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emily_mh's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This sequel read quite differently from its predecessor, which worked in some ways and let me down in others. For example, Semi-Magical Witch (SMW) is undoubtedly a cosy fantasy with a Studio Ghibli-inspired atmosphere. Cursed Witch (CW) is a lot darker, with world-ending stakes, and so loses all the Studio Ghibli magic and cosiness for it. This might turn readers off, and I thought this might be the case for me too, but the change-up actually allowed for an engaging, fast-paced plot to take place. I found it very entertaining and didn’t want to put the book down in the final third.
An element that didn’t work so well in CW was Eva herself. Her “development” here was a weaker, unsatisfying version of that which took place in SMW. This is because, unlike in SMW, Eva’s lack of magic was never actually a threat in CW. There’s never a risk of her fainting from magic overuse, she can handle almost every spell that’s required of her, yet Abe still tries to position Eva’s development in realising her capabilities. You can’t do this satisfactorily when her capabilities aren’t properly in question! And I didn’t like that they weren’t in question, either. This was a core part of Eva’s character in SMW and it sucked that it wasn’t carried over well into CW. It makes her feel like another super-charged, naturally capable magical middle-grade MC instead of the Eva who has to be creative and problem-solve, who has to work for her achievements. Here she could just do the spell, or someone else was there to do it for her. The payoff just wasn’t the same. I don’t think this was Abe’s intention for Eva judging by the way she positioned Eva’s character development, but this was how it came across.
What unfortunately WAS carried over in CW were the writing problems of SMW. The prose was again sometimes repetitive or bloated or forced, and the rhyming spells still read like first drafts.
I was really conflicted about rating this. While there were some issues with craft, I still enjoyed reading CW. The world is so interesting, the relationships between the characters are heartwarming, I love Ember, the emotional beats were solid for the most part, and, as aforementioned, it was entertaining. So while I wouldn’t give this a solid 4 stars, it sits close by at a 3.75.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Major: medical emergency, sick parent Moderate: loss of a loved one Minor: typhoon, loss of a loved one, missing loved one, adverse weather, earthquake, flood
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