Reviews

The Wonder State by Sara Flannery Murphy

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emmakslone's review against another edition

4.0

Definitely had some holes and was semi predictable, and the one big plot twist felt out of place/not supported. BUT as an Arkansas native I loved reading about the Ozarks and a town based on the beloved Eureka Springs which truly does feel like a magical town. Overall, a fun and sweet little mystery worth reading!

erinlcrane's review

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4.0

The frame for this story is one I really like. A group of childhood friends with a messy past reconvening years later as adults. You slowly learn what happened in the past as you follow them in the present as well.

I also really liked the concept of the magical houses. I love the idea of the Luck House and Oath House in particular. It must’ve been fun to play with as an author.

I wouldn’t say this is an especially twisty or shocking story, but it’s suspenseful and often creepy.

The six friends all felt distinct, which is a feat, and I wish I got more POVs than Jay’s. That could easily get unwieldy, but maybe Brandi or Hilma would have been nice to add in. I thought the way that the change in Brandi and Jay’s relationship was shown was great, and having Brandi’s thoughts would have been a nice addition. Maybe it would give away too much? But since it’s not a twisty story, I don’t think I’d mind.

My main complaint with the present day storyline is that it took too long for them to visit all the houses. With Brandi missing, I feel like the first thing to do would have been to check at all of the magical houses, especially the Forever House. That visit felt artificially delayed, though I understand the story reasons for doing that. I wish she had come up with a reason for them to not be able to go there at first. Maybe have a certain character lie and say it was burnt down.

It all came together pretty well in the end! Great October read.

nataliereadz's review

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I've never annotated or tabbed a single book in the countless novels I've read over the course of my life, until now. A mere dozen pages in, I scrambled around the house for anything I could flag the pages with. An entire cube of post-it-notes later, I turned the last page (but most certainly not for the last time)...

Outside of the magic (which was not the childish, tacky "magic" you may be thinking, but rather subtle and believable), you've got dual timelines, one - a small town coming of age story about a group of friends and the other - those same friends, now adults, bound by an unbreakable bond, and returning to where the magic all began, one more time...

As a full grown adult who has never(!) stopped believing in magic, this book spoke to my soul.

If you've ever been curious about the possibility of other worlds existing outside of your own, or the ability to actually experience the unexplainable, I implore you to pick this up!