bri’s review of Remedial Magic (A Course in Magic, #1) > Likes and Comments
130 likes · Like
YIKES
Ugh. Thank you for your thoughts on this, this def burst my excitement bubble. I'm so sick of HP references and magical cures.
HP references? In fucking2023? *HOW* Especially such a well known author like Melissa Marr, I just expect better!
Sam wrote: "HP references? In fucking2023? *HOW* Especially such a well known author like Melissa Marr, I just expect better!"
and especially being published by Tor? I don't think i've ever seen something like that in a Tor book before, i'm worried their editing is going downhill
Thank you for writing this. I’ve been trying to read this book and it’s been bothering me but I couldn’t put my finger exactly on why (the HP reference was definitely not a welcome sight). I’ve been trying to decide if I should DNF or continue. Your review makes me feel much better about deciding to DNF.
I'm a freelance editor to authors of fiction and I now ALWAYS call out Harry Potter references (among others). Thanks for having my back on that one although ultimately, the author can decide to listen or not.
Thank you!!! Read the first few chapters and wasn’t vibing with it, so came to check the reviews. Happy to not be wasting my time on this one!
Hi! I finished the book, and just thought I’d add a bit of information you would have missed by stopping so early (spoiler alert for anyone still planning on reading): the initial presentation of the magical world as a utopia is a “false up,” and it becomes clear that it is in fact a dystopia ruled by fascists, and the water and air has been poisoned by a secret resistance movement. Witches are becoming sick and dying, and there is an elaborate cover up. Two of the new witches try to flee once they discover the depth of the deception and evil of the people holding power. I really wouldn’t call it a romance since it ends with the main character shouting “you lying bitch” as she is magicked into complying with a forced marriage.
It is possible that the things that disturbed you in the initial presentation of a magical utopia were actually red flags that it was not the perfect world that it was being sold as.
I think that if the book had been marketed as a dystopian, psychological horror (which I think is more accurate), it might have been better received.
Lisa wrote: "Hi! I finished the book, and just thought I’d add a bit of information you would have missed by stopping so early (spoiler alert for anyone still planning on reading): the initial presentation of t..."
Thank you for this update! I'm still a little skeptical of the treatment of disability in this book in general, especially because I did get to a point where they were indeed mentioning the water situation, and the language around disability still seemed to hold a lot of internalized ableism (though I do hope that turns out to be part of this twist) and frankly the HP reference was enough to turn me away, but I'm glad to hear there's potentially some better utilized commentary here.
That's also WILD that it has such a turn to a point that you would market it as more of a dystopian novel, when it is so fully being marketed as a cutesy little romantasy. Bramble has a LOT that they need to get together.
Between your review, Lisa's comment about the dystopia, and the apparently completely inaccurate marketing, this book seems like a MESS. Was really hoping for better from Marr!
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Robin
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Oct 21, 2023 02:53PM
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Ugh. Thank you for your thoughts on this, this def burst my excitement bubble. I'm so sick of HP references and magical cures.
HP references? In fucking2023? *HOW* Especially such a well known author like Melissa Marr, I just expect better!
Sam wrote: "HP references? In fucking2023? *HOW* Especially such a well known author like Melissa Marr, I just expect better!"and especially being published by Tor? I don't think i've ever seen something like that in a Tor book before, i'm worried their editing is going downhill
Thank you for writing this. I’ve been trying to read this book and it’s been bothering me but I couldn’t put my finger exactly on why (the HP reference was definitely not a welcome sight). I’ve been trying to decide if I should DNF or continue. Your review makes me feel much better about deciding to DNF.
I'm a freelance editor to authors of fiction and I now ALWAYS call out Harry Potter references (among others). Thanks for having my back on that one although ultimately, the author can decide to listen or not.
Thank you!!! Read the first few chapters and wasn’t vibing with it, so came to check the reviews. Happy to not be wasting my time on this one!
Hi! I finished the book, and just thought I’d add a bit of information you would have missed by stopping so early (spoiler alert for anyone still planning on reading): the initial presentation of the magical world as a utopia is a “false up,” and it becomes clear that it is in fact a dystopia ruled by fascists, and the water and air has been poisoned by a secret resistance movement. Witches are becoming sick and dying, and there is an elaborate cover up. Two of the new witches try to flee once they discover the depth of the deception and evil of the people holding power. I really wouldn’t call it a romance since it ends with the main character shouting “you lying bitch” as she is magicked into complying with a forced marriage. It is possible that the things that disturbed you in the initial presentation of a magical utopia were actually red flags that it was not the perfect world that it was being sold as.
I think that if the book had been marketed as a dystopian, psychological horror (which I think is more accurate), it might have been better received.
Lisa wrote: "Hi! I finished the book, and just thought I’d add a bit of information you would have missed by stopping so early (spoiler alert for anyone still planning on reading): the initial presentation of t..."Thank you for this update! I'm still a little skeptical of the treatment of disability in this book in general, especially because I did get to a point where they were indeed mentioning the water situation, and the language around disability still seemed to hold a lot of internalized ableism (though I do hope that turns out to be part of this twist) and frankly the HP reference was enough to turn me away, but I'm glad to hear there's potentially some better utilized commentary here.
That's also WILD that it has such a turn to a point that you would market it as more of a dystopian novel, when it is so fully being marketed as a cutesy little romantasy. Bramble has a LOT that they need to get together.
Between your review, Lisa's comment about the dystopia, and the apparently completely inaccurate marketing, this book seems like a MESS. Was really hoping for better from Marr!
