Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
295th out of 786 books
—
1,979 voters
Magic's Child (Magic or Madness #3)
In the third installment in the Magic or Madness trilogy, the people Reason Cansino loves most are all in danger. Reason's mother, Sarafina, has disappeared from the mental hospital in Sydney with Reason's evil grandfather, Jason Blake. Jay-Tee, the closest thing Reason has to a best friend, has used all of her magic and faces death at any moment. Only Reason can find the...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
March 22nd 2007
by Razorbill
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,968)
Not a bad conclusion to the trilogy. A complex ending. All the narrators in Magic or Madness are unreliable; was there a happy ending? It's hard to say. Did Reason make the right decision? Also hard to say. An interesting departure from the usual young adult fantasy.
Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com
At the start of this wonderful conclusion to a great fantasy trilogy, Reason Cansino is a lot of things most fifteen year olds aren't. She's magic. She's pregnant. And she may or may not be entirely human.
In this continuation of Reason's story, she is falling more and more deeply into the strange, ancient, and inhuman power given to her by Raul Cansino. She is becoming more and more scarily powerful--but she's giving up her humanity (and maybe that...more
At the start of this wonderful conclusion to a great fantasy trilogy, Reason Cansino is a lot of things most fifteen year olds aren't. She's magic. She's pregnant. And she may or may not be entirely human.
In this continuation of Reason's story, she is falling more and more deeply into the strange, ancient, and inhuman power given to her by Raul Cansino. She is becoming more and more scarily powerful--but she's giving up her humanity (and maybe that...more
Young Adult novels are so much better now than I remember them being when I was an actual young adult. I recall reading some S.E. Hinton, but not much else.
The "Magic or Madness" series by Justine Larbalestier is one of the best fantasy trilogies I've read; YA or not. All of the books are well-paced, exciting, and feature well-drawn, believable characters.
The story focuses on 15-year-old Reason Cansino who discovers very suddenly that magic is real. More than that, she is a magic user. In the w...more
The "Magic or Madness" series by Justine Larbalestier is one of the best fantasy trilogies I've read; YA or not. All of the books are well-paced, exciting, and feature well-drawn, believable characters.
The story focuses on 15-year-old Reason Cansino who discovers very suddenly that magic is real. More than that, she is a magic user. In the w...more
After having read all three in this series, I really think it would have served the story better if this had just been one longer book. I don't think the plot lines were strong enough on their own. And because the author has to do some recap material, some chapters felt very repetitive. Overall, the series was enjoyable; I had a really hard time putting them down. A few things bugged me though: Where had this Cansino guy been during the first story? How did Jason Blake know about Cansino? I want...more
While I zipped through this last novel in the Magic or Madness series in about a day and a half, for some reason I didn't think it had the oomph of the previous two. Maybe it's because the stupid DC Public Library system forced me to wait for this book for more than a year after it was published, and I'd therefore forgotten a whole lot of what had transpired, but for whatever reason, I didn't love this one as much. It's still awfully good, mind you, and it wraps everything up very tidily, with j...more
Disappointing ending to this fun series, a little too rushed feeling and add in a weird touch of religion?
A nice conclusion for the Magic or Madness Trilogy. I don't know if I just read Justine Larbalestier's books too fast, but this one felt rushed at times just like How to Ditch Your Fairy. I think perhaps I'm getting too excited. Maybe that's a good thing! I was pleased with the wrapup that it provided for the trilogy. I was still a bit frustrated with Reason jumping to conclusions without thinking things through or even asking questions. She made a lot of assumptions. I did like the way magic wa...more
The Magic or Madness trilogy was a really fun one to follow, as the stories are told from multiple points of view and all the characters are so different and full of life.
Reason Cansino had an unusual childhood. Always on the run form her grandmother, Esmeralda, she and Sarafina (her mother) never stayed in one place too long. They also never settled anywhere "normal." So while Reason has an innate talent for Math, that about covers her schooling. The other main rule of her life has been that ma...more
Reason Cansino had an unusual childhood. Always on the run form her grandmother, Esmeralda, she and Sarafina (her mother) never stayed in one place too long. They also never settled anywhere "normal." So while Reason has an innate talent for Math, that about covers her schooling. The other main rule of her life has been that ma...more
While I enjoyed this series overall, ultimately I found it problematic. *SPOILER* The sudden and sweeping decision that magic is "evil" felt like a cop-out; Larbalestier missed a great opportunity to explore a moral grey area - something that would made both the story and the characters more complex. I also wish there had been some discussion of the issue teen pregnancy; it's understandable, in context, that the women in her family have tended to have children early. However, the whole thing was...more
My only complaint about Magic's Child is that, as the third book in a trilogy, the pacing suffers a little as Justine Larbalestier has to cram in a ton of "remember who this is and what happened" and that some of the moral complexity that her characters are going through might be better explored in a longer work. And despite that catch-up exposition, I really wouldn't recommend this book if you haven't read the first two books in the trilogy.
I have never read the previous two books of this series, but from what I know, there are a few people who live in a world where they can use magic and do things that normal people cannot see. However there is a cost. To use it means to reduce your lifespan while to not use it means to go mad. There is a third option though. the option to steal someone's else magic. However, this option is what murdered generation of magic's users.
Interesting read although it is not my level. I felt that this b...more
Interesting read although it is not my level. I felt that this b...more
Good finish to this trilogy. Reason learns more about her magic abilities and that she can travel thru the world without using doors and keys. She also learns that she can save those whose magic is almost gone and who are dying, by saving Jay -Tee. The finale comes when Jason Blake kidnaps her mother, Sarafina, and it is up to Reason to save her and the rest of the Cansino family. This leave her, Esmerelda and Sarafina without any magic, when Reason realises that the magic is evil. However, Tom...more
this book really reached out to me
Reason must live up to her name for she must deal with the allure of (Cansino) Magic, her lost mother, and the pressure of saving the lives of her friends, Tom and Jay-Tee. In fact, everyone needs to make decisions.
Book three gives enough answers while leaving you thinking about some things. I can't say I was pleased by all parts of the ending but I see why Larbalestier made those choices. Overall, the Madness or Magic trilogy is fast-paced and enjoyable. This book had a slightly different vibe...more
Book three gives enough answers while leaving you thinking about some things. I can't say I was pleased by all parts of the ending but I see why Larbalestier made those choices. Overall, the Madness or Magic trilogy is fast-paced and enjoyable. This book had a slightly different vibe...more
I don't know if I've been expecting more out of this series than I should've. But Liar had everything I wanted, and I was using that to judge Larbalestier's work as a whole... It was just my thing, I guess, and this trilogy wasn't, at least not to anything like the same degree. It was fun to read, and the moral ambiguity and the unreliability of nearly everyone does make it more complex than I'd really considered. We're told what people think magic is: we never get an objective answer. We never...more
I liked this entire series - the characters were great and I thought the plot was original and interesting. That being said, I wasn't too crazy about how it ended. In some ways, I thought things were tied up too neatly. In other ways, I didn't like some of the loose ends that were left. Even so, I enjoyed reading this book (and the trilogy) and I would recommend it to fans of teen realistic fantasy fiction. (Yes, I do think I just made that genre up, but it's an accurate description of the books...more
I'm not quite sure if this is a full 3 stars or 2.5 stars. I keep going back and forth. Most of this book was so strange, though it all stayed together better than I had imagined it would.
A decent conclusion to the trilogy, though we never really learn anything about the feathers and other magic objects around Mere's house. I don't really understand why Reason makes such a big deal about them only to never bother finding out what they are for.
Also, the epilogue was a bit much.
A decent conclusion to the trilogy, though we never really learn anything about the feathers and other magic objects around Mere's house. I don't really understand why Reason makes such a big deal about them only to never bother finding out what they are for.
Also, the epilogue was a bit much.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Nov 25, 2011
Pamela
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Cory, Kathleen
Recommended to Pamela by:
Judy
The final book in the "Magic or Madness" trilogy offered a satisfying, sometimes thrilling conclusion to the story of Reason Cansino, latest in the centuries-old Cansino family. In this novel, torn between the worlds of her grandmother Esmeralda (Australia) and her grandfather Alexander (New York), she must finally choose between a life of magic, as her grandmother has embraced, or the life her mother trained and named her for. Raised some interesting questions about God and magic along the way....more
This book probably only deserves 3.5 stars. Although it shut things down and left you with a silly "what happens next" moment. The story in all really wasn't that memorable. I had read in someone else's comment that between the 3 books - it could have just been 1 book. I agree! There really wasn't much of anything super plot-making (Sorry I had to) to create a 3-part series. Although a fun and quick read. In the end that is really all it was.
Much better than the second book in the series. Somewhere in the middle, one character calls an experience tickle-making! It reminded me so much of Scott Westerfeld's writing in the Pretties series which I really enjoyed. I did hope for more information about the magic and the origins of their magic, but this was a decent ending.
I plowed through the first two books in the trilogy loving the flow of the story. The endings are all clever to give resolutions but still force me on to the next book. This third book left me feeling a little -eh-.
Maybe it was the fact that only about two or three days had passed for the characters, it gave me a headache to even think about that. Perhaps I was put out by the pregnant fifteen year old who changes into a magical non human, then back to a human with no mention of the physical eff...more
Maybe it was the fact that only about two or three days had passed for the characters, it gave me a headache to even think about that. Perhaps I was put out by the pregnant fifteen year old who changes into a magical non human, then back to a human with no mention of the physical eff...more
This one wasn't too bad. It was really interesting to hear how Larbalestier viewed magic in the book but I found it a little annoying that the whole God card was brought into it. I just didn't understand that. I also was annoyed with the whole Danny part too. It really wasn't a bad story. Definately unique but I honestly can't see myself ever reading it again.
man these books are fantastic...and very hard to describe. larbalestier puts an entirely new spin on the whole magic user book and makes it something else entirely. this book finds the lead, reason, trying to find a way to save everyone she loves from awful fates. these are sometimes confusing books but don't give them up...they are great.
An average series, nothing to get too excited about. I did think the author had a great story line, but it definitely could have been developed better, along with the characters. Interesting references to Mormons--felt a little random, but it makes me curious as to what her experience has been.
i think Reason gave herself up too easily. she was a strong character. i mean yeah, she might be close to dying, but it didn't mean losing your virginity to someone who obviously gave pity to her. it was still a nice ending [: the whole spirit things touching inside her stomach was awkward XP
I liked this series! Something about its style was really unique to me, had kind of a candid realism that I liked. I think what I mean by that is that lots of things I didn't expect happened, and also that things didn't always sound pleasant.
I personally felt the series got less gripping as it went on, especially after it got all kooky at the end of book 2, but maybe my taste for kooky magic is still developing. But it felt like it lost some urgency the more powerful its characters got. A fantas...more
I personally felt the series got less gripping as it went on, especially after it got all kooky at the end of book 2, but maybe my taste for kooky magic is still developing. But it felt like it lost some urgency the more powerful its characters got. A fantas...more
I liked this trilogy a lot but the conclusion was disappointing. The story was building up to Reason finding a third way beyond madness or early death, a way to have her cake and eat it too, but instead they get the Narnia ending. I hate the Narnia ending.
This book was very interesting at first, but just got weird towards the end. I was reminded somewhat of other books, but this left without a good closing. Not recommended for the age group for which it is intended.
Especially irritating is the use of Aussie slang which is not obvious and is never explained (although some of the very obvious is explained in a glossary at the end).
Especially irritating is the use of Aussie slang which is not obvious and is never explained (although some of the very obvious is explained in a glossary at the end).
I enjoyed the book and over all I enjoyed the whole series and I thought that it was a great ending to the series but I like how the author left the ending open to another series if she wanted to and I really hope she does.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Justine Larbalestier is an Australian young-adult fiction author. She is best known for the Magic or Madness trilogy: Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons and the newly released Magic's Child. She also wrote one adult non-fiction book, the Hugo-nominated The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (Best Related Book, 2003), and edited another, Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentiet...more
More about Justine Larbalestier...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“That was what magic was: greed. Magic wielders didn't wield magic; it wielded them”
—
5 people liked it
More quotes…
