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abbie_ 's review for:
The Magic Toyshop
by Angela Carter
A latecomer for my favourites of 2018 list!After reading Wise Children in September and being slightly underwhelmed, I was determined to try another Angela Carter and find the magic everyone talks about - and it’s safe to say The Magic Toyshop fully delivered!
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It’s quite unsurprising really - any coming-of-age story with a female protagonist is already off to a great start in my book, and Melanie is such a fabulous character. Carter perfectly captures her walking along that line between girlhood and womanhood, still innocent and naive but beginning to understand the darker horrors that lurk in the world. When Melanie and her two siblings suddenly find themselves orphans, they’re shipped off to an uncle who is basically a stranger to them, their mute aunt and her two roguish brothers.
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I thought it was amazing how Carter managed to create such an expressive and compassionate character out of a woman who doesn’t speak, and Uncle Phillip is one of those classic, horrifying family characters we all love to hate. This book goes to some rather dark places, and I LOVED it!
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I also much preferred the writing in this one to Wise Children - where Wise Children often felt dense and convoluted, The Magic Toyshop was like a breath of fresh air. Classic but readable, beautiful without being melodramatic. At only 200 pages, it doesn’t overdo it, and the story and development are perfectly plotted and paced to create one of the best short books I’ve read!
.
It’s quite unsurprising really - any coming-of-age story with a female protagonist is already off to a great start in my book, and Melanie is such a fabulous character. Carter perfectly captures her walking along that line between girlhood and womanhood, still innocent and naive but beginning to understand the darker horrors that lurk in the world. When Melanie and her two siblings suddenly find themselves orphans, they’re shipped off to an uncle who is basically a stranger to them, their mute aunt and her two roguish brothers.
.
I thought it was amazing how Carter managed to create such an expressive and compassionate character out of a woman who doesn’t speak, and Uncle Phillip is one of those classic, horrifying family characters we all love to hate. This book goes to some rather dark places, and I LOVED it!
.
I also much preferred the writing in this one to Wise Children - where Wise Children often felt dense and convoluted, The Magic Toyshop was like a breath of fresh air. Classic but readable, beautiful without being melodramatic. At only 200 pages, it doesn’t overdo it, and the story and development are perfectly plotted and paced to create one of the best short books I’ve read!