I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey Published by Simon Pulse on March 3 2020
Genres: Young adult, Fantasy
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Six high school friends with magical abilities get into a heap of trouble in Gailey’s first foray into young adult fiction.
Sarah Gailey is a rockstar in publishing these days, with no less than four new books published within a span of less than two years. In their latest, they dip their toes into the young adult pool, giving us a story with a hint of magic that mostly focuses on teen friendships, romance and family relationships. Although this story might be a little too teen angsty for some adult readers, I found its many messages about body positivity, diversity and sexual identity perfect for teens who are looking for stories with diverse representation. And the magic is a bonus!
High school senior Alexis, along with her five best friends, is able to do magic, a secret that bonds the girls together as they navigate the ups and downs of high school and family life. Alexis is attending a prom afterparty and scheming to lose her virginity with lacrosse star Josh Harper when something horrific happens: her magic unexpectedly goes very wrong, and Josh winds up dead. Calling on her five besties for help—Iris, Roya, Maryam, Marcelina and Paulie—Alexis and her friends try to solve the problem with more magic, but that makes things even worse. Now the girls are stuck with Josh’s dismembered body parts and they must figure out how to get rid of them before the police start asking questions.
I know that’s a very short story recap, but that’s really all you need to know. When We Were Magic is actually very light on plot and focuses mainly on the relationships among the six friends and their respective families. At first I was a little disappointed with that focus, but I have to admit Gailey did a great job of pulling me into the drama—which I tried to resist!—and I grew to care about these girls as if they were my own friends.
And boy, if you are looking for a diverse read, well you have found it. This book is chock full of diversity. Maryam is Muslim, and Roya is Afghani and biracial (I think). Marcelina is not only Filipina, but she’s also described as “plump” and is completely comfortable with her body. Alexis and her brother are both adopted and have two dads, and Alexis, Roya and Paulie are all queer. The story is told from Alexis’s point of view, and she calls herself “ordinary” and compares herself to her beautiful friends. She’s clearly struggling a bit with her body image but it felt real to me, because I know lots of teens aren’t happy with the way they look.
But what really stood out for me was the way all six girls lifted each other up and stuck together through thick and thin. There are so many teen positive messages in this book. Alexis, who has technically murdered someone, knows she has to take responsibility for her act, even though it happened by mistake, and she even tries to talk her friends out of getting involved, so they don’t have to suffer the consequences. I also enjoyed the emotional moments when the girls are trying to cope with eventually splitting up as senior year comes to a close, that inevitable time when friends are forced apart. Having recently experienced the emotional trauma of high schoolers going off to college, I have to admit I teared up a bit!
However, if you’re one of those readers who wants concrete information about where the magic comes from or how it works, you might be disappointed. Gailey’s characters have magical abilities that just are, no explanations given. It’s also not clear how many people out there have magic, since the story is tightly focused on the six main characters. Although near the end, we find a seventh teen also has abilities, but she’s been scared and hasn’t told anyone, up until now. I did love the different types of magic the girls each had: Alexis can communicate with animals, Marcelina can talk to trees and plants and make them grow, Maryam has an affinity with colors, Roya has healing magic and flowers burst into bloom around her whenever she’s happy, etc. Even though I loved these magical abilities, they felt sort of all over the place to me, with no real connecting tissue.
I also had lots of questions about why certain things happened. Why did Josh’s body disappear and then reappear in pieces? Why did the girls start losing things (like memories or freckles) when the body parts were destroyed? Why did Alexis’ magic suddenly turn “bad”? And what the heck was that scene in the woods where six dead hawks fell out of the sky? If you’re OK with going with the flow and can get past these unanswered questions, you’ll be fine. But you might struggle in parts like I did, if you’re a reader who needs their magic systems to have rules.
But despite those negatives, I am recommending this, especially to younger readers who are looking for diverse stories about friendship with a bit of romance. This isn’t my favorite Sarah Gailey book, but it was the right book to read last week when the world was falling apart, a lighter read that left me entertained and smiling at the end.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
Yep, we need something to read while everyone crumbles. I turned to MG and honestly, it bit me in the ass. I don’t think I could have picked a worse book for me if I tried. In reality the book was good, but there were some things that triggered stuff with me. I’ll have my review up tomorrow. I think I need a foray into horror – that might get my mind off the news huh?
This one does sound good and I already have a hold placed for it at my local library – whenever they open back up 🙂 Great review and I want to talk to animals.
I read your review and I’m sorry that MG didn’t work out. Normally MG is upbeat and positive!
I do still read YA but like you said I think it would be a little too teen angsty for me, personally. But then again you never really know until you read the book, right? Great review!! 🙂
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Definitely, it could work really well for you!
I think I need this one after loving Upright Women Wanted.
It’s definitely different from Upright Women, but there was a lot to enjoy about it.
Glad to see you enjoyed this one! I really want to check it out, and you’ve made me more excited to pick a copy up. =)
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I hope you enjoy it!
I just got a copy of this! I do love Sarah Gailey — I’m so glad to see your positive review! Can’t wait to get started.
Hope you enjoy it!
Great review! I really enjoyed this book.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, I’m headed over to your blog to see your review:-)
A positive book about teen girls? What a novel idea! Love the sound of this one. 🙂
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Yes, it was such a nice change of pace!
As ever, a really great informative review, which I’m truly grateful for – because this one would drive me CRAZY. I need to know where the magic comes from, especially if it isn’t completely widespread within the population. I didn’t get on with Gailey’s earlier hippo novellas, which I found rather disappointing, so I think I’m going to pass on this one, too. Kudos that she has so much diversity within her story, though.
Yeah, this probably won’t work for you at all. The vague magic system was a little hard to swallow, so if that drives you crazy, stay away!
A lighter read can definitely come in handy during these times, Tammy. I’m grateful you put this author on my radar, even though I’ll pick a different one for my first. Lovely, thoughtful review.
Thanks Jennifer:-)
Great review, Tammy! The friendship aspect of the book really appeals to me. I can’t decide if not knowing more about the magic would bother me or not, but I do agree regardless that lighter reads are really appealing right now with all that’s going on in the world.
Yes, I’m trying to stay away from really grim books at the moment, also books that are super complex because I’m finding it hard to concentrate!
Not sure if this would be a good fit for me. I do love that cover though.
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I love the cover too, and it actually is perfect for the story:-)
This one was a surprise arrival so it’s not likely I can fit it in this month, but gonna keep it on my maybe list for the rest of spring because it does sound interesting!
Definitely worth checking out, although I think adult readers might struggle a bit with it.
I feel like Gailey’s output must be incredible because there are always new works coming out! Glad you liked this one and I definitely have to check out some of her work at some point.
She’s really been prolific lately!
Great review! I’m going to have to give this a try!
It’s really good:-)
Agh – yikes. As if prom wasn’t traumatizing enough! Lol. Is it weird to me that this sounds like it might be hilarious?
This kind of reminds me of the ten thousandth floor by Katherine McGee! It has a great world and concept but rather than focusing on that it also focused on relationship and family drama and everything got crazy tangled. And I got incredibly sucked in and head over heels loved it. Which makes me think I’d enjoy this book a lot too!
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Oh I’m really looking forward to reading this! Good review