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The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic (The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic, #1)

Emily Croy Barker

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Nov 01, 2016 Debbie is on Storygraph rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2016

3.5 stars, rounded down.

I've owned this book for ages. It was one I had bought soon after it came out (Yes, 3 years ago. Yes, I have a book buying problem.) but just now got around to reading it. This was interesting, and different than the fantasies that are currently en vogue, harkening back to fantasy books from the late 90's/early '00s of a person from our world stumbling into a magical world and learning how to live there. I remember reading a lot of books with that basic premise when I wa ...more

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Oct 16, 2013 Abigail rated it it was ok

I don't like to review books that I couldn't finish, but I have a feeling that my feelings won't change much if I do decide to brave this one out. The premise is interesting enough- kind of a time travel story, except not. My main problem with the book is its lack of momentum. Nora ends up in this weird other world and a rough situation (shes basically, a not very useful maid living in the equivalent of the middle ages) but she doesn't seem to care one whit about the crummy life she left behind ...more

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Jul 07, 2013 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: old-reads, mt-bookpile-2011-2015

Many of the reviews are comparing this to the All Soul's Trilogy or Lev Grossman's works - add Jonathan Strange and a few others and you come close to understanding that this isn't really breaking new ground. That's not to say this is bad, just that the world Nora finds herself in isn't quite as new and fresh as others seem to think.

Nora is a nondescript grad student, not doing too well with her dissertation ("stuck" sums it up) and recently dumped by her long-term boyfriend. There's an odd enco Many of the reviews are comparing this to the All Soul's Trilogy or Lev Grossman's works - add Jonathan Strange and a few others and you come close to understanding that this isn't really breaking new ground. That's not to say this is bad, just that the world Nora finds herself in isn't quite as new and fresh as others seem to think.

Nora is a nondescript grad student, not doing too well with her dissertation ("stuck" sums it up) and recently dumped by her long-term boyfriend. There's an odd encounter with a man she bumps into while walking on campus, but forgets about that. She goes to a wedding in North Carolina and manages to take a morning walk that ends up with her passing through one of those doorways to another world, except she doesn't know that's what's happened. At first, she just thinks she's gotten lost and been taken in by an incredibly chic, rich woman and her jetset friends... slowly she figures out that there's something wrong, or different here. Or both. 500 pages later, it seems as though we're being set up for a sequel. I really don't want to give away too many spoilers, but this new world is one in which magic is almost an everyday fact, while what we think of as "normal" is no where to be seen (no electricity, no industry, no women's rights, minimal education and literacy, etc.). Going from modern day New Jersey to a feudal society is a little shocking - luckily for Nora, she has her time at Ilissa's house/estate and her relationship with Raclin to help her acclimate a little.

So, why three stars? First of all - say it with me - padding. So many backstories could have been cut and made this a little tighter. Second, the author was trying to be a little too clever with all the literary references: Nora (think Ibsen) is working on Donne (a little heavy handed, no?), all the poetry, the translation of Pride and Prejudice, Narnia, Snape and more get name checked. And finally, that title. Ugh. But if you can get past all that, it's a good read and perfect summer reading for fantasy lovers.

ARC provided by publisher. ...more

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Aug 12, 2013 Ellen rated it liked it

Shelves: arc, fantasy

In most books which feature humans who stumble into strange and magical lands, the human traveler seems to fit in seemlessly. (I'm thinking of the Narnia Chronicles and the Outlander series.) In this book, however, the modern woman who wanders into a land of magic, objects rather strongly to the restrictions put on women in her new surroundings. That doesn't stop her from being kidnapped, married off to a drop-dead gorgeous prince or learning some magic from a grizzled and grumpy old wizard(only ...more

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Sep 01, 2013 Melissa Rochelle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library, magic, read-2013

This was exactly the magic-filled book I needed after all the serious/real life books I've read lately. Nora's adventure kept me turning the pages. It is every bit a fairy tale and so much fun. There's fairies, evil queens, magicians, wizards, demons, and knights. I really loved it.

Perfect for fans of A Discovery of Witches or Outlander or even the witches subset of the Discworld series.

Spoiler: about 300 or so pages in, I realized that Micher (sp?) must have been with mouse she saved on the fi ...more

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