A review by mystic_dclouds
White Is for Magic, by Laurie Faria Stolarz
3.0
If you have read the first book, then this book is not going to change your mind regarding the friendships or characters. Read this book for the mystery leaving aside everything else.
The story was much better than the first book, but that may have been because we already know how our main cast is going to act and react. The mystery builds upon a past event mentioned in the first book making the execution quite similar. The mystery build up is a little unstructured and adds to the confusion of the mystery at times. However, I found that sometimes frustrating since this is happening a year after the events in the first book so Stacey and her friends should be more cautious, in my opinion.
We had a new addition, Jacob. I think Jacob is not only mysterious but cautious and his story was laid out really well in this book. The story does a good job in keeping him secretive until the end however if you read mysteries a lot you will be able to catch on quite early. Let’s not discuss the other characters. They are just as unrelatable, confusing and annoying as in the first book. I will mention however, that Stacey’s relationship with her mother does improve in this book. It was quite exponential and not built gradually, but there are mentions that after the events of the first book there was improvement.
The story is mainly focused on the mystery but there are elements of romance and it’s much more evident than the first book. The romance really took away the focus from the mystery. The love triangle or square wasn’t completely developed well and the resolution was just as wavering. It just seems like a lot of confused teen hormones acting up (no offense!). I couldn’t really justify or find any justification for any of their constantly changing emotions. Maybe I’m weird but I think emotions don’t change by the seconds.
The second installment was a good read. The thrilling mystery was quite similar to the first book in execution but definitely not as murderous or creepy. White is for Magic had me wondering for a long time about how the title relates to the events in the story and I was sort of disappointed when it was realized. I have a feeling the series will focus more on the relationships or romance than the mysteries going forward, given the direction this book took. However, I’ll only know once I read the next book!
Read more reviews @ Mystic's Review Shelf
The story was much better than the first book, but that may have been because we already know how our main cast is going to act and react. The mystery builds upon a past event mentioned in the first book making the execution quite similar. The mystery build up is a little unstructured and adds to the confusion of the mystery at times. However, I found that sometimes frustrating since this is happening a year after the events in the first book so Stacey and her friends should be more cautious, in my opinion.
We had a new addition, Jacob. I think Jacob is not only mysterious but cautious and his story was laid out really well in this book. The story does a good job in keeping him secretive until the end however if you read mysteries a lot you will be able to catch on quite early. Let’s not discuss the other characters. They are just as unrelatable, confusing and annoying as in the first book. I will mention however, that Stacey’s relationship with her mother does improve in this book. It was quite exponential and not built gradually, but there are mentions that after the events of the first book there was improvement.
The story is mainly focused on the mystery but there are elements of romance and it’s much more evident than the first book. The romance really took away the focus from the mystery. The love triangle or square wasn’t completely developed well and the resolution was just as wavering. It just seems like a lot of confused teen hormones acting up (no offense!). I couldn’t really justify or find any justification for any of their constantly changing emotions. Maybe I’m weird but I think emotions don’t change by the seconds.
The second installment was a good read. The thrilling mystery was quite similar to the first book in execution but definitely not as murderous or creepy. White is for Magic had me wondering for a long time about how the title relates to the events in the story and I was sort of disappointed when it was realized. I have a feeling the series will focus more on the relationships or romance than the mysteries going forward, given the direction this book took. However, I’ll only know once I read the next book!
Read more reviews @ Mystic's Review Shelf