Review: City of Broken Magic

City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

Getting a debut novel to publication is a long process for an author and I try to be sensitive to that fact. Finding a debut with a fresh take is always a plus. But sometimes the execution of a good idea seems elusive. Having great editorial direction can lead an author to a better story but that, too, is a hard thing to find. In the past year I've read more than a few debut novels in which better editorial direction might have taken a potentially great book and smoothed pacing issues, removed inconsistencies, and built more compelling characters. This is one such book.

In City of Broken Magic we have a novel magic system, of amulets trapping spirits, and sweepers (who in spite of the blurb, are possessed of some magical abilities) who dispose of dangerous monsters who emerge from broken amulets, or who can even prevent those monsters from escaping them. The only time I've read anything similar is in Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series. World-building like this is a treat, but we have to have characters who make us enjoy this world, and a story arc that is paced to keep us well engaged. Bolender almost has us there, but I just never warmed to Laura Kramer, a young woman apprenticed to sweeper Clae (a man with a dubious family history), and I found the manner in which Clae's other apprentice sweeper, Okane, joins the band to be awkward and rather implausible. The characters felt a bit flat and I didn't feel very engaged in their battles. The overall story arc, which features a world in which the powers that be lie and cover up the ongoing presence of these monsters, minimizing an ugly reality, claiming that sweepers and monsters are a cipher in their society, is a great storyline to explore, especially in the era of claims of fake news and media/social media distortions of truth. Thus, I'd definitely pick up the next book in the series to see where Bolender goes with this story. I just hope that she gets editorial direction worthy of this story's potential.

I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from Tor via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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