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Borrowed Magic
Adelaide has a penchant for mishap, but this one left her with magical powers.
Adelaide is kind, generous, and probably cursed. After several failed betrothals and a history of being too near disaster, her father banishes her to the distant village of Cabbage. At 18, Adelaide is looking at spending the rest of her days in castle ruins with a grumpy old wizard, but her life gets upended again when an accident leaves her endowed with magical powers. The problem is she has no idea how to use them, and no one is willing to teach her except a ghost who only appears in her dreams. Adelaide wants to prevent marauders from destroying Cabbage, and find happiness for herself, the wizard, and her new pet griffin. But trouble is never far behind, and Adelaide must use her magic carefully before she loses everything, again.
Based on a fairy tale, this story is nestled in the forests of medieval Wales. Filled with human foibles and snappy dialogue, it follows the journey of a young woman learning to love where she will be loved in return.
Adelaide is kind, generous, and probably cursed. After several failed betrothals and a history of being too near disaster, her father banishes her to the distant village of Cabbage. At 18, Adelaide is looking at spending the rest of her days in castle ruins with a grumpy old wizard, but her life gets upended again when an accident leaves her endowed with magical powers. The problem is she has no idea how to use them, and no one is willing to teach her except a ghost who only appears in her dreams. Adelaide wants to prevent marauders from destroying Cabbage, and find happiness for herself, the wizard, and her new pet griffin. But trouble is never far behind, and Adelaide must use her magic carefully before she loses everything, again.
Based on a fairy tale, this story is nestled in the forests of medieval Wales. Filled with human foibles and snappy dialogue, it follows the journey of a young woman learning to love where she will be loved in return.
260 pages, Paperback
Published September 8, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 5, 2021
Though I'm not sure which Welsh Fairy tale this story is based off of, it definitely had fairytale vibes to it. This story was very airy, light, quick paced and whimsical. There wasn't much depth here but it was still an enjoyable book. I loved the wizard and how flippant he was about everything. Adelaide was a kind character who cried too much about everything. I loved her connection to children and people but hated how easily people dismissed her!
Given that this story has a slight beauty and the beast aspect to it, it makes me wish that there was more depth and connection to Adelaide and Arthur. I also would have liked more depth in character description. Honestly, I think depth and description is what was missing from this book. Had it been there, this easily could have been an epic read. As it is, the book is very fast paced which is nice at times, but there's other times where it would of been nice for the author to slow down and focus on important moments verses rushing through.
Given that this story has a slight beauty and the beast aspect to it, it makes me wish that there was more depth and connection to Adelaide and Arthur. I also would have liked more depth in character description. Honestly, I think depth and description is what was missing from this book. Had it been there, this easily could have been an epic read. As it is, the book is very fast paced which is nice at times, but there's other times where it would of been nice for the author to slow down and focus on important moments verses rushing through.
December 27, 2021
Such a fun read! I liked Adelaide and her devoted/freely offered love for others (even if it blinded her to their faults/lack of love). Her interactions with the wizard were quite amusing, something like an ESFJ being stuck in a castle with an INTP. Her friendships with the people of Cabbage were sweet, even if she didn't always think things through before making a decision to help in certain ways.
Sometimes I felt like I missed a bit of information that furthered the plot—maybe it was mentioned in passing and I didn't catch that it was important. However, by and large, Borrowed Magic was a fun and interesting story with a good plot and enough "Hmm, I wonder what's going to happen?" to keep me hooked to the last page. I read the second half of the book in one sitting. :)
Looking forward to reading the second book in the Retelling Series!
Sometimes I felt like I missed a bit of information that furthered the plot—maybe it was mentioned in passing and I didn't catch that it was important. However, by and large, Borrowed Magic was a fun and interesting story with a good plot and enough "Hmm, I wonder what's going to happen?" to keep me hooked to the last page. I read the second half of the book in one sitting. :)
Looking forward to reading the second book in the Retelling Series!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews