Another book, another point of view. This time a bit more distant in Jasmina (and Larch), witches who’ve managed to escape a cult-like witchy family (one a long time ago and the other just now, being the main point of the story).
It’s nice to see a bit more of the world that Buchanan is building and the idea of Divination applying to technology / computer searches is pretty fun. But like all of the books here, it’s far too short to actually get into anything. I want to see more of the family they escaped from. I want to see more of the fae (introduced and problem solved in literally a paragraph this time).
Perhaps such a short form is not for me after all. 😄
Still a decent book and it was interesting to see it tie into the Laurel’s world–and how different the two are–eventually. Onward to the lastward.
Notes, potential spoilers:
“She’s… there are six of us. So it’s a lot for her, especially now Dad has a bad back. She doesn’t trust people. She talks a lot about things like cursing the latest flu vaccine to make people turn against the government, but she’s not strong enough for that.”
I am not sure what to think about this implication.
“Hi! You must be Jasmina and Larch. I’m Marigold. It’s lovely to meet you… oh, I told Aunt Penelope to tell you, you didn’t have to bring anything, she must have forgotten… oh no wait that doesn’t work because don’t bring anything is a social script that means…” Her voice trailed off. “Ignore me! That looks lovely. Pass it here, you can put your shoes on that rack there if you like.”
The connection!
So now she had a cat, a teenager, the shadows the teenager had apparently brought with him, and the growing feeling she might be growing closer to Penelope than intended.
Sounds about right for one of these books.
Great, Jasmina said to herself. So now she had a cat, a teenager, the shadows the teenager had gained, the growing feeling she might be growing closer to Penelope than intended, and the possibility that she might have to engage with her past even more than she’d had to do when Larch arrived.
Oh that’s fun echoing.
“We’re probably related. Lots of witches are. Not closely enough that it makes a difference but it would be kind of cool. Okay, so you have what we would probably call the fae. They’re the tricksy ones, very literal with language–I like them, all dramatic holding court and having balls and very glittery and all that. Probably don’t exist, but here’s hoping. Be careful who you accept food from just in case.”
Huh. Fun. Also there’s been a point of describing food this book. Related?
“Hey!” he said, slightly awkwardly. “Hey, so I have your shadows. You can come and get them back now please. Jasmina just saw bending grass and leaves flying, and small flurry, and then nothing. “Well I guess that’s that then,” Larch said. “I was expecting something more dramatic.”
So that’s the resolution.