A review by paragraphsandpages
Bad Magic by Pseudonymous Bosch

4.0

Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars

Overall Thoughts: Pseudonymous Bosch was an author I read a good while ago, when I was a good bit younger. I enjoyed the creativity and uniqueness of those books, and even all these years later, their books still have the same qualities! I was actually looking forward to finally reading this book after having it on my bookshelf for a while, but then kept putting it off and reading other books first. In the end, this book did live up to the expectations that built up over the three months I put it off! It was quirky, different, and mysterious, and all these traits combined to an extremely intriguing book!

The Good: I always liked the voice this author/narrator had, and this book was no exception! The little jokes kept sometimes otherwise boring scenes more interesting, and I felt connected to both the narrator and the characters. I’ve also always liked when an unattached narrator seems like it’s own characters (which was part of why I liked the Romantics by Leah Konen so much!) In addition, I really enjoyed the mysterious plot, and was not expecting that from the description of the book! The ending was also quite different than anything I could’ve predicted!


The Bad: While mostly I loved the author interventions, at some points it did kill the mood of the book, especially near the end. The end was building up, and being super mysterious, but then a few tidbits from the author kind of ruined that mood. The ending also felt less grand than it was made out to be.

SPOILERS BEGIN HERE

The Characters: I wasn’t completely amazed with the characters, and they weren’t what kept me so interested in the book. But they worked with the plot extremely well, and I did like how Clay remained distrustful after all that happened!


The Plot: I really enjoyed the mysterious feel this book had, at least in the beginning! It kinda died around the end, and while the end was a great reveal, it felt unimportant, or less grand, than it should’ve been made out to be? However, I really enjoyed the first 90% of the book, with all the mysteries, clues, and puzzles there were! It was definitely an intriguing book, and I’m excited to read the next one!

The Favorite Character: Clay (and Leira seems like she’ll be cool!)

Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Buy it, especially if you liked Bosch’s other books!

This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/