Review: Don't Expect Magic

 

Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough

Publication Date: November 8th 2011

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 247

Goodreads

 

 

Summary

 



Delaney Collins doesn't believe in fairy tales. And why should she? Her mom is dead, her best friend is across the country, and she's stuck in California with "Dr. Hank," her famous life-coach father—a man she barely knows. Happily ever after? Yeah, right.

Then Dr. Hank tells her an outrageous secret: he's a fairy godmother—an f.g.—and he can prove it. And by the way? The f.g. gene is hereditary. Meaning there's a good chance that New Jersey tough girl Delaney is someone's fairy godmother.

But what happens when a fairy godmother needs a wish of her own?

A book that totally surprised me….

….and maybe not always for the better. This book, humph, was okay. Getting from this summary I thought this was going to be a full on romantic, charming, and magical read. I mean, with fairy godmothers in the play, why shouldn’t it be all those things with a hopeful sweet high school romance on top. Right? Well, wrong.

Instead this book came off more as a guide on how to form a bond with your estrange daughter that just so happens to have the family trait. Delaney (love that name) moves in with her famous life coach of a father in this so fool cheerful town that reminded me a lot of times of the TV show Suburgatory. Delaney was most definitely the odd girl out as apparently a lot of town folks are cheerfully wearing bright pastel colors. She dressed more on the dark side and I adored that she just so happen to make and design her own boots, with wheels! How freaking rocking!! That’s the first time I’ve read a young adult character that has that type of hobby, it was….refreshing.

Anyways, the writing was easy to follow and I could have read it in a day (I miss those days, haha). However, I just couldn’t really connect. Don’t Expect Magic totally had its charming, magical moments. My favorite was the café scene, I freaking adored that moment! ^_^ It was Delaney’s somewhat shining moment on trying to get her client, with the supposedly gal he likes, to finally talk.

But there were things I wasn’t a big fan with. Like the romance, Delaney finally figured she liked her client, in the last few chapters. She finally found out she liked him, like, ¾’s within the book. Now, I’m not asking for instant love here but I would have liked to be able to connect more with her feelings for her client, that’s all. You know, get what the summary was offering. Which is why this book was just, humph….okay.

Though I did enjoy how she was a match maker for her dad, how quickly she found out about her family secret and how not so easily she took it. I mean, in most paranormal otherworldly books, the main characters just right up front believes what they are told. Instead, Delaney’s brain tries to logic it out, which I loved! It was a nice change, you know.

Overall, this was an okay book. I was hooked yes, but I felt like it was missing something. Or at least, I was expecting something and I got something completely else, which is probably why it’s really just an okay book for me. I will probably pick up the second book and thankfully there is no cliffhanger at the end of this one. I was very happy with how Don’t Expect Magic ended.

 

 

I liked it. It was okay. Pick up if you want but I forewarned you, haha.

 

Enjoy

 

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Happy Reading Everybody!