DNF--I recently experienced the loss of my father and this book was a little too much for me at this time. What I read was written well, though.

Emerson and her family have always lived in the shadow of her larger-than-life and very famous father. When he dies, they all have to figure out who they are without him sucking all of the air out of the room. Also there may or may not be a magic typewriter.

This book is interesting. It does have a magical realism element, but I had hoped for a bit more magic than what I got. Similarly, there is some romance, but not enough that I would classify it as a romance. It’s a book about mothers and daughters, how the choices we make impact our lives and those of the people around us, and about giving ourselves grace for the ways in which we are imperfect human beings.

Even though it wasn’t what I had expected going into it, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The storytelling is good, the characters are three-dimensional and flawed, and the mystery kept me in suspense. I also felt genuine moments of delight.

The Unwritten Rules of Magic comes out in January 2026 and I highly recommend it to my fellow millennials who like women’s fiction with a bit of genre-bending elements sprinkled in.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-ARC in exchange for my fair and unbiased review.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC .

A single mother dealing with her father's death accidentally stumbled along her father's secret weapon, a typewriter that grants wishes - but at a cost.

Interesting unique read, full of family love and lessons learned.

Another one that many will love but wasn’t my cup of tea. Great character development and a well told story. I just found it a bit preachy and predictable for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an early release in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm beyond speechless. I did not want this book to end. It pulled me in from the very first page and I can't wait for other people to be able to experience it.

Rating this a weak four; perhaps 3 3/4 stars.
I think I was at least 3/4 of the way through the book before I could say I cared about any of the characters. The primary characters - Emerson, her mother, her daughter and her best friend - were not particularly likable, or not developed in a way I would hope. In addition, at about the 3/4 mar we get thrown not one but two rather serious issues to deal with (in addition to the death of Emerson’s father early in the story).
The premise - a magical typewriter that grants wishes, with a price - is a good one. Parts of the book were enjoyable, parts felt like a lecture.

In the end, I feel like I’m a little more disappointed than I have a right to be… if that makes any sense.

This was such an interesting and captivating book to read. I for one was impressed with the authors portrayal with the emotions of the main character and the ability to relate to it. I think we can all agree that we have most likely experienced not knowing what to do with our lives and feel like we are going no where with the career we have. Overall this novel really opened my eyes.

We are introduced to Emerson who is a ghost writer and her own llife has never been easy. She has never had a good relationship with her father and of course with his death the chance of making up is very unlikely to happen. When cleanibg out his house she discovers his old type writer and decides to start using it herself

However, the great power that the typewriter holds over Emerson is of great responsibility. However, Emeraob doesn't realize that and soon her actionsand emotions become questionable and worrying.

Have you ever wished you could plot your life like a story? That’s the dilemma confronting ghostwriter Emerson Clarke after her father dies and she inherits his wish-granting typewriter. Her intentions are always good – but every wish that comes true has unexpected costs and consequences.
This is a poignant, thoughtful, beautifully crafted story about the desire to ”fix” things and the limits of control. Highly recommend!

🌅This was my favorite kind of speculative fiction book – one that makes you sit back and think a little. What if the power to reshape your life came with a cost you didn’t fully understand until it was too late? That’s the quiet, unsettling question at the center of The Unwritten Rules of Magic, a captivating and introspective novel by Harper Ross that straddles the line between speculative fiction and psychological drama.
The story follows Emerson Clarke, a ghostwriter and daughter of a wildly successful, now-deceased author. Emerson has spent years living in the shadow of her father’s literary legacy—her own creative ambitions stifled by his dismissiveness and her current work anonymous by design. When he passes, she inherits not only his physical possessions but also emotional baggage, a fractured family dynamic, and, tucked away in a locked cabinet, an old Underwood typewriter that changes everything.
Once Emerson begins using the typewriter, strange things happen. The words she writes seem to ripple into reality—not always in the ways she expects, but unmistakably connected to her wishes. As she becomes more entangled in the typewriter’s apparent magic, Emerson also starts to lose something: her memory, her sense of self, her grip on what’s real. What begins as a tool for transformation quickly becomes a source of dread. Is this magic? Coincidence? Or something darker, more insidious?
What sets The Unwritten Rules of Magic apart is that it doesn’t lean into whimsy or traditional fantasy tropes. Instead, Ross crafts a grounded, emotionally resonant story that uses the idea of “magic” to explore deeper themes—grief, generational trauma, creative identity, and control. The novel is layered with moral ambiguity and psychological tension, and Emerson’s struggle to make sense of her life, her family, and her choices feels intimate and painfully honest.
The pacing is strong throughout, with sharp chapter arcs and effective foreshadowing that keeps the reader engaged. Emerson is not a universally likable protagonist, and that’s part of what makes her compelling. Her motivations aren’t always noble, and her rationalizations often serve her more than those around her—but her complexity makes her feel human. The novel also gently touches on the lives of her mother, Dorothy, and daughter, Sadie, both of whom are suffering in different ways, adding emotional depth and intergenerational nuance.
If there’s one criticism, it’s that the novel’s speculative elements stay deliberately vague. Readers hoping for a clearly defined magical system or big reveals may find themselves wanting more. However, for me, the ambiguity worked—it kept the focus on character and consequence rather than explanation, and that felt like the right choice for this particular story.
In short, The Unwritten Rules of Magic is a thought-provoking and beautifully written novel that uses a whisper of the supernatural to ask big questions about agency, creativity, and the unintended consequences of rewriting our own stories. It was perfect for me and could be good for others who enjoy introspective fiction with a touch of eerie mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it lingered long after the final page. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Reviewed for NetGalley;

The Unwritten Rules of Magic spins a hauntingly whimsical tale around a mysterious family typewriter that blurs the line between fiction and fate. At its heart is a fractured family: a grief-numbed, alcohol-soaked mother; her daughter clinging to storytelling as survival; and a troubled teen The magic is subtle but potent—less about spells and more about consequences.
Part reckoning, this book explores how words wield power and how healing rarely follows a script. The prose is lyrical, the tension real, and the magic surprisingly grounded.

While somewhat slower pace at times, an enjoyable read.

This was a good read! The subject matter isn't the lightest, but the author brought a humorous spin to it that made the book less heavy than it might otherwise have been. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the author’s writing style. It was a bit too contemporary fiction for me, I think? My main issue was the frequency with which she would reference a real modern company/media property. It just completely took me out of the book each and every time. I won’t dock points from its rating for that, though, because I know that most readers are not as bothered by it. Also, I was hoping there was a bit more magic than it ultimately ended up containing.

The book opens just after the funeral of Emerson's father, a famed fantasy writer who had been battling Alzheimer's for most of the last decade. After a lifetime of him dominating every family moment and decision, the women he leaves behind are left to pick up the pieces: an alcoholic widow, a teenage granddaughter, and our MC, a stressed/frazzled daughter who is just trying to hold the family together. The daughter then finds her deceased father’s magic typewriter and discovers she can make wishes come true with it, giving us a classic Monkey’s Paw style story.

The storyline for the book was interesting, though there were definitely times when I was wishing the MC would get out of her own way. It felt like it repeatedly took multiple instances of things going wrong for her to learn individual lessons, which is very true to life, but can be frustrating in a novel. I liked the way things ultimately ended up, though. The strained relationship with her mother felt very real, but I wish Emerson had gotten a bit more introspective about her relationship with her father earlier in the book (Aka before she realized what he might have been doing with the typewriter). The romance in the book is cute and the complicated yet tender family dynamics give the book as fun middle-aged, coming-of-age type feel.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the digital ARC of this book.

Emerson Clarke es una escritora fantasma que acaba de perder a su famoso padre, Jefferson, un aclamado autor de ciencia ficción. Aunque el mundo lo idolatra, Emerson guarda recuerdos mucho más complejos: un padre carismático, sí, pero también egoísta, manipulador y absorbente. Al heredar su antigua máquina de escribir Underwood, Emerson descubre que podría tener propiedades mágicas: todo lo que se escribe en ella... se cumple.

A medida que prueba el poder del artefacto, Emerson se enfrenta a verdades dolorosas sobre su familia, especialmente sobre el daño que su padre causó con sus deseos egoístas, y el ciclo de manipulación que parece haber heredado. Su madre, Dorothy, también tiene sus demonios, especialmente el alcoholismo y una vida marcada por la renuncia personal. Y su hija Sadie, adolescente y distante, está más afectada por la muerte del abuelo de lo que quiere admitir.

--

Sentí que el padre de Emerson obtuvo lo que merecía: a pesar de su carisma, todo lo que hizo fue desde el egoísmo. Me dio tristeza ver cómo Dorothy y Emerson vivieron gran parte de sus vidas manipuladas por él. Y aunque en cierto punto Emerson repite los mismos patrones de control que su padre, la diferencia crucial es que ella lo hacía desde el amor y, afortunadamente, tuvo la capacidad de reconocer las consecuencias de sus actos y cambiar de rumbo.

Emerson me cayó mal; me molestó que, a pesar de saber cómo fue su padre y lo mal esposo y padre que fue, ella culpaba a su madre. Lo bueno es que, a diferencia de él, ella sí aprendió de sus errores.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest.

I liked this book! It wasn't fantasy, but it had some fantasy elements in it. It wasn't romance, but there's some little romantic moments. It's a story of a family grieving the loss of its patriarch, how that grief gets manifested in different ways, and how the man's daughter tries to keep all their lives from spinning out of control. The fantasy aspect comes in as a 'magical typewriter' that may or may not have the ability to change destinies, but in a way that is secondary to the exploration of family dynamics.

The Unwritten Rules of Magic is a beautifully written and emotionally layered novel that weaves together themes of grief, generational trauma, and the illusion of control all with a touch of the fantastical. Harper Ross delivers a poignant story about Emerson Clarke, a woman grasping for meaning and connection in a life marked by chaos and heartbreak. When she discovers a magical typewriter that makes her wishes come true, Emerson must confront not only her family’s buried secrets but also the dangerous cost of rewriting reality.

Reminiscent of The Midnight Library and In Five Years, this book blends magic and memory in a way that feels both whimsical and deeply human. It’s a tender, thought provoking read about motherhood, legacy, and learning to let go. Ross’s storytelling is as enchanting as it is raw, making this a compelling and bittersweet novel that lingers long after the final page.

The Unwritten Rules of Magic make you think of the repercussions of wishes. After her father dies, the main character, Emerson, takes his “lucky” typewriter home. She finds that what she types comes true, but not quite in the way she expected. Emerson wrestles with whether or not to wish things on the typewriter, while struggling with family things that are very real for many families: family member alcoholism, parenting struggles, and more. This book makes the reader wonder, if you could take away pain and struggle, would you? No matter the consequences? …and despite the lessons from it?

Thanks to #NetGalley and #HarperRoss for this advance copy of the book. It comes out in January of 2026.

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.