This book takes place in a world that was once magical. Due to actions of the protagonist (and other tragedies), magic was lost. Now, industrialization is on the rise, which causes people to no longer miss the magic since they are comfortable with the convenience of washing machines and paved roads. Our protagonist is searching for a way to bring the magic back.

Here is my video review: https://youtu.be/bqJ33eMl384?t=140

This book is, honestly, a collection of info dumps and logical inconsistencies. I kept trying, as I read it, to somehow explain why the main character would speak in such thorough packets of exposition. Perhaps that is just the culture of the city, to constantly remind each other of things that they already know. Perhaps the protagonist interrogates people by telling them details of his investigations because he’s secretly a mind reader, and trying to see what details trigger a memory for them. Alas, the book just is really bad at exposition. I think I would have preferred the exposition to be just given to me as a wikipedia article instead of this.

The themes of this story seem to be: (1) the loss of culture through industrialization and (2) the dangers of going to far to bring the magic back.

(1) The epitome of the dangers of industrialization is the Evil Businessman, Niles. He does such despicable things such as paying his workers well, building housing for the poor, and funding public libraries. The protagonist hates him primarily because he makes life without magic convenient, so no one else is working to bring the magic back. I was most excited about this plot when a side character insinuated that Businessman was Protagonist’s ex-boyfriend. Finally, a relationship between them, with emotional depth, and a legitimate reason for them to hate each other! I was disappointed that this turned out to be a sarcastic joke.

(2) As with most plots, the protagonist’s goal is difficult to attain and comes with challenges and costs. So, as he tries to restore magic to the world he often fails and gets people hurt. Though this becomes a part of the major climax of the story, it falls flat when many of these consequences are reversed.

Thanks to Orbit Books and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.