NetGalley Review: The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong
Hey all, Sam here.
October has been filled with wonderful reads so far, and I am trying to be better about getting my reviews typed up and posted in a more timely manner. Obviously, I still have so many that I need to catch up on, and I fear that I will always be striving to catch up. But hey, at least that means I’m never going to run out of stuff to talk about here on the blog.
I’ve been doing this for ten years now (a number of years more if you count the couple of failed blog attempts before this), and in some ways I feel like I’m starting to hit my stride. Perhaps at some point I’ll get back to the immense amount of content I was putting out in 2019 and most of 2020, but…I also don’t want to have another extended burnout period, so I definitely don’t want to put that much pressure on myself.
Oh, and we’re finally starting to get a little bit of cooler fall weather, which has been so nice. It’s definitely almost the time of year where I become even more of a stay at home hermit in a desire to just be cozy and comfy and warm whenever I don’t have to be out and about (aka work and necessary errand running). It’s also now reaching the time of drinking copious amounts of hot tea and hot cocoa, which is always nice.
Anyway, I’m starting to ramble a bit. Let’s just go ahead and get into today’s book review. It’s a good one. Speaking of, you don’t have to wait long to get your own copy of this book, as the release date is this upcoming Tuesday, October 14.
My Thoughts
An almost-mage discovers friendship—and maybe something more—in the unlikeliest of places in this delightfully charming novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Teller of Small Fortunes.
Certainty Bulrush wants to be useful—to the Guild of Mages that took her in as a novice, to the little brother who depends on her, and to anyone else she can help. Unfortunately, her tepid magic hasn’t proven much use to anyone. When Certainty has the chance to earn her magehood via a seemingly straightforward assignment, she takes it. Nevermind that she’ll have to work with Mage Aurelia, the brilliant, unfairly attractive overachiever who’s managed to alienate everyone around her.
The two must transport minorly magical artifacts somewhere safe: Shpelling, the dullest, least magical village around. There, they must fix up an old warehouse, separate the gossipy teapots from the kind-of-flaming swords, corral an unruly little catdragon who has tagged along, and above all: avoid complications. The Guild’s uneasy relationship with citizens is at a tipping point, and the last thing needed is a magical incident.
Still, as mage and novice come to know Shpelling’s residents—and each other—they realize the Guild’s hoarded magic might do more good being shared. Friendships blossom while Certainty and Aurelia work to make Shpelling the haven it could be. But magic is fickle—add attraction and it might spell trouble.
Rating: 5 stars
I am absolutely in a cozy fantasy mood, and this book definitely hit the spot. It was cozy and cute and fun, just filled with interesting characters and an intriguing small town atmosphere with a bit of magic. It’s about friendship and community/found family and making your own magic in a place that seems devoid of it.
Something that definitely also needs to be said is that there are hilarious little meta moments or little jokes in the text. Things like making a sign for the town of Shpelling and thinking that maybe something needs to be added to the sign…like a squiggly red line underneath it. Those little jokes caught my attention and made me giggle, which was lovely while reading this book at work.
This book is set in the same world as The Teller of Small Fortunes, but it is not a series and you will not spoil yourself by reading this book first.
There’s also facing the idea of putting too much pressure on yourself or allowing loves ones to put a lot of pressure on yourself. Or there’s dealing with feeling like you aren’t good enough and that you’ll never be enough. But on the other side, there’s also having friends or family who love you and support you because you absolutely are enough just as you are.
Certainty’s magical ability was fascinating, with being able to speak to objects, and it was certainly an extremely useful skill for taking minorly magical artifacts and cataloging them/storing them in a makeshift warehouse. I loved seeing all the different magics held within all of the artifacts. Certainty’s willingness to utilize the artifacts to help the town of Shpelling definitely made me think of Claudia Donavan using the artifacts in interesting ways in the show “Warehouse 13.” This book gives off similar vibes, if you know, Warehouse 13 was set in a fully magical world.
I read this whole book in like a day, and it was fantastic. I can’t wait to add the finished copy to my personal library.
All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
