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A review by lesserjoke
Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
4.0
The start of a long-overdue reread to this fantasy series that I loved as a child, pre-Harry Potter. (And indeed, there are some definite similarities between Harry and this novel's hero even beyond their distinct Britishness, from the wide-eyed entrance into a world of magic to the overbearing family each boy will eventually eclipse.) This particular volume is not the earliest in chronology, but it was the first to be written / published and is probably still the best introduction to the core concept of Chrestomanci, that absentminded civil servant who happens to be the most powerful wizard alive. I like how author Diana Wynne Jones writes him almost like an Agatha Christie detective -- or the Doctor on Doctor Who -- as someone easy to dismiss as a bumbling oaf until the sharpness of his mind finally springs into action.
With that being said, this debut has never been my favorite of the books, as its young protagonist spends a little too long as a passive pushover for his abusive older sister. I'm glad he's a more minor figure in the other stories, rather than the sole focus throughout. This initial plot also relies rather heavily on people keeping needless secrets from one another when an open conversation could quickly clear everything up, and although I'm swept away by the possibilities of the multiverse setting, we don't really get to see too much of it just yet. But the overall character dynamics and the ideas Jones introduces are just as great as I remember.
[Content warning for a few unfortunate features that mark the 1977 publication date, from corporal punishment of schoolchildren to authorial fatphobia and one line so egregiously racist that I really hope it's been edited out of later editions.]
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With that being said, this debut has never been my favorite of the books, as its young protagonist spends a little too long as a passive pushover for his abusive older sister. I'm glad he's a more minor figure in the other stories, rather than the sole focus throughout. This initial plot also relies rather heavily on people keeping needless secrets from one another when an open conversation could quickly clear everything up, and although I'm swept away by the possibilities of the multiverse setting, we don't really get to see too much of it just yet. But the overall character dynamics and the ideas Jones introduces are just as great as I remember.
[Content warning for a few unfortunate features that mark the 1977 publication date, from corporal punishment of schoolchildren to authorial fatphobia and one line so egregiously racist that I really hope it's been edited out of later editions.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter