Today I get to be a part of the blog tour for the book The Girl Without Magic by Megan O’Russell. This book came out January 9th, 2018 so it’s still pretty new. If you want to know what I think of this book, keep reading to see my review.

The Girl Without Magic is the first book of The Chronicles of Maggie Trent. Death would have been easier, but the Siren wasn’t through with her. Seventeen-year-old Maggie Trent fell out of a battle and into the Siren’s Realm, a land where secrets hide in the shadows and pleasure comes at a price Maggie is unwilling to pay.
The time for the Siren’s reckoning has come, sweeping away all she deems unworthy to live in her realm. Those without magic are hunted by the Siren. Those with magic are hunted by the Stricken. Fighting or hiding seem necessary to survive. But there is a different way.
Bertrand Wayland, unaging and unrelenting in his determination for Maggie to accept her fate, slips in and out through the stitches that bind the Siren’s Realm to other worlds, gaining magic and having glorious adventures. When Maggie follows Bertrand out of the Siren’s Realm, seeking an adventure of her own, she finds instead a world of magic on the eve of war. To save innocent lives Maggie risks her heart, her life, and her only chance of returning to the Siren’s Realm.

Cover

This cover is so unique and I love the combination of the colors. The Girl Without Magic would definitely jump out to me if I saw it at the bookstore.

Plot/Worldbuilding

I have to say that the plot to the story is pretty unique. At least to me it is. I haven’t ever read anything like it. We start the story with Maggie who can’t see anything and thinks she’s dead. The last thing she remembers is fighting in a battle. Once she sees again, she can wish for things, but it feels like her magic doesn’t fill up again when she does. All Maggie really wants is to find a way home. Then she learns she will need a lot more magic and be in The Siren’s good graces to find her way back. Once she uses magic, it won’t come back, so she needs to be careful. She can earn magic by fishing or doing other jobs. At first Maggie keeps to herself and in her own tent. Time goes by and she fishes to earn magic/food and makes a few friends. Bertrand is quite a character and is rather quirky. He knows the world here pretty well and finds ways to sneak into other worlds, go on an adventure and come back with even more magic. After a storm hits the island and her tent doesn’t survive, she decides she needs to find a way to get more magic. She goes on a trip with Bertrand and ends up on an island where a war is about to start. That’s when she meets new people and falls in love with one of the boys. Can they help these people and still get back to The Siren’s Realm? Her magic works different here, so this changes everything.

I love the concept. Slipping through a gap and ending up in a totally different world. How the author describes The Siren’s Realm is really interesting and I could imagine that I was there. As Maggie explores, we learn more about this world and how it works. Including some very friendly characters. Bertrand made me laugh and I love his sense of adventure. Manila is an interesting place for there adventure and the mountain and lakes sound beautiful. I love how all they want is to teach their people everything they know and live in peace. A man who once lived with them is trying to change that and they will do anything in their power to stop him. I loved the sense of family I got from them and how they would do anything, even for strangers that just appeared. The library they have with fire places sounds like the perfect place for me, haha.

Some things bugged me about this book though. For starters, we have no clue where Maggie is from or what time she’s from. We find out halfway through the book she’s from Virginia and she mentions something sounding like a TV show, so I think it’s modern day, but I would’ve loved to know more about her past. I would’ve liked this explored more. The same with The Siren’s Realm, just as we start to see and learn more about this world, they go on an adventure. The same thing with Maggie wanting to go home. At the beginning she’s determined to gain more magic and find her way home. Even before she goes off with Bertrand it’s like she forgot she wants to go home. It seems like the author wanted to fit so much story in to one book, some things weren’t completely developed. Just like how she falls in love as soon as she is on the island. She doesn’t know him, but she can only think of him and wants to be with him. I do not like when stories do that, but that’s a personal opinion. The concept was really good, but I just missed certain parts being developed. Maybe the things that bugged me here will be explored in the next book.

Characters

Maggie hasn’t had an easy life. We find out that she lost her parents and grew up at an Academy and they weren’t very loving there. She was fighting a battle before landing in The Siren’s Realm, so things weren’t all happy. I think Maggie is quite brave. Of course, she was a bit scared when she first appeared in another world, but she didn’t just sit and mope. Maggie tried figuring out what she needed to do to survive. Same as when they were helping the people of Manila. She wanted to fight for them, because she didn’t think it was fair how they were living.

Bertrand is very amusing. I have a feeling he is pretty old by the way he talks about all he has done. And just how he is really. Even though his looks seem like a young man. At first, I didn’t know if I could trust him, but when the storm hit and he helped Maggie, my opinion changed. He loves exploring and helps when he can. He is also realistic though and knows when it’s his time to leave. Hopefully we will learn more about him in the other books, because I would love to know more about his history. Bertrand is kind of like a father figure.

Purchase:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Without-Magic-Chronicles-Maggie-Trent-ebook/dp/B078WY9W7K/

About the Author

Megan is a native of Upstate New York who spends her time traveling the country as a professional actor. Megan’s current published works include YA series The Tethering and Girl of Glass, as well as the Christmas romance Nuttycracker Sweet. 2017 projects include The Tale of Bryant Adams: How I Magically Messed Up My Life in Four Freakin’ Days, and The Chronicles of Maggie Trent: The Girl Without Magic.
For more information on Megan’s books visit MeganORussell.com.

Author links:

https://www.meganorussell.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8061709.Megan_O_Russell

https://www.facebook.com/ORussellauthor/

https://twitter.com/MeganORussell

Blog Tour

I want to thank Xpresso Book Tours for this fun opportunity to participate in this tour. Of course I’m not the only one on this tour. To check out what other blogs are participating click on this link: http://xpressobooktours.com/2017/11/15/tour-sign-up-the-girl-without-magic-by-megan-orussell/

Even though I had some issues with the plot, I am curious how it will continue. I want to know where Maggie comes from and if she will ever get back home.