{"id":7433,"date":"2023-11-29T17:00:59","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T01:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/?p=7433"},"modified":"2024-02-01T17:47:08","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T01:47:08","slug":"improbable-magic-for-cynical-witches-teen-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2023\/improbable-magic-for-cynical-witches-teen-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches – Teen Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Jasmine Sov, age 17<\/p>\n

Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches<\/em> by Kate Scelsa<\/h2>\n

For \u201cSalem\u2019s biggest skeptic and non-witchy person\u201d, Eleanor deals with a lot of witchy things. After a traumatic year of lost friendship and broken hearts, she\u2019s been working at a family friend\u2019s witch-themed gift shop to help her mom pay the bills. When a mysterious tarot card guide arrives in the mail, she\u2019s quick to dismiss the magic it promises. That is, until Pix, a pretty girl she met at the shop, invites her to join a real witch coven. Despite being a massive cynic, Eleanor decides to give it\u2014and a budding romance\u2014a shot. But Eleanor\u2019s past still weighs down on her, and it\u2019s threatening to ruin her second chance. Can she come to terms with her past and work out the challenges of the present?<\/p>\n

In a fresh twist on the urban fantasy genre, \u201cImprobable Magic for Cynical Witches\u201d lands on the real side of magical realism. Pix and the coven practice pagan rituals and spells, and their response to how others view them and their beliefs is a significant part of the story. Eleanor is a well-developed character, albeit very much in need of therapy rather than a new relationship. Pix is also interesting, but we don\u2019t get to know much about her other than that she is an eccentric girl who is very perceptive of others\u2019 emotions. In fact, Pix is seemingly just there to help Eleanor heal\u2014a \u201cmanic pixie dream girl\u201d, if you will. Another questionable aspect of the book is that Eleanor is addicted to marijuana. Several parts of the book have Eleanor narrating how she smokes joints as a coping mechanism, even going so far as to step out from social gatherings to smoke. While it\u2019s acknowledged that she needs to get healthier coping mechanisms, the arc isn\u2019t resolved cleanly\u2014her usage of marijuana is never mentioned again afterwards, leaving the reader wondering what exactly happened. \u201cImprobable Magic for Cynical Witches\u201d is promising in its unique concept, but less so in its characters.<\/p>\n

3 stars out of 5 stars<\/p>\n

Find this book in our catalog: Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Catalog Number: YA FIC SCELSA,K<\/p>\n

306 pages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Jasmine Sov, age 17 Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches by Kate Scelsa For \u201cSalem\u2019s biggest skeptic and non-witchy person\u201d, Eleanor deals with a lot of witchy things. After a traumatic year of lost friendship and broken hearts, she\u2019s been working at a family friend\u2019s witch-themed gift shop to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":7436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,54],"tags":[181,171,180,179],"class_list":["post-7433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-teen-reviews","tag-healing","tag-magic","tag-mythic","tag-witch"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2023\/12\/56197346.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ZwbD-1VT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1702,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2015\/the-witch-hunter-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":7433,"position":0},"title":"The Witch Hunter — teen review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"July 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"review by Kara, teen reviewer The Witch Hunter by Virginia\u00a0Boecker The Witch Hunter was pretty good. 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