The Last Magician meets The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy in this thrilling and atmospheric historical fantasy following a young woman who discovers she has magical powers and is thrust into a battle between witches and wizards.
In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.
Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: it’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.
Frances’s newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined?
In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.
Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: it’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.
Frances’s newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined?
Author: Sasha Peyton Smith
Expected publication date: August 31st 2021
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Review:
Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to read and review.
I love witches. Harry Potter is my all time favorite series and the only one I would read over and over again without ever regretting it. A chance to read a book about witches had me itching to jump right in and turn the pages to see what happens.
First, I love the time period this is set in. Whenever I read books set in the early 1900s, I"m always reminded of learning about this time period in school and all the possibilities that existed. But I'm also reminded of the terrible living conditions some had and how living was often minute to minute in the hopes you'd survive.
If you're thinking historical fantasy, though, I"m not quite sure it will meet those expectations. The book starts out immersing you in that time period, but over the course of the story I feel as if it lost that historical feeling and became more of just a story of who done it, I was hoping for that Sherlock Holmes type feel, but it just did not deliver.
The main character starts out as truly likeable. This continued throughout the story, though the build up of her becoming more in tune with her magic wasn't what I would have wanted it to be. Things were too quick to happen and there were more inconsistencies in plot than I would have liked. A perfect example is the strict rules that are set at Haxhaven that the girls can so easily run around.
The magic infused in this story is interesting. I would have liked a more complete explanation of it, but it served its purpose
I'm not sure if the author intends to write more to this story, but I can see where the ending would lead you to that.
Overall my expectations for this particular book were not met. It was fun, and enough of a page turner that I wanted to keep going to see what happened at the end, but I was really expecting to be more enthralled given the content and summary. As a debut novel, I do see much potential from this author for future books and would definitely add them to my TBR!
Would definitely recommend as a middle/upper middle grade read for those who like a magical element in their books.
Sasha Peyton Smith grew up in the mountains of Utah surrounded by siblings, books, and one very old cat. She attended the University of Utah and the George Washington University where she studied biology and public health. She is not a witch, though she does own a lot of crystals and always knows what phase the moon is in. She currently lives in Washington D.C. with her partner and collection of porcelain hands. Her debut novel is THE WITCH HAVEN, coming fall 2021 with Simon and Schuster
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