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A review by bookandcoffeeaddict
A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly
5.0
A Criminal Magic is set in the Prohibition era, but with magic being outlawed instead of liquor, and instead of underground speakeasies where illegal alcohol is served, they have magic havens where sorcerers perform illegal magic shows and brew sorcerer’s shine, a highly addictive magic-infused drink that allows sorcerers and non-sorcerers alike to “see” magic.
The book is told in four parts with chapters alternating between the perspectives of Joan Kendrick and Alex Danfrey as they both get mixed up in the dangerous 1920’s world of gangsters, violence, and shine – and kind of fall in love along the way. The two meet somewhere in the middle of their individual arcs, but, sadly, it soon becomes apparent they don’t quite share the same moral compass. Or they do at one point, but that changes as their individual journeys take them on different paths.
Joan Kendrick is determined to claw her family out of poverty, even if it means tapping into the dangerous magic running through her veins and working for a notorious crime family. Her journey is a little morally grey and ambiguous. She’s willing to do anything to elevate her family’s fortunes, and as the story progresses she realizes how far she’s willing to go and the actions she’s able to rationalize as just means to an end. She’s not a bad person, not really, but she is at her core a survivor and the impossible situation she finds herself in brings that out in her – survival of herself and her family at all costs.
Alex Danfrey just wants to stay out of jail and fix his family’s good name after his father’s underworld dealings damaged it almost beyond repair, but he gets roped into helping the Feds by going undercover to take down the criminal world that so ruined his own. Alex starts out really only caring about himself – getting back the prestige his family name used to afford him and not going to jail – but as he gets deeper into the crime syndicate and sees how dangerous the illegal magical substances they push are, he begins to genuinely care about the cause he’s been grudgingly recruited for.
The writing in this is fantastic and it’s such a great build as the story unfolds and the main characters get pulled deeper into the criminal world around them and the possibility of untangling themselves from the sticky web they’re both stuck in gets more complex, as is the possibility of any kind of happy ending for the pair. The tension at the end, oh my goodness, I literally had to put the book down in the final chapters because I got so anxious – loved it!
I really enjoyed this book. The moral ambiguity and opposing character arcs of the main characters really make this a fascinating read. If you like books about magic, gangsters, the Roaring Twenties, or any combination thereof, I highly recommend A Criminal Magic.
*I received a copy of this book to review. You can find this review and others like it at BookAndCoffeeAddict.com, along with recommendations for a fantastic cup of coffee.
The book is told in four parts with chapters alternating between the perspectives of Joan Kendrick and Alex Danfrey as they both get mixed up in the dangerous 1920’s world of gangsters, violence, and shine – and kind of fall in love along the way. The two meet somewhere in the middle of their individual arcs, but, sadly, it soon becomes apparent they don’t quite share the same moral compass. Or they do at one point, but that changes as their individual journeys take them on different paths.
Joan Kendrick is determined to claw her family out of poverty, even if it means tapping into the dangerous magic running through her veins and working for a notorious crime family. Her journey is a little morally grey and ambiguous. She’s willing to do anything to elevate her family’s fortunes, and as the story progresses she realizes how far she’s willing to go and the actions she’s able to rationalize as just means to an end. She’s not a bad person, not really, but she is at her core a survivor and the impossible situation she finds herself in brings that out in her – survival of herself and her family at all costs.
Alex Danfrey just wants to stay out of jail and fix his family’s good name after his father’s underworld dealings damaged it almost beyond repair, but he gets roped into helping the Feds by going undercover to take down the criminal world that so ruined his own. Alex starts out really only caring about himself – getting back the prestige his family name used to afford him and not going to jail – but as he gets deeper into the crime syndicate and sees how dangerous the illegal magical substances they push are, he begins to genuinely care about the cause he’s been grudgingly recruited for.
The writing in this is fantastic and it’s such a great build as the story unfolds and the main characters get pulled deeper into the criminal world around them and the possibility of untangling themselves from the sticky web they’re both stuck in gets more complex, as is the possibility of any kind of happy ending for the pair. The tension at the end, oh my goodness, I literally had to put the book down in the final chapters because I got so anxious – loved it!
I really enjoyed this book. The moral ambiguity and opposing character arcs of the main characters really make this a fascinating read. If you like books about magic, gangsters, the Roaring Twenties, or any combination thereof, I highly recommend A Criminal Magic.
*I received a copy of this book to review. You can find this review and others like it at BookAndCoffeeAddict.com, along with recommendations for a fantastic cup of coffee.