1 out of 4 stars
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How cool would it be to be a child born with magical powers? You could use your magical ability to do anything that you want. You could make your homework disappear. You could even make all your toys come to life and create Toy Story 4. You could use your powers for evil or preferably, you could use them for good. Camilla Regan Shaw, a young witch born with extraordinary abilities, decides to use her powers to help her friends and live a life full of magic and excitement.
The Magic Starlight Club: Elementary School Years written by Sarah Cason tells the story of Camilla and her group of friends known as "The Magic Starlight Club". They termed themselves, "The Magic Starlight Club" because they all live in the Starlight Road subdivision in Newcastle, GA. They also have “magic wand hands” which allows them to use magic without wands. Even though they are only elementary school students, their lives are far from ordinary. They have to deal with possessed living dolls, vampire kidnappings and an evil man who wants to do harm to one of their friends. With a little magic and a lot of courage, the Magic Starlight Club works to save the day… and to try to make it out of elementary school.
When I saw the cover art of the book, I wasn’t impressed it all. It seemed cheaply made and didn’t fit the title of the book at all. As I started reading, I hoped the book would excite me because the title made the book sound intriguing. Unfortunately, I was disappointed once again. The plot of the book was extremely hard to follow because of the author’s habit of sudden time-skipping. Many times in the book, I couldn’t remember how old the characters were or where they were even at. Another habit that the author had was constantly going off topic about things that weren’t pertinent to the text. I would’ve preferred a better written plot rather than a history lesson about English royalty.
Another issue with the plot is that a lot of it wasn’t believable or relatable. In one of the subplots, a vampire kidnaps the two-year-old daughter of Camilla’s teacher. The teacher doesn’t seem bothered at all that her child is missing, in fact, she’s shopping at Wal-Mart. Even when she finds out her daughter’s location, she’s in no hurry and would rather finish purchasing her items. In other sub-plots, there were many things that were either unrealistic or simply made no sense at all. As for the characters, the only character that truly mattered is Camilla. The names of her friends are given, but they barely appear in the book. Even though Camilla is the main character, she is flat and has no development or charm that will attract readers.
I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. The text was loaded with grammatical errors and made-up words such as, “curiouser.” The most unfortunate part is that I have no idea who this book’s target audience is. I would’ve said it is written for elementary- aged children, until I read a subplot in the story where one of Camilla’s friends has a grown stalker who watches them when they’re wearing their underwear and comes into their room to fondle them. At that moment, I knew it was inappropriate for a child. It’s not for teens or adults either because of the age of the characters and the simplistic and yet, confusing, language of the book. As of this moment, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone.
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The Magic Starlight Club: Elementary School Years
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