Just a Pinch of Magic

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
Winifred's family's bakery is in dire straits, and even her impressive baking magic isn't enough to bring it back - not when the whole town seems to blame her for a curse her absent mother brought about. Digging out an old volume of unfinished spells, she takes a big risk, only to see it all go wrong, even when she befriends a new arrival with magic of her own.

Review
Just a Pinch of Magic is engaging right from the start. It's built on some very familiar elements – recipes, two lonely pre-teens, a generally happy background – but it does the right things with them. While for the first half, it feels too light and easy – even for a ‘middle grade' book – it does get somewhat more tense in the latter parts of the story. The ending is far too easy for my taste, buy not entirely out of line with the age range.

The magic system is on the vague side – individuals have a propensity for a certain kind of magic – and there are some pretty big plot holes here. Both girls are powerful enchanters, but Kal's ‘type' is never resolved, and it seemed a little too clear for me that that topic was set aside for a possible sequel. I think the book would have been stronger as a truly self-contained story, but there is certainly room here for expansion.

The ending is somewhat disappointing in that it presumes a foundation of magical creatures that Dow never actually builds, so some of the resolution comes out of left field. That and some of the relationships are essentially just declared resolved without much basis. It makes the ending much weaker than the rest of the book, though it does retain the light tone of the start.

This felt to me like a younger book than the pre-teen audience it seems to shoot for, but it's a pleasant one nonetheless. A quick, light, positive read, with some nice recipes thrown in to boot. (I tried the hot chocolate one, and it's a little rich for my taste, but not bad.)

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.