This is one of those YA urban fantasy books that I think I would have been really happy to read when I was a teenager, but that didn't do much for me beyond being an easy and enjoyable read as an adult. I don't think my opinion of it matters that much, though, simply because of that.
It's a classic YA urban fantasy set up: 16 year old girl is different from everyone else, doesn't want to be because of a secret she's kept since she was young, and in attempting to deny who she really is causes a huge mess and has to figure out how to fix it. The particulars aren't nearly as standard, though: Alex, the protagonist, is Latina, and her entire family has magic, so it's got a very different cultural grounding than most stories. And while there is a love triangle of sorts, Alex is in the middle, and a boy is on one side and a girl is on the other. All of these elements definitely engaged me more than a similar story without them would have, but I've read enough versions of this story before that those aspects of the novel didn't make it fresh enough for me to truly love. It's definitely a book that I'm going to buy a copy or two for my friend's GSA library though.
Grade: B
It's a classic YA urban fantasy set up: 16 year old girl is different from everyone else, doesn't want to be because of a secret she's kept since she was young, and in attempting to deny who she really is causes a huge mess and has to figure out how to fix it. The particulars aren't nearly as standard, though: Alex, the protagonist, is Latina, and her entire family has magic, so it's got a very different cultural grounding than most stories. And while there is a love triangle of sorts, Alex is in the middle, and a boy is on one side and a girl is on the other. All of these elements definitely engaged me more than a similar story without them would have, but I've read enough versions of this story before that those aspects of the novel didn't make it fresh enough for me to truly love. It's definitely a book that I'm going to buy a copy or two for my friend's GSA library though.
Grade: B
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