The Unwanteds

I very much enjoyed this story; being a creative person and an artist myself, I really liked that the focus of the magical world is through art. The magic system is a bit squishy in it's rules, one where it seems like you can do anything and everything without any kind of boundary, which did spoil it a bit. This does lead to a bit of a ‘Deus Ex Machina'. Some of the magic is so clearly overpowered that you wonder why the events towards the middle and end of the book even had to occur, or why the whole situation wasn't resolved a long time ago.

The writing itself has a few issues, but nothing that takes away from the story. At some points I found myself confused as to who was speaking or who's perspective the story is from; the author likes to shift this around, but hasn't yet mastered the style. The book is also double spaced, so I flew through the story quick as lightening despite how thick it appears to be. In general, I felt it was on par with most of the YA books I've read recently.

For the most part, if you're looking for a quick, fun, lighthearted read without too much detail, then this is a solid fantasy book. It was good enough that I'll be picking up the sequel today from the library. Just don't expect too much from it!