History of Magic picks up right where Basics of Spellcraft left off and ends on another cliffhanger. I would not recommend reading this episode if you haven’t read the first one first.
After the events in book 1, the Amazons are not convinced Amy can be trusted with her powers. They decide to train her and, since they’re already at Ember Academy, open the trials to every student. Amazons, however, are not all Wonder Woman cool and open, and Amy and her friends – Charlotte the autistic trans girl, Natalie the (half) Vampire, Lena and her scales, Willow the Elf – find out first hand that politics and bigotry run deep.
With Amy, L. C. Mawson has created a fantastic heroine, the kind of badass girls I love in YA literature. Her friends are awesome too. I love that diversity – whether in origin or in mental health – is both fundamental and self-evident. I haven’t had time yet to read more books from Mawson’s Snowverse, but I’d really like to. From what I’ve seen of it in these two books, it seems very consistent, very exciting. Mawson’s writing is good, History of Magic is as fast-paced and thrilling as Basics of Spellcraft was, and I’m really looking forward to more.
Book 3, Advanced Healing Spells, is in the works and release is announced for April.
Jude in the Stars 