Magic to the bone

I don't know how other people think of it, but I tend to classify books as having traction or not. If a book has traction, you start it, and four hours later you're done, and really have to pee. If a book doesn't have traction, you start it, and two chapters in, you realize you meant to get a load of wash done, so you do, and then you forget about the book for two weeks. Obviously this is pretty subjective, and can depend on the mood you're in, and whether or not you have a load of laundry to do besides, but it's one of the most important distinctions, for me, in reading a book.

On goodreads, traction, or lack thereof, is the difference between a two and three star review. Books which get added to my "currently reading list" almost never have traction, because otherwise they go straight to my "read" list.

This book, poor thing, I started reading about four months ago. The thing is, despite my not getting traction, it has a lot going for it. Almost, I am tentatively inclined to conclude, too much.

First, this book has buckets of originality and world-building. Magic was discovered a couple decades ago, and the protagonist's father was the one who is more or less responsible for the current shape of the world: Cities are wired for magic, which is stored in cisterns, and buildings can draw it off the grid. Further, magic always exacts a cost, a physical consequence in proportion to the magic used. An ambitious spell may leave you with a week of cramps, and even a small one can give you bruises. Killing someone with magic will leave you dead.

Of course, there are always ways to cheat, and in this one, the way to cheat is to 'offload;' get someone else to pay the price, either by paying them to take on the week of cramps, or just by choosing someone who can't complain to the authorities about their sudden case of dead.

Further, and potentially even more interestingly, although magic was "discovered" decades ago, some hidden societies have known about and used it much longer, and are not precisely inclined to come forward and help the scientific community in their bumbling exploration of the possibilities of magic.

Allie, as mentioned, is the daughter of one of the biggest names in corporate magic, and hates her father who didn't get where he is by being nice. She has a career as a 'hound,' who is someone who sniffs out the caster behind a magical spell or offload, sort of a cross between a bounty hunter and a private eye. However, Allie has an unique problem; when she uses magic, sometimes the price it takes is a chunk of her memory.

All of which, I think, sounds pretty good! So what was my problem? First, Allie's problems in the end come down to "She's just too awesome!" Her magical abilities are too strong and unique for the budding scientific model of magic to account for. But the sexy Zayvion Jones, agent for the secret community of magic users, and her 'soul complement,' can help her, synchronizing with her magic use to make it almost effortless for her.

Second, this book has so much awesome world-building going on that the author can't quite help stopping the action to explain it to us, which I think is a big mistake.

Third, and er. Okay, maybe this is just me, but. Allie is used to losing chunks of her memory, so she carries around her notebook where she records what she's doing so that if she unexpectedly loses time, she can at least read up on what she missed, and this book is told in the first person. But, when she loses a chunk of memory, she realizes she has neglected to write anything down, including a bunch of things that the reader has just read about, told in the first person. So, her narration is not her notebook, which to me sort of drew attention to the first person narration in a way which made it seem gimmicky and implausible.

To me, this book feels like "so close!" which is rather depressing. I believe in you, little book, you can do it! So, yes, I gave it three stars, to try and give it some encouragement.

Shut up.