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Caroline has been passed from one family member to another, never quite fitting in. When she’s fourteen, she’s sent across the country on her own to live with her Grandmother in a sleepy, North Carolina, seaside town, from where she lived with her paternal uncle in Washington State. Once there, in Duck NC, she discovers her family secret and that her life is in danger from a masked man. The same masked man who made her parents disappear ten years previously.
Seaside Magic is set in the 1950’s, and with it, Schneider has pulled in the sights and sounds one would expect from rock’n’roll era United States. The convertible Fords, the dresses, the diners and the food. What Schneider doesn’t seem to be able to capture is the correct tone for the era. Caroline’s Grandmother encourages her to call her ‘Jewel’, a pet name form of her first name Julia. Jewel also seems to use extraordinarily modern language; in a letter to Caroline, she signs it ‘XOXO’ (which, according to the Washington Post, the earliest documented form of the written hug was in 1960). She also says things such as:
“Yup, I went there,” Jewel did a mic-drop motion and walked out of the room.
Mic-drops weren’t commonly used as a ‘ta-da’ or ‘so there’ kind of moment until the 1980’s, when comedians or rappers would use the motion to end their set or emphasise a point.
I know I sound remarkably like a stickler with this review, but when I read a book (even fantasy), I want to be completely immersed. If there’s a strange dissonance, such as actions or words that are starkly out of kilter with the era or the world, I struggle to find the world the book is set in believable. Yes, I know fantasy is fantastical, but a well written fantasy book can feel as real as our world. Unfortunately, Seaside Magic just falls short in too many places.
S. A.
This book was reviewed as part of the Reedsy Discovery ARC program. You can read the original review here
You can buy Seaside Magic here.