Review | An Unusual History of Books and Magic – Lisa Papademetriou

“Everything is magical, the sky, the stars, the whole world is a miracle, if you think about it.”

An Unusual Story About Books and Magic It may seem like a long title for a book, but it says exactly what its content is, it's unusual and very magical!

The work shows the story of two girls, Kai, which is in Texas and Leila, which is located in Pakistan. The two are temporarily staying with relatives and find an edition of the book "The Eccentric Corpse”, which is said to be magical and proposes a game, where a first person starts writing a story, the second continues, returns to the first and so on.

As we follow the events in the lives of the girls, we have the hooks in small moments to show the story that is being revealed little by little in The Eccentric Corpse.

“Kai had something more important than friends. It had a purpose.”

An Unusual Story About Books and Magic It's a small book, 192 pages long, but captivating. It's that kind of reading that you finish in a day, not only because it's short, but because it has an engaging plot and a fluid and fun narrative. Lisa Papademetriou uses the famous “breaking the fourth wall”, which is when the narrator talks to the reader, and this works a lot here, it makes the reading even more enjoyable.

The mystery to be deciphered, involving The Eccentric Corpse, is not something worthy of a police thriller, on the contrary, it is so simple that it gives a little childish air to the work, but that did not harm it, it just made it more innocent. To compensate, we have a little regional history, mainly about Pakistani culture, enriching the work.

As not everything in life is perfect, I have a reservation about An Unusual Story About Books and Magic. I don't have a problem with books where everything happens very quickly, in fact I prefer it, because that way it doesn't get too long or tiring. However, here I got the impression that some things were left up in the air, some details, especially about Leila, were shown and ignored from a certain point onwards. I couldn't find out if this book has any future sequels, if so, the details were very well put, but if not, some things were left unresolved. Also, scenes get more rushed when it's past the middle.

Finally, I have to comment on the beauty of An Unusual Story About Books and Magic. The cover, which is already beautiful, becomes even more significant at the end of reading, as it is full of elements that we find in the course of it. The representation of Texas or Pakistan at the beginning of each chapter makes the book even more charming!

An Unusual Story About Books and Magic It's a perfect book to read on those days when we just need some rest and a little magic in our lives.