Review: The Trouble With Magic by Danyelle Leafty

The Trouble With Magic

(The Secret Stepsister Society #2)
by Danyelle Leafty

MG Fantasy, Fairy Tale
ebook, 169 Pages
January 2nd 2015 by Curious Leaf Press

Summary

Once upon a time, a young girl with too much magic on her hands turned her sister into a toad. On accident, of course.

Bettony is doing everything she can to turn her sister Cadmilla back into a person. Unfortunately, magic hasn’t been as much help as she thought it would be.

Instead of the fairy tale she’d hoped for, Bettony has had her hands full trying to de-toadify her sister, figure out her magic, and deal with the loss of her song.

That is, until she does the unthinkable and “borrows” her fairy godmother’s wand. Only for three nights—just long enough for her sister to attend the three royal balls that could be the answer to her future dreams and happiness.

After that, she’ll return the wand and confess her crime. In the meantime, though, she has a happily ever after to plan, a fairy godmother to avoid, and magical aid from an unexpected source.

And maybe, once this is all over, she’ll see about getting a wand of her own.

After all, how much trouble can a single wand cause? Bettony is about to find out . . .

My Review

I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Trouble With Toads, and so was happy to pick up this second book to see what happens to the "toad" from the first book and the girl who's magic was at the heart of all the catastrophe. Happily, I ended up enjoying this second book more than the first one.

The beginning was a little bit of a rough start for me. I got lost a little, but I pushed through and by the time I was a fourth of the way through I was completely into the story. From there the story continued to plod forward at a good pace and I came to know the other characters better and to hope for a happy ending.

Bettony is such a fun character! She is at that stage where she is figuring out who she is and wants to be. She can be stubborn and she definitely makes mistakes, but she is also loyal, kind, and wants what is best for her sister. I really liked her character. There were a handful of other characters that I also came to know better and liked and they each play a role in Cadmilla's happily-ever-after.

The Trouble With Magic was an enjoyable read. I loved the hints to other fairy tales and how they're woven through the story. It was hilarious, entertaining, sweet, and heartfelt. I also loved that the series is perfect for eight to twelve-year-old girls. It's definitely a series I would purchase for my daughter. My biggest complaint would be not finding it in paperback to get for her.

Content: Clean
Source: I would like to thank the author for my complimentary review copy, which did not affect my review in any way.

You can see my review of the first book in this series, The Trouble With Toads, here.