How to Talk to a Goddess and Other Lessons in Real Magic

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Pub Date 29 Jun 2021 | Archive Date 02 Sep 2021
Semrland Books | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles

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Description

Nora knows she needs to move on, and forget about magic.

She’s back in graduate school, and her life is going surprisingly well. She doesn’t need to think about other worlds, about enchantments and demons, or about magicians—even though she once aspired to become one herself. Most of all, she really should forget the magician Aruendiel, who shared the secrets of magic with her but fiercely guarded the deepest secrets of his heart.

Then a chance encounter gives Nora the opportunity to slip between worlds again—and the next phase of her magical education begins.

Clever, lush, and riveting, with the same wry humor and vivid characters that delighted fans of its prequel, The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic, Emily Croy Barker's new novel opens a portal into a brilliantly realized world of enchantment, love, and danger. Readers of Philip Pullman, Deborah Harkness, Catherynne Valente, and Susanna Clarke will relish this novel’s magic.

Nora knows she needs to move on, and forget about magic.

She’s back in graduate school, and her life is going surprisingly well. She doesn’t need to think about other worlds, about enchantments and...


A Note From the Publisher

ebook (9781736407110)


audiobook (9781980085409)

ebook (9781736407110)


audiobook (9781980085409)


Advance Praise

“I’m not sure what I love more about How to Talk to a Goddess and Other Lessons in Real Magic—its immersive world of enchantments, so lavishly imagined, or its characters, who are wise and funny and flawed, who win me over with their compelling voices, their wit and heart. A splendid follow-up to The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic—a sparkling, smart, irresistible read.”
—Sally Rosen Kindred, author of Book of Asters and Where the Wolf

“In Emily Croy Barker’s new novel, magic happens exquisitely, seductively, dangerously.”
—Richard Horan, author of Goose Music and Seeds

“I’m not sure what I love more about How to Talk to a Goddess and Other Lessons in Real Magic—its immersive world of enchantments, so lavishly imagined, or its characters, who are wise and funny and...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781736407103
PRICE $17.00 (USD)

Available on NetGalley

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Send to Kindle (EPUB)

Average rating from 46 members


Featured Reviews

How to Talk to a Goddess and Other Lessons in Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
Publisher: Semrland Books
Genre: Humor | Romance | Sci Fi & Fantasy
Publication Date: June 29, 2021

How to Talk to a Goddess (And Other Lessons in Real Magic) by Emily Croy Barker and is the sequel to The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic. This was like coming home to an old friend!

If you haven't read the first book, I would definitely recommend diving into that one first, but the beginning of this book provides some backstory so you can catch up.

So I absolutely loved this book. I found it to be captivating, intriguing, funny, and I couldn't stop reading! This book takes you on an adventure with so many twists and turns that you just don't know what to expect next! The characters are great and well-developed. I find Nora, the main character, to be so relatable, funny, strong, intelligent and her story is so fascinating!

I definitely recommend checking out this fantasy series!

I'm so grateful to Emily Croy Barker, Semrland Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

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Stop Right where you are!! Go grab the first book—The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic. Read that.
Not because How to Talk to a Goddess does not stand up well on its own—it does. The author does a fantastic job of keeping it real in this one—I never felt lost or confused because I hadn’t read the first book in the pair. It’s just that there are references to the first book that titillate and tantalize and all the way through this one I was wishing I’d read the first one and I want to spare you that pain.

I don’t give very many 5-star reviews. I feel like a 4 is a really good book—one that I would recommend, give as a gift—one that I am happy I read. When I give a 4-star review, I am saying that I never—or at least very seldom—felt like I was wasting my time. I didn’t long to toss it in the fire or dissolve it with acid and I would probably check out anything else by that author.

A 5-star book, on the other hand, is something else.

How to Talk to a Goddess is a fantasy grounded, like the main character Nora, in the humdrum world of reality. And I can’t say a whole lot about plot until you’ve read the first one. Let’s just say the action will keep your attention and the romance is entertainingly non-standard. I’m a fantasy nut, but very few fantasies carry me into their world as well as this one did.

What Worked in this Book
Everything. Characters are clear and well-drawn. Plot is compelling. Descriptions are awesome. Writing is poetic at times, precise and practical at other times. The story twists like a giant snake and deals with universal issues like life and death and life again—and what’s real and what’s fantasy—and what is Divine and where can you locate it.

What Didn’t Work
Nothing. For me, this is as close to a perfect book as you need to get to get a 5 out of me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I stayed up late on work nights to read it. I was sad when it was over but then I remembered I hadn’t read The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic so I bought that and was happy again. I’ll remember the characters and story because bits of them are now woven into my soul.

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