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"Magic or Madness" Justine Larbalestier

Why I read it: Book 2 in the Blogger's Books project. The blog is here: http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/

What I liked: The voice was strong. I found the main character, Reason, very entertaining, in her fish-out-of-water ness in Sydney, and then even more so in NYC. The premise was really neat -- people who have magic need to use it or they go nuts. And when they use it up they die. That seemed really well-thought-out to me. A peeve of mine is poorly thought-out magic that just seems to solve whatever plot problem comes along. This magic has cost.

What I hated: The section in New York City seemed slower and kind of gratuitous to me, but by the end it seemed somewhat motivated. Also, because the part in NYC is on the back of the book, I was anticipating it a little too much. Sometimes marketing does that to me.

I clearly didn't hate that much, because I've already requested the second book through the library.

What i can steal (a.k.a. Conclusions): She can write. And I like her blog.

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