Review: Ordinary Magic by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

Ordinary Magic


In Abby’s world, magic isn’t anything special: it’s a part of everyday life. So when Abby learns that she has zero magical abilities, she’s branded an “Ord”—ordinary, bad luck, and quite possibly a danger to society. 

The outlook for kids like Abby isn’t bright. Many are cast out by their families, while others are sold to treasure hunters (ordinary kids are impervious to spells and enchantments). Luckily for Abby, her family enrolls her in a school that teaches ordinary kids how to get around in a magical world. But with treasure-hunting kidnappers and carnivorous goblins lurking around every corner, Abby’s biggest problem may not be learning how to be ordinary—it’s whether or not she’s going to survive the school year!

Ordinary Magic was such a fun, witty read and let me start off by saying that whilst this book is middle-grade I absolutely loved it! It was so cute and fun and clever and I absolutely devoured it. Rubino-Bradway has written a book that is engaging whilst not being too deep but isn't fluffy. It finds that perfect balance between writing something that's fun and sweet and also has the action and the adventure.

The characters in this book just totally shine, I loved Abby who was so spunky and real but I totally adored Alexa, the big sister who is totally kick-ass and Gil, the clever older brother. Peter is a quiet and moody boy who becomes Abby's best friend and all of the other teachers and students were awesome. I absolutely loved Abby's snarky narrative, it had me chuckling and laughing. 

There is plenty of action and adventure in this book. The comedic bad guys Trixie and Barbarian Mike had me giggling with their attempts to capture the ords, Mike was a lumbering big bad guy and Trixie was pure evil, but in a totally comedic way. There was plenty of action in this book and I loved it.

This book also has it's sad bits. I felt so sorry for Abby who is ignored and kicked out o school because she has no powers, I loved the fact that Rubino-Bradway put in the bits about discrimination as it adds a level of depth for the older readers.

Overall, this book was so funny and witty and such a nice quick read. The characters were great and there was some fun action in there.

Overall Rating: A

Released May 8th 2012 by Bloomsbury (USA)
Received from the author in exchange for the review and as part of the blog tour.


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