to get together, him getting angry about her not contacting him over the holidays for two seconds then being normal and fine afterwards was weird and I couldn't stand Sona or Asleigh- they are both equally obnoxious.
The ending was okay. Could be better but the pacing was so wacky that for most of the book nothing was happening, then suddenly in the last 50 pages everything went down all at once and everything was going on all at once and the climax was suddenly here - and... it was left unfinished. So you have to read the second book to see what happens next. I wish that these two were combined into a single book instead of having two separate books where one is left laregly unfinished so that the second one can wrap everything up.
I liked the story idea a lot- Faeries enter our world and start throwing around fairy tale curses, the protagonists get hit with a curse where one is throwing up diamonds and the other one is throwing up frogs whenever they speak. They need to solve that by the end of the book and that's the story.
But- I feel like the villains were super under used, Puck and Morrigan had so much potential but they were both super obviously evil from the start so I got super frustrated when they suspected anyone and everyone but Ms. Moore when she was so obviously evil. It really felt like the target audience would be super dumb and not get it.
Also there is so much fluff in this story, so many scenes that are just there to pad up the time, so many moments that look like they might be important later but are not, and gosh don't get me started on the main characters, both main characters do things that someone younger than them would do, Zac is so uninteresting as a love interest that I didn't end up rooting for him and Violet to get together, him getting angry about her not contacting him over the holidays for two seconds then being normal and fine afterwards was weird and I couldn't stand Sona or Asleigh- they are both equally obnoxious.
The ending was okay. Could be better but the pacing was so wacky that for most of the book nothing was happening, then suddenly in the last 50 pages everything went down all at once and everything was going on all at once and the climax was suddenly here - and... it was left unfinished. So you have to read the second book to see what happens next. I wish that these two were combined into a single book instead of having two separate books where one is left laregly unfinished so that the second one can wrap everything up.
July 8, 2024
High school fantasy romance
The farthest anyone gets in this book is kissing. There are a couple cute boys for the girls to lust after, but the focus is on Celtic mythological figures getting loose near Sydney, Australia.
The girls find out about magic when they're cursed. Then they find out their parents fight magic for a living. But their parents don't have much time to help them out, because there are bigger problems. All the problems aren't solved in this book, but the curse on the girls is revoked.
I liked that the girls have a tight relationship, even if they aren't happy with their sister's behavior. There was a rather long part where the girls weren't trying to do anything, but overall, I thought it was a well-written story.
The farthest anyone gets in this book is kissing. There are a couple cute boys for the girls to lust after, but the focus is on Celtic mythological figures getting loose near Sydney, Australia.
The girls find out about magic when they're cursed. Then they find out their parents fight magic for a living. But their parents don't have much time to help them out, because there are bigger problems. All the problems aren't solved in this book, but the curse on the girls is revoked.
I liked that the girls have a tight relationship, even if they aren't happy with their sister's behavior. There was a rather long part where the girls weren't trying to do anything, but overall, I thought it was a well-written story.
July 14, 2018
Originally posted on Under the Moonlight Book Blog
I picked this book up because I needed I book with a cauldron on the cover for a challenge and the second book in this series has one. I liked the concept of the story and I found myself at times engrossed in the story but Violet was just too annoying.
She and her family have moved to a new place and Violet and her twin sister Cristal are starting on a new school. They are juniors in high school almost seniors. Violet and CJ are fraternal twins and CJ is the beauty of the two. So, of course, Violet emphasis this over and over again even though she says she's learned to leave with the fact that CJ is popular and beautiful and such, which we can clearly see she hasn't deal with that.
Other than that I think this story has potential if the author decides to edit out all the whining and add some other elements or expand of the ones she's already presented like the romance or the history of the fairy.
I will read the next book and I'll let you guys know how that one goes. Hopefully, it gets better.
I picked this book up because I needed I book with a cauldron on the cover for a challenge and the second book in this series has one. I liked the concept of the story and I found myself at times engrossed in the story but Violet was just too annoying.
She and her family have moved to a new place and Violet and her twin sister Cristal are starting on a new school. They are juniors in high school almost seniors. Violet and CJ are fraternal twins and CJ is the beauty of the two. So, of course, Violet emphasis this over and over again even though she says she's learned to leave with the fact that CJ is popular and beautiful and such, which we can clearly see she hasn't deal with that.
Other than that I think this story has potential if the author decides to edit out all the whining and add some other elements or expand of the ones she's already presented like the romance or the history of the fairy.
I will read the next book and I'll let you guys know how that one goes. Hopefully, it gets better.
May 10, 2017
Great twist on fairy tales!
What a unique twist on the fairy tale books. I loved it! How great to include teenagers into the fairy tale world with twists and turns. I can't wait to read the next one!
What a unique twist on the fairy tale books. I loved it! How great to include teenagers into the fairy tale world with twists and turns. I can't wait to read the next one!
December 12, 2020
This started out as a really cool take on a very underrated fairytale but quickly became very boring. It felt more like a history lesson than a book about magic.
June 23, 2021
I couldn't finish it. For some reason around on 73% of the book I lost interest and I just couldn't go on. I might revisit it .
I finished it because I didn't have anything better to read. I don't think I will buy the second book.
I finished it because I didn't have anything better to read. I don't think I will buy the second book.
March 3, 2017
I really enjoyed this! Seeing only 4 stars, I went into it warily, but found myself quite surprised.
July 23, 2016
I finished this book and my reaction was eh. It was okay but that's about it. I couldn't really connect with our main characters and I wasn't really invested in the story. I felt that the girls made stupid decisions but at least they weren't TSTL. However they were teenagers after all, and their decisions were believable since they were teens.
Overall this was an interesting plot and the characters were believable and I liked the push and pull of the sisters relationship but everything was still just meh for me. I guess because in the end the girls were more concerned with fitting in rather than the fact evil fairies were bent on coming to take over the world.
I'll probably pick up the second book since I can read it for free, but I have others I want to read first so it will probably be a while before I do.
Do I recommend this book? I guess, I mean it didn't impress me but i saw some four and five star reviews so others might enjoy this book more than me. So giving it a try wouldn't hurt.
Overall this was an interesting plot and the characters were believable and I liked the push and pull of the sisters relationship but everything was still just meh for me. I guess because in the end the girls were more concerned with fitting in rather than the fact evil fairies were bent on coming to take over the world.
I'll probably pick up the second book since I can read it for free, but I have others I want to read first so it will probably be a while before I do.
Do I recommend this book? I guess, I mean it didn't impress me but i saw some four and five star reviews so others might enjoy this book more than me. So giving it a try wouldn't hurt.
June 27, 2016
Really wanted it to be good but just wasn't
The characters lacked depth and we're lacking in intelligence in a way that made you not like them. The whole things felt flimsy and you could see what was coming so far in advance that by the time if occurred you didn't care.
Really wanted to enjoy this but was just frustrated by its poor construction.
The characters lacked depth and we're lacking in intelligence in a way that made you not like them. The whole things felt flimsy and you could see what was coming so far in advance that by the time if occurred you didn't care.
Really wanted to enjoy this but was just frustrated by its poor construction.
September 16, 2016
Cheesy. Plot and unlikable characters
The main characters were sisters that had horrible attitudes and freaked out over everything. Also, the plot was so slow I was skimming after 30% and the lines and dialogue were corny, cheesy and canned. At least it was free so I only wasted my time.
The main characters were sisters that had horrible attitudes and freaked out over everything. Also, the plot was so slow I was skimming after 30% and the lines and dialogue were corny, cheesy and canned. At least it was free so I only wasted my time.
August 31, 2016
The plot was interesting, but there was a lot of swearing, which I did not enjoy reading. There is also underage drinking at a party in the beginning of the book. It would have been better without the bad language.
December 5, 2016
Good story, I preferred Twiceborn or the stolen magic but still fun :)
January 12, 2017
I could not get into this book. I gave up about 40% in. The sisters were too stereotypical, and the plot did not grab me.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews