It’s hard to get a bead on this novel. We’re given less than two dozen pages to form an impression. What little is given is a glittering magical world, one that is open to only a select few. Ella Durand is certainly dazzled and so are we.
If I have to nitpick, it’s that there’s a hint of J.K. Rowling’s famous magical series in the opening. Children are chosen to go when they turn eleven and they’re thrilled to be picked. They have to mount a kind of magical express to get to the school. The Marvellians (as they’re called) live in a special city secluded from that of ordinary folk.
There are differences, though. It’s those differences, intricately detailed here, that I look forward to reading.
If I have to nitpick, it’s that there’s a hint of J.K. Rowling’s famous magical series in the opening. Children are chosen to go when they turn eleven and they’re thrilled to be picked. They have to mount a kind of magical express to get to the school. The Marvellians (as they’re called) live in a special city secluded from that of ordinary folk.
There are differences, though. It’s those differences, intricately detailed here, that I look forward to reading.