Magic in Manhattan: Volume One

Magic in Manhattan #1-2

by Sarah Mlynowski

What if all your wishes could come true?

In Bras & Bromsticks, fourteen-year-old Rachel learns the outrageously unfair fact that yes, magic exists, but she's not the one who's a witch: Miri, her younger sister, is!

The magic continues in Frogs & French Kisses when the teeny-tiny love spell Rachel talks Miri into casting goes horribly wrong. Now the fate of their family, the world, and senior prom is in Rachel's hands. . . .

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Witches, Teen, Chick Lit, Magic

608 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2012

About the author

Sarah was born in Montreal, Canada. After graduating with an honors degree in English literature from McGill University, she moved to Toronto to work for Harlequin Enterprises. While she never met Fabio, she used her romance publishing experiences to fuel her first novel Milkrun.

Since then, Sarah has written four additional novels for adults: Fishbowl, As Seen on TV, Monkey Business, and Me vs. Me; the New York Times bestselling middle grade series Whatever After; the middle grade series Upside-Down Magic (with Lauren Myracle and Emily Jenkins); and the teen novels Bras & Broomsticks, Frogs & French Kisses, Spells & Sleeping Bags, and Parties & Potions (all in the Magic in Manhattan series), as well as Gimme a Call, Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have), Don't Even Think About It, Think Twice, and I See London, I See France. Along with Lauren Myracle and E. Lockhart, Sarah also wrote How to Be Bad, and along with Farrin Jacobs, she wrote See Jane Write, a guide to writing. Sarah also co-edited two bestselling charity collections (Girls' Night In and Girls' Night Out), and has contributed to various anthologies (American Girls About Town, Sixteen: Stories About That Sweet and Bitter Birthday, 21 Proms, First Kiss (Then Tell), Fireworks, and Vacations from Hell).

Sarah is also a co-founder of OMG BookFest, a celebration of books aimed at the early to middle grade reader (ages 7-12) that brings together commercial and award-winning authors with underserved local communities for an exciting experience of books, games and activities.

Sarah's books have been translated into twenty-nine languages and optioned to Hollywood. She now lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Reviews

[Betty Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book represents all that is wrong and annoying with YA novels.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our main character comes from a line of witches, which is fantastic... except that her little sister, Miri, gets her powers first which makes Rachael question whether or not she will even gets the witch genes. In this adorable coming of age novel, we get to follow the crazy misadventures of Rachael and Miri as they learn that magic never comes free.
I thought this book was so cute. It kept me laughing and nodding, remembering what it was like to be fourteen. Its no great work of literature, but I was never bored with this book and it kept me smiling, definitely a feel-good novel. I loved the chick-lit vibe of the book and the relatable tales of becoming a teen and a female while trying to iron out the kinks of becoming a witch.

[Jesse Figuera · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm trying to love this one..but it's too whiny for my taste. Teenage witch in Manhattan..I wish she'd spend her energies on something other than a popularity spell..I'm quitting and moving on. Maybe it gets much better and I'll never know.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story... think Sabrina the teenage witch meets Princess Diaries.

[Lea S 1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magic in Manhattan by Sarah Mlynowski is about Rachel, who is another ordinary teenager until she finds out that her sister is a witch! And things get even crazier when she finds out her mom is too! Rachel feels like nothing goes her way when she doesn’t have the powers as well, that is until she realizes she can just use her sister Miri’s powers. Rachel convinces Miri to cast crazy spells, from as simple to an ugly spell to as complex as a love spell. But when spells add up, it’s only a matter of time until they come crashing down. I loved this book because it reminded me of me and my sister and it was a funny and extremely enjoyable book. I thought that the book’s concept itself was original and extremely refreshing from all the cliche teen books. It was also totally relatable for me because Rachel was never fully alright with herself, and that is a struggle in every teenage girl’s life. She was always obsessed with getting on the “A” list, or concerned about what people thought of her, even though there were so many people around her that were alright with her and they didn’t care what she looked like, they just liked Rachel for Rachel. All through the book Rachel is absolutely gaga for this boy named Raf, and the little relationship between them was an emotional rollercoaster for both Rachel and the reader, and I felt like we kind of went through the heartbreak together and we both cheered when things actually worked, which in my opinion shows excellent writing skills. When Miri first found out that she had powers, her mom told her to use them wisely and to be cautious. It reminded me of a scene from “Spongebob” when Sandy uses science to make her tree produce more nuts, and it eventually became too much for her tree. This book was very absorbing, and I found it hard to stop reading it. I also found that the sisterly bond between Rachel and Miri was very realistic, because they were always mad at eachother, but they always found that having a sister is better than fending for yourself, and they came back together. I loved that they were like the perfect teammate for one another, and together they were totally unstoppable, and that shows a great insite to having siblings, because even though you’ll feel like you hate them at times, you always realize that life would be really boring without them. The theme of this book was that you’ve got to be alright with what you have, and to not overdo it or karma will always bite you in the butt.

[sladynoire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say, I was really excited for this book because it had an interesting title and the description had me hooked! ... But it was a bit disappointing.

In "Bras & Bromsticks, " fourteen-year-old Rachel learns the outrageously unfair fact that yes, magic exists, but she's not the one who's a witch: Miri, her younger sister, is!
The magic continues in "Frogs & French Kisses" when the teeny-tiny love spell Rachel talks Miri into casting goes horribly wrong. Now the fate of their family, the world, and senior prom is in Rachel's hands. . . .

First off, Rachel, after learning that her little sister has powers, urges her to stop their dad's wedding to their stepmother, whom they call STB. That was not very polite, and even after they used a truth spell which showed STB's nice side, Rachel assumed the spell was a nice spell not a truth spell!
Then in Frogs and French Kisses, Rachel and Miri do a love spell intended for Raf, but instead cause Will to fall in love with Rachel. The ending was sweet, but the fact that Rachel led Will on and didn't spray him because she wanted to go to prom with him was on of my least favorite parts about the book.

Overall, I am going to read books 3 and 4 because I do like Rachel's nice, quirky side, and I want to see if Rachel and Raf will ever end up together.

[S.L. Bynum · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was skeptical when I started the first book in this collection because it wasn't what I expected. I thought it would lean more towards the use of magic, and it seemed strange to me that the main character (Rachel) wasn't the witch. And in the beginning, Rachel annoyed me with so much introspection and diverting away from the storyline just to ramble on about the past or her thoughts.

However, I kept reading, and eventually I started to like it more. Even though it's more about teenage life than about the magic, I found her drama with the boy she likes interesting. I want to keep reading to find out what happens between Rachel and Raf. I also like the close relationship Rachel has with Miri and her mother. At times Rachel was a little annoying with her selfishness, but she changes by the end of the second book, and what happens on the final page makes me very excited to see what happens next!

[Mayan Arnon · Rating 2 out of 5]

ספר טיסה פאר אקסלנס, אפילו בהגדרה של ya. למעשה זה כמו ספר פארודיה על מכשפות יותר מפנטזיה.
ואחרי שזה נאמר, נהניתי באופן שטחי מהסיפור בעיקר כי הוא הצחיק אותי (לא מתוך כוונת המחברת אני חוששת).
החלק הראשון ארוך ונמתח (ללא סיבה) - בהתאם למסורת של סיפורי פנטזיה ר- שאין לזה הצדקה אם זה לא אפי.
החלק השני (שאלתי את הספר מבלי לדעת שמדובר בשני חלקים) - מיותר לחלוטין. לא מוסיף כלום, חוזר על עצמו באופן אובססיבי. לשחרר.
לא חובה בעליל

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel is "a little bit selfish", so dancing for the show, fund-raising, prom, love awry, then spell reversals align oddly with mom's dates-gone-wild, and younger sister Miri's list to save the world. None of which make sense in our 2020 stay-home virus world. Of course Rachel and family mature, sort of.

[Paula Stock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A middle grade read...pretty average and predictable, but certainly cute.

[kylie (allegedly) · Rating 4 out of 5]

still stood up i'll say it

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!!! The one I got was just Bras and Broomsticks (and a really old '90s version, too) from my mom, because she got it from a book sale and was keeping it until she thought I was old enough. I must say, being a teenager myself, I appreciated how the message for the main character Rachel was pretty much "everyone makes mistakes, no matter how old you think you are. And that's okay."

Honestly, though, I really was expecting that I would put this one down and never pick it back up again. I didn't. It was highly addictive, interesting, hilarious and is a perfect beach read (which is where I finished it). TOTALLY need to find Frogs and French Kisses!!!! :D

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fluffy teenage read. I picked this up beacuse I am doing exams and wanted to read something that didnt require too much thinking, and I was please this this book, it met my needs. Not that it was a bad book either, it had enough surprises and was funny enough to keep me going. Rachael finds out that she is from a long line of witches, and that her younger sister and her mother are both witches. But shes not. This volume was to first too books in the series combined and follows the two sisters miss-adventures as they learn the responsibility associated with having powers (even if their not yours. There was a surpirsing amount of personal growth fro the main character

[Gwendolyn Robb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bras and Broomsticks is a fantastic book for the person who wants to find a bit more about themselves and others. I say this beacause I found out that some people are all about myself. I learned that I don't like people are really mean and think that they are suppieor to others. My one frustration would be that Rachel got really annoy near the middle. She kept in saying "Oh, my life is so perfect." Which got really annoy really fast. The author did use fragment's a lot which didn't brother me it was just something I noticed. This are my thout's about the book.

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very engaging and magical. During the first chapter you find out that Rachel's little sister Miri is a with and her mom is also a nonpracticing witch. She begins to use magic for everything including learning how to dance. This book is hilariously payed out and slightly inappropriate but fun. Its not suspenseful but it is unpredictable.

[Bailey Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cant not wait until the next book. When Raf looked up into the tree to see Rachel there and then smile was incredible! Rachel is now a witch along with her sister and mother when she not only stopped the rain but sent it to LA to help out her little sister Miri. After everything they've gone through, Rachel now has her own powers.

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you do when your little sister is magical and you are not? You convince her that she needs and owes you some favors, after all she is your little sister and she annoys you endlessly. Just when everything is going right things take a turn for the horrible and start going very, very wrong. These books made me laugh out loud, I really enjoyed all the antics. It was a fun read.

[Natalya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I love this book so much but am really annoyed because I have never managed to get my hands on the next books in yhe series!

This is a great book for any teenage girl who loves fantasy but likes the romance too.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, light YA read about a high school freshmen who just learns that her younger sister, Miri, and her mother are witches and the 'fun' they have and lessons they learn about 'making' the things you think you want to happen, happe and the consequences that come with.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the first book in this volume, much to my dismay. I will not be reading the second, that's for sure. The main character is so totally unlikeable - talking her poor sister into doing stupid spells for stupid reasons. She was manipulative and mean. I don't need to be reading that.

[Jessica Leahy]

Bras and Broomsticks is kind of a book version of Sabrina the Teenage witch. Is seems really good so far. It's about a girl named Rachel who's 12 year old sister, Miri is a witch. Haven't read much, but it seems cool

[Cayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a really good book, it has series and my library doesnt have the next book in the series but the librarian is checking a different library, hope they have it!!

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was NO Ruby Oliver.

[Tifinie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book story 1 and 2 was a cute and funny book about witchs that live in nyc.

[Cupcakegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it!!!! In the beginning, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it but definetly glad I did. A must read for teens!!!!!!!!!

[Amirah · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was good and sweet. i really recomend it!!

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

good tween witch book.

[Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I totally loved this book! A fun, sort of "fluff-read" that doesn't really require any hard analyzation or thuinking about the plot. Overall, great.

[Beeeee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the whole series!!! very chick-flick, i lurve it.

[Brainyreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it