Cover Image: Unnatural Magic

Unnatural Magic

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Member Reviews

Unnatural Magic is a unique and mature fantasy debut with two distinct viewpoints occuring in different regions. The setting and atmosphere brings to mind a sort of victorian era, but imbued with magic. This is the first time I’ve ever read a fantasy novel that was quite fixated on trolls living among and communicating with humans harmoniously. The trolls in Unnatural Magic are broader and stronger than humans. They have a matriarchal culture that contrasts interestingly with the the patriarchal one of humans.

I didn’t care for Onna and her companions, the style of her chapters was consistently unappealing. The climax called for more excitement. The writing can serious plod in a stuffy sort of way.

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A bit messy in the plot structure at times, but a good fantasy novel for non-fantasy readers to get into the genre a bit without being too overwhelmed!

I saw another reviewer refer to Onna as “Hermione-esque” and it is such a great description, though Onna has a bit more perception to overcome than Hermione. Onna is one of the cleverest spell-casters in her class, and is easily able to outperform her male cohort. But Onna also is denied entry to the premiere magical university. Doomed to a more provincial life than anticipated, Onna is not one to settle for being a good girl who doesn’t use her brain for her own goals. She leaves for the city of Hexos to find a university that would welcome her as a student, and becomes engrossed in the murders of four trolls.

Meanwhile Tsira is a troll who despite being part of the magical class, is non-magical due to having a human father. Tsira wants to be the dominant partner in a relationship (a reig), but custom (and her own mother) say she should try to be a submissive partner (a vahn). But Tsira doesn’t think she could be happy with a quiet, submissive home life. When a human soldier shows up on her doorstep barely hanging on to life, Tsira can’t deny her interest in this downtrodden man. Overtime, the two form a bond in this small cabin. But that bond will be tested when they emerge into the world, particularly when an attempt is made on Tsira’s life.

The stories converge as the two are separately pursuing the mystery of the murdered trolls.

I found Tsira’s story much more compelling than Onna’s for some reason. I think Tsira just felt so fresh and new—something totally different for me. Onna is the classic intelligent, precocious young woman who is disadvantaged by the men in her life. Tsira felt like much more of an underdog. I don’t read a ton of books with magic but I find it rare to have a non-magical character lead in a magical world. I loved that this story was included. Jeckran is frankly a bit square, but not really to the detriment of the plot. Tsira and Jeckran felt more broadly relatable. I liked that the book is inclusive and queer normative—in that any character can be in any sort of relationship and characters fluidly range from gay to bisexual to straight (in addition to the intra-species relationships, if that is what you can call them).

This book had a ton of plot threads that felt dropped or forgotten in places, only to be picked up again. I wasn’t sure how the whole book would come together, and that is where I describe the plot as a tad messy. Still, this was an enjoyable read with great dialogue, characters, and world-building. A great fantasy book for even non-fantasy readers.

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I remember I picked Unnatural Magic up once and put it down again very soon, not in the mood. But I’m glad that I tried again because I really really enjoyed it. The worldbuilding had a few interesting twists, the main romantic subplot hit my specific buttons, but unfortunately, it was plagued by a mess of a plot.

Onna, a magical prodigy, desperately wants to become a wizard, but in her part of the world, she simply does not have the right connections (and isn’t a man), so she cannot get into the magical school. Instead, she sails off to Hexos, where she quickly finds herself apprenticed. Elsewhere, a troll called Tsira finds an injured human soldier lying in the snow. After nursing him back to health, they quickly grow close. Oh, and a wizard is murdering trolls.

The worldbuilding was my favourite part. It’s clear that a lot of time and thought was spent on it, the magic, the relations between humans and trolls, the religion. And it’s queernorm. Anyone can get married or “householded” to anyone, many characters are gay or bi, and trolls don’t understand gender the same way humans do.

But if you think “how does all of that plot come together” you’d be right – it was strangely disjointed. The POV characters don’t meet and the three plotlines (Onna’s magic studies, Jeckran and Tsira’s romance, the murders) don’t converge until almost the very end. In short, three quarters in, it still had the feeling of an intro, which is ridiculous. Onna’s plot, also, seemed so central at first with how we follow her since she was a child (no wonder that many people expected it to be MG/YA…which it is not), but it took a backseat rather fast. The mystery subplot felt slapdash, especially at the end. I usually love mysteries, but it was not well done at all. I’m fine with meandering if it’s enjoyable enough, and it was here, but I am questioning some of the choices made. It did not cohere.

Despite that, it was really fun to read. Plenty of banter, I liked the world and the characters enough to keep me hooked, and the romance had a lot of both of them taking care of each other, which is my absolute favourite romance trope. Plus, Tsira is a lot bigger and stronger than Jeckran, which is always nice to see.

Do I recommend? That depends. If you want something light and are willing to overlook poor plotting, go ahead. And I will gladly read the other book set in the same universe, perhaps even soon.

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I could not get into this book, and terribly sorry to say that I don't think I will try again. DNF at 11%.

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I really enjoyed the characters and the back and forth between humans and trolls.
While an interesting read, there are many new words introduced and hard to understand what there meaning is, which really takes the reader out of the story. A bit more polish in this area, and it would help smooth things out.

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Onna want to be a wizard. When she realizes that no matter how well she did on her exams she will never be admitted to Weltsir, the premier magic academy in her country, she changes plans and goes to Hexos to try to get admitted to the university there. When she hears that the lord Mage is looking for an apprentice she shows up for the interview just for fun and is pleasantly surprised to be chosen. Part of her duties lead her to involvement in solving the murder of trolls.

Tsira is part troll and part human who lives alone since she really does not fit in with her clan. She finds a wounded human soldier and takes him back to her cave to heal. When a wizard shows up and almost murders Tsira it becomes necessary for them to leave her cave and go to the human cites to earn their living. When the troll murders hit close to home they go on the hunt for the murderer... a hunt that leads them to Hexos and a partnership with Onna.

The story switches back and forth between Onna and Tsira for perhaps two-thirds of the book until the two meet in Hexos. Since, when the book starts, Onna is fifteen-years-old I had initially considered this a YA book. However, there are several uses of the c word which, to be honest, jolt the reader out of the story and thus seem not only unnecessary but counterproductive to what is, otherwise, an incredible inventive and absorbing YA story. Then we get many uses of the f word and some non-graphic sex which certainly renders it for adult readers only which is a pity as both Onna and Tsira are wonderful role models for young girls to be true to themselves. Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it.

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It was just not worth wading through the bland stuffiness of Onna for the great bits about Tsira and Jeckran. I love how the relationship between Tsira and Jeckran is a reversal of what you're expect from traditional gender roles, with him being a sort of damsel-in-distress character. The book overall is very plodding.

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Unfortunately the writing style didn't work for me. I read roughly 3% and ended up dnfing it. I was originally interested in the concept of the story.

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I really enjoyed the characters and the push-pull between humans and trolls.

However, I think the the world building was lacking a bit. I was frequently confused about the meaning of words or cultural elements. I wish the author had spent a bit more time explaining elements of the world for the reader.

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YA fantasy isn't my usual genre, but as a Harry Potter lover I thoroughly enjoyed the Hermione-esque lead character. Separately, I enjoyed the way physics & math were woven into the book, which is something rare in fantasy in my opinion!

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I enjoyed reading several aspects of this book! The pacing was wonderful, characters were well drawn, and the reading experience on the whole was delightful.

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When it comes to books about magic, witches, paranormal - I am a fan! This book was a great addition to my hundreds read paranormal theme books over the years. The title was great and it fit the book like a glove!
There is a SURPRISE in the book that will truly shock you - because you would least expect it!
I loved every page here!

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Unnatural is a book on it's own level of special. My son and I truly enjoyed reading this book together. There were many gasps and "ohs" from both of us and if a fantasy book can do that, it deserves all the stars! Great book, I recommend!

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This book was excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope the author writes another! I loved Onna and Tsira and was interested to see how their paths finally crossed. And the murderer... I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!!!

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I liked the world-building with enjoyable characters who eventually meet up together. I'd like to read the sequel where they adventure together.

Many different kinds of magic systems.

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Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy!

Did not finish - I could not connect with the plot or writing so I decided to put it down.

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It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

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DNF

This is a story I'm going to want to come back to. I enjoyed the premise, but only got through 8% and nothing grabbed me. Normally I give books at least 20% before deciding to DNF, but I have a big stack of ARCs to go through, so I feel the pressure to go a bit faster. So I'm bookmarking this one and will go back to it and give it a better shot once I clear things up, and get in a better state of mind.

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I was a bit disappointed in this book. The synopsis really stuck out to me but the characters and plot fell flat. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives. The magic system was okay, but nothing fantastic. It was fun at times but not entirely my kind of book unfortunately.

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I went into Unnatural Magic with such high hopes. The whole concept of humans and trolls living in this merged world with its own dynamics, not to mention the interesting magic system, it just all seemed like it was going to be the perfect book.

But wow was it a slow start and it didn't change for a good bit of the book.

I think where I struggled was the pacing merged with changing points of view. It's funny because the different characters were interesting initially and showed so many cool aspects of this highly detailed world. But it also revealed the holes. Waggoner has character interactions down. The dynamics between troll and human culture. The hierarchy of the magic system. I feel like this came through really strong. Yet simultaneously I didn't feel like I was there. The visual details were missing. So much focus centered on the characters that the rest of the world was... lacking.

As for the characters, I'm struggling to feel much of anything toward them. I was interested in Onna at first with her aspirations to attend a male-dominated school for magic. She was good. Really good. Unfortunately that's all that really made her interesting. The same thing happened with Tsira and the only portion of her character's story I was invested in by halfway through was the total inverted relationship goals she and Jeckran had going (think Brienne/Jamie from the Game of Thrones series). But still, the characters came off more like cardboard representatives of their particular Interesting Trait with little depth to back it up.

But ultimately the pacing killed it. I would have enjoyed it more if the story hadn't struggled along. It took ages for the two storylines to finally converge and even then I was just not into it. I feel like Unnatural Magic was definitely a case of a cool premise with poor execution, a bummer since I think this could have been a book that really stuck with me but instead nothing held my attention long enough to retain. Can't say I recommend it but I'll be curious to see what Waggoner writes next.

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