Don't let the word "magic" in the title fool you. This is not magical realism like Alice Hoffman's. Emerson Clarke, daughter of a rich and famous author whose books have sold well and made into films, is introduced grieving at her father's wake. They were very close, and she is suffering his loss. Her mother, Dorothy, is an alcoholic who is mostly in a drunken stupor. Her daughter Sadie is suffering from more than just her loss of her grandfather and very distant.

Emerson is a ghost writer for an author of romantic mysteries. Her own writing ambitions have been put aside since her father did not encourage her own writing and demeaned it. I had no idea that ghost writing was an actual profession and that perhaps some big names (Steele? Patterson?) and others who turn out multiple novels per year existed. Fascinating! An old Underwood typewriter is locked up in her father's cabinet and Emerson picks the lock and takes it home. And the magic begins.

Her wishes, when typed on the Underwood, mysteriously come true, but in unexpected ways and with twists. Curiously, Emerson begins to lose some memories. Does using the typewriter cause Alzheimer's? Hmm. The novel is well written and originally crafted. There is not a boring page in it. I was gripped until the very end, which left me wondering? Magic? Coincidence? Or not.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the chance to read an ARC copy to review honestly.

THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF MAGIC addresses one of those childlike questions that even adults ponder, ‘if I could have anything I wanted, what would I choose?’ And then because it’s a book for adults, the subsequent issues become, ‘what if my wish is accompanied by a bad outcome for someone else?’ There’s a magical device and a trio of unhappy family members struggling to find their love and acceptance for each other, one of whom has access to the magical device. Initially in a subtle way, the author wonders if wishing for a specific future might be a form of exerting excess control, and then, might that become addictive? Towards the end of the book, the questions about control, and control freaks, become a constant hum along with the plot. Few of the twists and turns are surprises but the book is easy to read and the characters are relatable. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I loved the time I spent with this book. If you're looking for a magic-filled story, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for a story where the characters get a major do over you will also be disappointed. This is not that kind of book. This book is about carrying the burdens of growing up in a dysfunctional family and trying to control your life as a result through anxiety. It's about the need for control and the desire that many of us carry to have things "work out" and how there's no such thing about things working out. And how every outcome has unintended consequences and life is much more complicated than "black or white" decisions and outcomes.

I loved it.

with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a really interesting premise and I did keep reading to see how it all got wrapped up. But I didn't feel a real connection with the author. I think her very fast but in to the magic of the typewriter just didn't work for me and that impacted how I connected to the story. Still a decent read and some good moral debate on the value of hardship and the control of others through our choices.

I enjoyed this book! It was an intriguing exploration of the idea of control: people who are grasping for it, what might happen if you (think you) have it, and how ultimately, being human is about not being in control -- but learning to be all right with that.

I'll be recommending it widely.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in advance of publication.

"Readers love to hate a villain and cheer for the protagonist's heroism. In real life, none of us is all evil or pure goodness."

Do we have free will? If you had the tools to grant you every wish (although perhaps not in the way you might think), would you use it?

These are the questions Emerson, our narrator, grapples with throughout the book. She steals her father's typewriter, realizes that it has the power to grant wishes, and spends the rest of the book trying to figure out the rules of the typewriter and more importantly, rationalize her decisions to use the typewriter. Sadie, her daughter, and Deb, her mother's, stories also play a part in this book, but the book really is centered on the question of - if you could control every part of your life, would you do it?

There were many things I enjoyed about this book, but the two that stood out:
1. I generally don't like books that have unlikable characters, and while Emerson isn't strictly unlikable, there are some times where her rationalizations are less than logically sound. In some ways, though, that gave her a depth of character, and I found myself rooting for her to figure out the answers to the questions she was asking herself.

2. The pacing of the book. There was some chapters that opened with a bang, some chapters that has a turning point in the middle, and some that had it at the end. That, plus the use of foreshadowing, kept me hooked.

I definitely enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it to anyone who has ever thought about these questions as well!

I wanted to love this book. The premise -- a magical typewriter that manifests our heartfelt desires -- is certainly promising. The writing style is a bit flowery for my taste, but the author does a credible job portraying the main character, Emerson, her teen daughter Sadie, and Emerson's mother, Dorothy.

The problem, for me, is that none of these characters are remotely likeable, Following the death of Emerson's narcissistic father, all three women are deeply mired in years of emotional trauma, and engage in an endless loop of self-soothing behaviors: For Dorothy, it's a lifetime of alcoholism and denial. For Sadie, it's teen angst and emotional withdrawal. And for our main character Emerson, self-soothing takes the form of an endless internal dialog: overthinking, ruminating and obsessing over the same questions, over and over again. "Why does my teenaged daughter hate me?" "Why can't my Mom stop drinking?" "What do my Dad's cryptic notes mean?" "Should I take a new career path?" "Am I losing my mind?" (Um, yeah, probably. ) And the lucky reader gets to share all of this, page after page, for chapters on end, without Emerson ever actually doing anything constructive to move forward.

The magical typewriter idea takes a far back seat to the constant internal dialog looping in Emerson's head, to the point that, 50% through the book, we aren't any farther down the story path than we were after the first few chapters. I simply couldn't read any further. I wanted to unscrew my head to let Em's endless blathering escape and let some fresh air flood in.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The way it works through all three women in their lives is so captivating and wonderful! It was such a magical journey to be on with the story unfolding in each page