3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, December 31, 2006
This review is from: Magic Lessons (Magic or Madness Trilogy) (Hardcover)
MAGIC LESSONS is the second book in Justine Larbalestier's trilogy, and it's just as wonderful and gripping as
Magic or Madness (Magic or Madness Trilogy)! In this book, there are just as many questions as in the first, as every answer Reason finds only leads to more questions. For everything that's resolved, there are five more things that I was anxious to find out as I read on! There
is plenty of suspense in this book.
Reason, Tom, and Jay-Tee have all stepped through Esmeralda's magic door into Sydney, leaving behind Reason's evil grandfather, Jason Blake, as well as Jay-Tee's older brother, Danny, in New York. They're being taught magic by Esmeralda, even Reason and Jay-Tee, though they're still not sure they trust her the way Tom does. They've had some bad experiences with magic, but they know now that they have to use it, or else they'll go crazy, like their parents. However, every time they use magic, they lose a little time being alive. Magic is not the blessing it is in other books; in the world Justine Larbalestier has created, it's more of a curse.
The door between Sydney and New York is acting strangely. At first, they think it's because of Jason Blake, but it turns out to be something much more frightening and mysterious. They're not sure what it is, but Reason knows something about whatever it is that the rest of them don't: It's a Cansino. She and Esmeralda are related to it. One more thing: it's old. As in, centuries old. Reason isn't sure what to make of this information, but she doesn't trust Esmeralda, so she's not telling anyone.
Then she loses her chance to share it. She is sucked through the door into New York. Reason's not as lost as she was the first time; after escaping the scary, stinking old man-like creature standing in front of the door, she finds Jay-Tee's brother Danny, and stays with him. She can't go back to Sydney; the old man, the Cansino, is guarding the door. She could always buy a plane ticket home (or, rather, Danny could buy her one; money is nothing to him, and she has none), but there are a few things keeping her in New York. One, she wants to find out more about the man guarding the door, and maybe do something to get rid of him if Esmeralda figures out what he is. Two, there's Danny...
Sequels often don't live up to the high expectations set by the previous books, but MAGIC LESSONS sure does! It's just as great as
Magic or Madness (Magic or Madness Trilogy). One thing that I like about these books is Justine Larbalestier's magic system; it's very original, and it seems more realistic that, if magic existed, it would have a price. That makes this much darker than a lot of books about kids who find out they have magical powers, and also adds some extra awesomeness to an already great book.
The number of questions being far more than the number of answers also adds something to this novel. Even though I usually think that a book is made less wonderful by a cliff-hanger ending, I don't think that's the case in these books. First of all, the main conflict of the book is resolved, but, as all answers do in Justine Larbalestier's books, those resolutions bring new questions to be answered in the following story. Nothing here has been what it has seemed to be so far, but everything also makes perfect sense. Add this to great writing, wonderful characters, and brilliant ideas, and you've got an amazing trilogy! I absolutely cannot wait for book number three (
Magic's Child (Magic Or Madness)).
Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magic Lessons, September 24, 2006
This review is from: Magic Lessons (Magic or Madness Trilogy) (Hardcover)
this book Rocks! the vivid descriptions paint a clear image in your mind. if your interested in this you must; A: like books that arnt compleetly true but could posibly be beleived, B: have read the fist one or you will be compleetly lost, and C: be pacient with australian gramar (wich you would be any way if you folowed my instructions and read book 1 first). I'm imacintly waiting for the third and final book in the series.I want to know what happens very badly ,but don't want it to be over.
sincerly,
A magic or maddness adict
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Magic Lessons, October 4, 2009
This review is from: Magic Lessons (Magic or Madness Trilogy) (Hardcover)
Magic Lessons starts off strong, asking lots and lots of exciting new questions, building suspense, as any good book does. This, however, gets overdone. By the time the reader is in the denser middle section, there are too many questions and not enough answers and a lot of frustration. I'm still extremely ticked off that Sarafina doesn't show up at all in the book, as she is my favorite character and the one I would love to learn more about, so it's frustrating, and I'm really hoping the third book sheds more light on this intensely interesting woman. Magic Lessons does a great job of combining realism with a greater dosage of fantasy than seen in Magic or Madness, and it does so with perfect balance. Reason's dilemma at the end of the book was painfully obvious, though, and I was disappointed--it was the one part of the book that definitely lacked the suspense the rest of the book upheld. There are still questions left unanswered, but since it's a trilogy, I expect they will be answered shortly! The one thing that left me most gleeful was the SPAGBOL reference--hooray for married authors!
Rating: 4/5
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