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Seaside Magic
Fourteen-year-old Caroline Smith’s life has always been filled with secrets, but nothing can compare to her accidently discovering that her whole family has magical powers! She is thrilled to learn how to use her powers that she never knew she had. But that joy melts away after someone uses magic to cause her harm and wants her dead. A masked man—who has strong, dark powers—will do whatever it takes to end every Smith’s life. With the help of her grandmother, Caroline trains in hopes of staying alive and stopping the masked man once and for all.
314 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 23, 2023
I read this book after the author was promoting it in my local Barnes and Noble. She was very sweet, and even signed my book! Though I wanted to enjoy reading it, it was very difficult to say the least. Lots of editing errors, which isn’t the authors fault but when slippers is spelled “shippers” it kinda throws you off. There was a lot of build up for a pretty rushed and measly ending. The thought was there!
September 21, 2024
A beautiful story that pulled me in from start to finish. I absolutely adored the relationship between Caroline and her grandmother, Jewel. They were so wholesome! Caroline’s growth throughout the book was admirable. I enjoyed watching her learn to face her fears and become a powerful magic wielder like her parents. The story is far from over. I am excited to follow Caroline’s journey in the next one.
January 12, 2023
AMAZING!!
March 9, 2022
I really enjoyed this story and let me tell you in page one paragraph two it captivated me! It was fast and really got you to want to keep readying it! I read it in two days! I recommend this book!! Can’t wait for book 2 of the series. This is my daughter book
April 8, 2022
It was wonderful and I could not put it down. I read the book in two days and I can't wait to read the second one. I hope it comes out soon. I love the way it was written and the way Caroline used her magic. The entire story was amazing.
September 30, 2022
I am blown away that this was written by a 19 year old during the pandemic.
I loved Caroline and her grandmother, Jewel. Such an interesting story about magic, family, loss and the good & bad of grief. Learning magic near the water is an added bonus.
I loved Caroline and her grandmother, Jewel. Such an interesting story about magic, family, loss and the good & bad of grief. Learning magic near the water is an added bonus.
January 9, 2025
This book was amazing I loved the plot and the characters themselves! Very awesome book.
June 15, 2026
SPOILER ALERT
This book was very anticipated and, in a way, scandalous. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy books with a lot of drama and action, like Harry Potter fans, or Keeper of the Lost Cities fans, because mainly the main characters of those books find out that they either hav magical powers, or come from a family with them. The number of times that I thought that a main character was going to die or never be mentioned in the book again was countless. It made me believe that Jewel (a character in Seaside Magic, and Caroline Smith's grandma, who is also a main character in the book) was either going to die or forget who Caroline was due to the injury she faced during the fighting scenes.
This book changes the way you think about discovering your identity. Caroline's story in the book changes her from a quiet teenager to a confident person who weilds magic. It also changed my thoughts on overcoming your fears. This book shows that through training and fighting for your loved ones and fighting your biggest fear, you can provide bravery and triumph. While she was isolated and let people take advantage of her at the beginning, she eventually got over it, conquering her fears.
Vianlix-Christine Schnieder writes many fantasy books, ranging from YA themes to books meant for children of a young age. Seaside Magic is one of her popular YA books that has impacted many of the readers. This book won first place for Young Adult books at the BookFest awards. She is best known for this book and its other sequels. She is also known for her beautifully illustrated books. She originally trained for Broadway, and then moved to writing after the pandemic in 2020. Puffy Ball (a children’s book) is the most popular book for children that she has made.
Seaside magic, in summary, is about Caroline Smith, the main character. She’s a teenager who has been abused by her past uncle and aunt, and misses the previous one who treated her like a real person. She later goes to move in with her grandmother, where she discovers that she has magical powers herself and her family. She then trains with her grandma to defeat a villain who wants to kill every person in her family. The family then discovers who the villain is, and the villain (Achilles) discovers the family of Smiths. They go through a dangerous fight, none of them dies, and Caroline wins with her family.
The end of the book left me on a cliffhanger, as her dad, who was supposed to be dead, appeared at the end, either it was Caromline's dad, or a random man locked up in a basement jail who wants his daughter. I want to read the second book so badly because of this cliffhanger, and it makes me really angry. I also want to know what happens to Achilles after, since we know that he is not dead, after he lost the fight and fled the scene.
This book was very anticipated and, in a way, scandalous. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy books with a lot of drama and action, like Harry Potter fans, or Keeper of the Lost Cities fans, because mainly the main characters of those books find out that they either hav magical powers, or come from a family with them. The number of times that I thought that a main character was going to die or never be mentioned in the book again was countless. It made me believe that Jewel (a character in Seaside Magic, and Caroline Smith's grandma, who is also a main character in the book) was either going to die or forget who Caroline was due to the injury she faced during the fighting scenes.
This book changes the way you think about discovering your identity. Caroline's story in the book changes her from a quiet teenager to a confident person who weilds magic. It also changed my thoughts on overcoming your fears. This book shows that through training and fighting for your loved ones and fighting your biggest fear, you can provide bravery and triumph. While she was isolated and let people take advantage of her at the beginning, she eventually got over it, conquering her fears.
Vianlix-Christine Schnieder writes many fantasy books, ranging from YA themes to books meant for children of a young age. Seaside Magic is one of her popular YA books that has impacted many of the readers. This book won first place for Young Adult books at the BookFest awards. She is best known for this book and its other sequels. She is also known for her beautifully illustrated books. She originally trained for Broadway, and then moved to writing after the pandemic in 2020. Puffy Ball (a children’s book) is the most popular book for children that she has made.
Seaside magic, in summary, is about Caroline Smith, the main character. She’s a teenager who has been abused by her past uncle and aunt, and misses the previous one who treated her like a real person. She later goes to move in with her grandmother, where she discovers that she has magical powers herself and her family. She then trains with her grandma to defeat a villain who wants to kill every person in her family. The family then discovers who the villain is, and the villain (Achilles) discovers the family of Smiths. They go through a dangerous fight, none of them dies, and Caroline wins with her family.
The end of the book left me on a cliffhanger, as her dad, who was supposed to be dead, appeared at the end, either it was Caromline's dad, or a random man locked up in a basement jail who wants his daughter. I want to read the second book so badly because of this cliffhanger, and it makes me really angry. I also want to know what happens to Achilles after, since we know that he is not dead, after he lost the fight and fled the scene.
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August 24, 2023DNF majorly. I appreciate all authors, but this book felt silly and too much for pre-teens for my liking.
December 15, 2023
I wanted to love this story. It has an interesting premise and a lot of potential. I liked the overall arc of the story.
However, the dialogue often reads awkwardly as if it was translated incorrectly or something. The book is supposedly set in the 40s and 50s, but this isn't really relevant throughout much of the story. The book also has a lot of copyediting issues including misspelled words, missing quotation marks, incorrect punctuation, incorrect verb tense, etc.
Character motivations throughout the story aren't always clear. For instance, why is it so important that the villain look good in front of the town to become mayor? Why can't he kill Caroline and go somewhere else?
Also, if the whole family is being targeted, why aren't the kids being taught to use their magic? If it were explained that it makes them easier to find or something that would say least explain it, but it felt like a plot hole.
The author tends to over-explain unnecessary details while under-developing the key plot points. Many times the solution to a question/problem comes from someone else in the scene immediately after it is raised by another character. It just comes across as overly convenient at times in this sense (the magic Smith candle comes to mind). I wish certain things were used better - like what if you could only teleport somewhere you've been and that permitted only Caroline to go and confirm her family's deaths and seeing some ruse her uncles set up? It would have added some color to that section. The world building gets confusing in this way too -- why the magic books exist and how do they work feels glossed over.
Some plot lines felt like they were abandoned too, like the book section torn out that was supposed to be the key to killing Achilles or the importance put on the freezing spell for Caroline not to use it in the final battle. Speaking of the final battle, that felt rushed and the way he seemingly died felt like the Harry Potter movies' version of Voldemort dying.
I didn't dislike this story, but in some ways it still feels like a draft of what it could have been. The writing comes across a little juvenile in that way.
However, the dialogue often reads awkwardly as if it was translated incorrectly or something. The book is supposedly set in the 40s and 50s, but this isn't really relevant throughout much of the story. The book also has a lot of copyediting issues including misspelled words, missing quotation marks, incorrect punctuation, incorrect verb tense, etc.
Character motivations throughout the story aren't always clear. For instance, why is it so important that the villain look good in front of the town to become mayor? Why can't he kill Caroline and go somewhere else?
Also, if the whole family is being targeted, why aren't the kids being taught to use their magic? If it were explained that it makes them easier to find or something that would say least explain it, but it felt like a plot hole.
The author tends to over-explain unnecessary details while under-developing the key plot points. Many times the solution to a question/problem comes from someone else in the scene immediately after it is raised by another character. It just comes across as overly convenient at times in this sense (the magic Smith candle comes to mind). I wish certain things were used better - like what if you could only teleport somewhere you've been and that permitted only Caroline to go and confirm her family's deaths and seeing some ruse her uncles set up? It would have added some color to that section. The world building gets confusing in this way too -- why the magic books exist and how do they work feels glossed over.
Some plot lines felt like they were abandoned too, like the book section torn out that was supposed to be the key to killing Achilles or the importance put on the freezing spell for Caroline not to use it in the final battle. Speaking of the final battle, that felt rushed and the way he seemingly died felt like the Harry Potter movies' version of Voldemort dying.
I didn't dislike this story, but in some ways it still feels like a draft of what it could have been. The writing comes across a little juvenile in that way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews