Charlotte Kersten

“Because there was nothing in a girl’s history that might negate her right to choose what happens to her body.”

Year published: 2018

Category: YA, magical realism

Representation: F/F, main character and side character, aroace side character

Summary: A magic passed down through generations . . .
Georgina Fernweh waits with growing impatience for the tingle of magic in her fingers—magic that has been passed down through every woman in her family. Her twin sister, Mary, already shows an ability to defy gravity. But with their eighteenth birthday looming at the end of this summer, Georgina fears her gift will never come.
An island where strange things happen . .
No one on the island of By-the-Sea would ever call the Fernwehs what they really are, but if you need the odd bit of help—say, a sleeping aid concocted by moonlight—they are the ones to ask.
No one questions the weather, as moody and erratic as a summer storm.
No one questions the (allegedly) three-hundred-year-old bird who comes to roost on the island every year.
A summer that will become legend . . .
When tragedy strikes, what made the Fernweh women special suddenly casts them in suspicion. Over the course of her last summer on the island—a summer of storms, of love, of salt—Georgina will learn the truth about magic, in all its many forms.

My thoughts: This is a very sweet little book, and reading it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. A lot of this has to do with the quirky setting – By -the -Sea is so charming and cute and has a real sense of history and character. Even minor characters have their details and quirks and there is a definite sense of a tight-knit community where everyone know everyone. If I were to make a comparison, a fictional place with similar vibes might be Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. There is similarly a powerful line of strong women in this story; in this case, they all carry magical gifts and a complex family legacy.

The charming atmosphere, writing and details were my favorite things about this book, but I also appreciated the storyline involving Georgina’s sister Mary. She’s an interesting character and she and her sister have an equally interesting dynamic; despite Mary’s occasional selfishness and disregard for others, the sisters are ultimately ride-or-die in a way that really resonated for me and my own experience of sisterhood. The book handles the topic of Mary’s sexual assault delicately with an interesting parallel between the blame for Annabella’s death and the attribution of responsibility for the sexual assault and an emphasis on how women who are “different” in some way, especially those with sexual histories, are easily scape-goated when it comes to difficult times.

As for what didn’t work as well for me, I really did not feel invested in the romance between Prue and Georgina. In some ways, I felt like more time was spent describing Prue’s cute little vintage outfits than giving her a personality or a meaningful relationship with Georgina. The ending was also too tidy and simple for me in a way that felt disingenuous – the rapist went to prison and no one victim-blamed Mary anymore and she “was alive” (is that all we’re going for?) so that’s that! I’m not saying a happy ending is a bad thing, but I’ve definitely read more powerful and complex endings in stories about this topic. Overall, it’s a quick read with an incredible amount of charm and I think it would be a great place for readers on the younger end of the YA spectrum to start exploring heavier topics like sexual assault and victim-blaming.