Tag Archives: Magical Realism

August 15, 2024 · 1:00 am

A Review of Tiny Forgotten Wishes

Book cover for Tiny Forgotten Wishes by Janky Fluffy. Image on cover is a drawing of a human brain made with a pink pen or marker. In the upper right hand corner is a smaller and less vibrant drawing of a single pink rose. Title: Tiny Forgotten Wishes

Author: Janky Fluffy

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: June 20, 2024

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal

Length: 58 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Little Defective Things: Mother and Father must protect their ordinary daughter from the evils of perfectionism.
Forgotten Toys: She is not a toy and must save herself.
A Pretty Apocalypse: Social media causes the kingdom’s collapse.
Hair Like Starlight, Eyes Like Dreams: A man has a near-death experience and meets an angel.
21 Broken Christmases: The Grim Reaper is a woman and is in charge of more than just death.
Leftover Food for Wellness: A troll meets humans for dinner.
Salt’s Real Kiss: The magic man promises beauty for a price, and Salt refuses to pay.
Of Butterflies & Ghosts: Bobby enters the rundown funeral home and discovers the truth about his wife.
Another Curse of Unlimited Wishes: The genie falls in love.
Her Turquoise Reunion: She survived the most brutal school with kindness.
Tiny Songs for Nocturnal Beings: The ghouls come for their yearly feeding.
Fleeing Monsters: Emelia must survive the monsters. But who are the real monsters?

Content Warning: Death, a cult, ableist characters. I won’t discuss any of these topics in my review.

Review:

Think of this collection like a sampling platter of different worlds and characters. A nibble here and there may fill you up.

Trolls aren’t very common in modern fantasy stories from what I’ve observed, so “Leftover Food for Wellness” piqued my interest. Figuring out why someone would purposefully seek one out in this day and age didn’t take very long, but it did give me food for thought as the arrogant main character made one bad decision after the next. I’ll leave it up to other readers to discover what those choices were and how they turned out for him, but I liked seeing his reaction to getting his wish. There’s definitely something to be said for making wishes come true…even the ones that never should have been made in the first place.

As intrigued as I was by the premise of “A Pretty Apocalypse,” the plot holes in it made it difficult for me to remain invested in what was happening. Social media has downsides to be sure, but I wasn’t convinced that this alone could cause society to collapse. While all of the stories in this collection were purposefully written to be short and sweet, this was one of multiple examples I thought would have been better if there had been more time to explain what was happening in them.

“Another Curse of Unlimited Wishes” was refreshing. Of course genies should have the chance to fall in love the way humans do! There were a few fun twists in this one which was a little surprising given how short it was. I will tip my cap to the author for pulling that off and for finally making the genie the main character of this sort of tale. That doesn’t happen often enough in this genre for my tastes, so I was glad to see it here.

Tiny Forgotten Wishes was my first introduction to this author’s work, and I look forward to reading more in the future.

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August 31, 2023 · 1:00 am

A Review of The Red Pencil

Book cover for The red pencil by Shawna Reppert. Image on cover shows a red pencil lying on an opened spiral notebook. Title: The Red Pencil

Author: Shawna Reppert

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: September 26, 2015

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: About 19 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

A young girl learns to be careful what she wishes for. . .and as an adult decides that some things are worth the cost. Contemporary fantasy by an award-winning author.

Although this story is inspired in part by the author’s childhood in Pennsylvania and her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, it is contemporary fantasy/magical realism, not memoir. The magic in the book is entirely the author’s invention, although inspired by archetypes from several cultures. It is in no way meant to represent the Pennsylvania Dutch hex tradition.

Review:

Content Warning: Two brief descriptions of animal abuse and one brief description of a dead pet cat.

Everyone needs the right tools for their education.

Childhood isn’t always a fun experience. It was interesting to see how Mari coped with her jealousy over a classmate who seemed to live a charmed life. Those sorts of emotions can be intense, especially when the ordinary scuffles of recess spill over into other parts of life. Getting to know the main character was even more rewarding than it had already been once she shared how she handled her feelings and how the red pencil helped her learn an important life lesson at such a tender age.

I would have loved to see more world building in this short story, especially when it came to Mari’s relationship with the Huckster. He was such a mysterious figure that I would have loved to know how they first met and how he knew she was the right person to give the red pencil to. There was space to expand this world here, and I would have gone with a full five-star rating if the author had done that.

With that being said, I thought Ms. Reppert did a fabulous job of explaining the allure and danger of the red pencil. Some of the most memorable scenes for me were the ones that explored Mari’s relationship with what she originally thought was a perfectly ordinary gift from an acquaintance. I’ll leave it up to other readers to discover what was actually going on there, but this is the sort of magical touch to a plot that leaves me wanting more.

The Red Pencil was a thoughtful back-to-school read.

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March 4, 2021 · 1:00 am

Searching for Answers: A Review of Remote Control

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor book cover. Image on cover shows a photo of a young Afrian woman superimposed on a tree and some robotic gear on her torso.Title: Remote Control

Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Publisher: Tor Books

Publication Date: January 19, 2021

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Contemporary

Length: 156 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Blurb:

The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From here on in she would be known as Sankofa­­—a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.

Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks—alone, except for her fox companion—searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.

But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?

Review:

Content warning: Violence, blood, menstruation, death of parents, death of a child. I will not be discussing these things in my review.

There’s never been a meteor shower quite like this one before.

This novella freely wandered between genres and settings. It was a folk tale set in the modern day. The dreamy fantasy elements of the plot sometimes wandered into science fiction territory. It had drones and cell phones, but it also had possibly magical creatures who followed Sankofa around everywhere. I’ve never read anything quite like it, and I was often left guessing what might happen next.

Occasionally, I wished Sankofa would have been more straightforward about the connection between the strange seed that fell from the sky during a meteor shower and her becoming the adopted daughter of Death itself. Getting to know her better eventually changed my mind on this topic. Sankofa was quite young when these events happened, so it made sense that she didn’t explain them the same way an adult would. I won’t stop hoping for a sequel that might dive deeply into this part of the world building, but the way it was explained ultimately did make sense given who Sankofa was and what she’d been through.

Some of my favourite scenes were the ones that explored what the main character learned during the course of her travels. Her experience with the seed gave her magical powers that even many adults would struggle to understand, and there was no one around to teach her how to use or control them. Seeing Sankofa gradually figure out the rules of her abilities was nearly as satisfying as watching her learn to accept what had happened to her and begin to take the first confident steps into adulthood.

Remote Control was a wonderful novella that should be read by new and old fans of Okorafor’s work alike.

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