City of Stolen Magic

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However, I found it challenging to connect with the main character, Chompa. The story is narrated from the perspectives of both Chompa and Tipu, and Tipu's story is more engaging. There's also a twist that was quite predictable. Plot wise I thought the story was fantastic. There is enough danger here for it to feel like a real adventure, but without being too graphic or scary for younger readers. The magic systems are really well described, and I particularly enjoyed that we get to see several different types of magic and how they worked. There is a lot of detail in the world building, and it really helped to bring the story to life. The book has a captivating premise, with a well-crafted magic system and a rich setting. Among the many characters, my personal favorites were Tipu and Laurie. Their duo was the best thing in the book. The concepts of djinn-borns and djinn speakers, finger magic, and written charms were fascinating. The author beautifully portrayed the friendships between the characters and the mother-daughter relationship. It effectively reflects the cruelty and exploitation of colonialism through the lens of magic. However I did find that I was more invested in side characters stories than the main characters. By the 60% mark I was missing Tupu and his story which I found more interesting than Chompa’s story. I think it may have been because I didn’t really gel with Chompa as a character as much as I did with Tipu or Laurie. Which I must mention, Laurie’s sarcasm made the book that much more enjoyable for me. But I think my disconnection with Chompa despite her emotional journey in the book is because the book seems to treat Chompa as older than she is. In the first like 10 chapters I thought she was a teenager maybe 17. Turns out she’s still a child, which I should have expected since the book is middle grade. But the writing of the book left her age ambiguous when it wasn’t explicitly mentioned. Maybe this is because Chompa saw herself as older than she was but considering it’s third person and not first person that message got a little lost in execution. Hair was what princesses worried about, but in real life, it got in your eyes and mouth… Chompa threw the scarf aside. She was never going to be a princess. And she didn’t want to be one, either. She was something far more powerful. She was a witch.”

City of Stolen Magic (Paperback) - Waterstones City of Stolen Magic (Paperback) - Waterstones

When Chompa discovers that people born with magic are being transported to England by the sinister, all-powerful ‘Company’, she knows she must follow. Within a few cliffhanger chapters, she has found herself on a perilous quest through Victorian London, during which she starts to untangle the truth surrounding her father, and discover where the true limits of her magic lie. An unexpected gem of a story . . . A stellar setting, a gut-punch of a twist, and an unforgettable heroine. This has all the hallmarks of classic children's storytelling' - Nizrana Farook author, The Girl Who Stole an Elephant The discussion of colonialism also felt a bit jumbled. I definitely think fantasy can be used to comment on really world issues, but something about the way the magic was incorporated in this case felt like it obscured the actual atrocities that the British committed in India – again, I can’t really verbalise why, but it just didn’t work for me.

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This is the story of Chompa and her mother Amina during British rule. Chompa can do a special kind of magic called finger magic whereas her mother's speciality are the written spells. One day because of Chompa's magic Amina gets kidnapped and taken by the Britishers to London. Then Chompa meets Mohsin who is her mother's friend who helps Chompa to find amina. During her journey she meets Tipu and Laurie who become her friends and help her to find amina and during the climax of the book. This wonderful new middle grade book imagines a spunky girl’s journey from her home in India to London. Note: Since this is a children’s book, I think it is important to let readers know that the story includes a death scene. Sir Clive Devaynes (names derived from real people from the East India Company) of the “East Merchant Company” is collecting them for a nefarious purpose.

City of Stolen Magic | BookTrust City of Stolen Magic | BookTrust

Now, it’s up to Chompa to find and save her mother from the British, who are trying to stamp out Indian magic. With the help of an old friend, Chompa goes off after her, traveling on a fast ship powered by a tree djinn. For Chompa and others like her are djinnborn or djinnspeakers, able to think or write words to do magic and manipulate the elements.I LOVE a good middle grade but because the story is told by Chompa's POV as a VERY young girl, it feels almost a bit... Too young... For me 🌸