Jules reviewed Crooks and Straights by Masha du Toit
Very novel urban fantasy
4 stars
Firstly a quick warning that this isn't an entire story in itself, but the first half of a story that concludes somewhat ambiguously in the second book "Wolf Logic". I hope there will be a third on as while the main story wrapped up at the end of the second book I feel there were still quite a lot of loose ends.
I really liked the reversal of the usual chosen one narrative, that what makes the heroine Gia special in a magical family is her lack of magical powers, and it is this, not suddenly developing some magical ability, that allows her to become the hero by infiltrating the anti-magical organisation. If she does have a superpower it's likely to be her ability to accept and empathise with those different enough that many others don't. Magical ability is used effectively as a metaphor for neurodiversity or disability, and I …
Firstly a quick warning that this isn't an entire story in itself, but the first half of a story that concludes somewhat ambiguously in the second book "Wolf Logic". I hope there will be a third on as while the main story wrapped up at the end of the second book I feel there were still quite a lot of loose ends.
I really liked the reversal of the usual chosen one narrative, that what makes the heroine Gia special in a magical family is her lack of magical powers, and it is this, not suddenly developing some magical ability, that allows her to become the hero by infiltrating the anti-magical organisation. If she does have a superpower it's likely to be her ability to accept and empathise with those different enough that many others don't. Magical ability is used effectively as a metaphor for neurodiversity or disability, and I also really enjoyed the melting pop of different folklore traditions the world building allows, with the central set up being that magical creatures were oppressed or eradicated in Europe and north America, and the survivors found refuge in a somewhat tolerant south Africa.