Medium – Book
About the Book – Marit Olsen is a young orphan living in Denmark hundreds of years ago. She is a magic-user in a land where magic comes with a terrible cost – if the person uses magic too often, they will be overtaken by the Firn, a deadly, ice-like build up which will slowly kill them. The Firn has already killed Marit’s sister, and Marit is determined that it will not kill her. Marit’s fellow orphan, Eve, is like her younger sister and is a fantastic dancer. When Eve is adopted by the ballerina, Helene Vestergaard, Marit decides to use her thread magic to become Helene’s seamstress, running the risk everyday of succumbing to the Firn. Marit soon learns that she is not the only servant with magic, and learns that her father’s death in a Vestergaard mine, which she thought an accident, may have been murder. She can solve the mystery, but may have to risk everything to do so…
My Rating – 3.5/10
My thoughts – This book was quite a hard read, hence the lower score – I found it quite hard-going in places, although the pace definitely picked up as the story progressed. It was an interesting story though – the tale of a person with magic who cannot use it, and the ways that she overcomes this to become the person she was created to be. The main character, Marit, was well-developed and interesting – the sort of person who makes up every YA female hero – kind, brave and witty. I don’t think she was the best character in the book, but she was an entertaining main character. I much preferred Liljan and Jakob, the brother and sister duo who are clever, hilarious and determined. Jakob, as the ‘love interest’ for the book was likeable and wasn’t a ‘warrior’, which was nice – someone more comfortable with books and academia than beating someone half to death.
I did like the way that the book was written, from two different perspectives. Without giving too much away, I thought the introduction of the second narrator was a really good addition to the book, which helped to add interest and a nuance to one of the characters (you’ll see which one if you read it!), which helped to make the book not so much of a clear battle between good and evil. Overall, an enjoyable reading experience, which did need some motivation to get through. Not one I would read again, but I’d be interested to see other books by the same author.
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