Paperback, 271 pages
English language
Published March 16, 2006 by Razorbill.
Reason Cansino has lived fifteen years in the Australian outback with her mother, Sarafina. They’re on the tun from Reason’s grandmother Esmerelda, who believes in magic and practices horrifying, dark rituals. But when Sarafina suffers a mental breakdown, Reason is sent to the one place she fears most- Esmerelda’s home in Sydney.
Nothing about the house or Esmerelda is what Reason expected. Then, when she walks through Esmerelda’s back door in Sydney and finds herself on a New York City street, Reason is forced to face the shocking truth. Magic is real. And Reason is magic.
Great fun overall. Can't wait to get part two.
Internesting premise, good writing.
Just the "oh, Australia English is different from American English" thing was overdone a bit.
Reason has been taught from a young age to believe in numbers and logic. She has also been taught that her grandmother is a dangerous woman. But, when she is 15, her mother has a mental breakdown and custody is given to her grandmother.While trying to escape the house like she has been trained to do by her mother, she goes through a door that opens into New York and then can't figure out how to get back. She's taken in by another girl who is magical and now Reason has to decide whose stories to believe - her mother's or her grandmother's.I liked this book mostly because the Australian influence is very strong and I don't read a lot of books like that. Reason uses Australian slang and can't get used to a New York winter.The magical system is different than other books I've read. Every time you use …
Reason has been taught from a young age to believe in numbers and logic. She has also been taught that her grandmother is a dangerous woman. But, when she is 15, her mother has a mental breakdown and custody is given to her grandmother.While trying to escape the house like she has been trained to do by her mother, she goes through a door that opens into New York and then can't figure out how to get back. She's taken in by another girl who is magical and now Reason has to decide whose stories to believe - her mother's or her grandmother's.I liked this book mostly because the Australian influence is very strong and I don't read a lot of books like that. Reason uses Australian slang and can't get used to a New York winter.The magical system is different than other books I've read. Every time you use magic you are using up life force. Magic users die young.This is the first book of a trilogy. As of now I'm not intrigued enough to read the rest.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
