Spell or High Water

After reading the first novel of the series, I was excited to continue with Magic 2.0’s Spell or High Water. For the most part, I did enjoy the book – it was a fun, relaxing read that didn’t require a lot of attention or effort to read, which for a grad student is the nicest of breaks.

I was disappointed, though, by the resolutions of the different plots presented in this novel. Everything came together to quickly and neatly compared to the build-up which was the majority of the book. That being said, though, I don’t think there could have truly been any better conclusions. The epilogues were also really cute and well worth getting through the rest of the book.

I will be going on to read the next installment of the series. Magic 2.0 is really a fun and light-hearted series to get into when you just need a light read and a little break from everything else, and I totally recommend that for anyone.

Honestly, I would prefer to give this book 4.5 stars, but since I can’t give half-stars, I’ll stick with five. I adored the first book in the Magic 2.0 series, Off to Be the Wizard, and really looked forward to reading the second installment. Scott Meyer is a great author. I love his way of describing people, places, objects, and I loved all of the jokes in the first book. This is a light-hearted story that can easily be enjoyed by teens and adults alike, and contains no foul language. Meyer’s writing continues to impress in book two, though the jokes are not really present in this one. I still very much enjoyed this book and the continuation of the characters’ stories. It has been a full 20 hours since I finished it, and I’m already having Magic 2.0 withdrawals, so I guess that’s my cue to start book three!

I enjoyed this book for pretty much the same reasons I enjoyed the first. These feel like maybe the average of Piers Anthony’s Xanth books and Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s books. There are probably plot holes you could drive a truck through if you really think about it, but it makes the bug into a feature by having that feeling that the logic is hand-wavey and devil may care help create the light mood that makes the story a chill and enjoyable read. I was reading other, arguably better books concurrently with this one, and this was almost always the one I turned to to just relax and have a good time after a hard day. It’s not so dumb, though, that it feels like a steady diet of cotton candy for your brain. Maybe trail mix, but the kind with generic m&m’s.

I laughed out loud a few times. Chuckled or rolled my eyes a dozen more. On a checklist of what I’m hoping for from a book, in some regards it’s tolerably good and in some regards it’s pretty good. It checks all the boxes but it gets up to four stars for just being darn affable.

It’s been awhile since I read the first book, and–honestly–I’d all but forgotten that I own both books two and three in the series. So when I stumbled upon this the other day, I went, “Oh yeah… the first one was fun. This should be good.” And I gave it a go.

Honestly, my assessment was spot on. This book is fun. It’s good. I laughed and grinned and generally enjoyed myself throughout the story. Even more, the time travel elements are done well–and are used to pose some interesting questions.

That being said, the story isn’t much more than that, at least not for me. There is some light social commentary mixed in and some plot elements that, at times, feel unnecessary, but in the end, it’s amusing. And if that’s what you’re looking for, some light fantasy fun, then this is a great book to fit that bill.

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