Published: September 10, 2013
Pages: 368
Source: For Review from HarperCollins/Edelweiss
Rating: 4 Stars
Hilary Westfield has always dreamed of being a pirate. She can tread water for thirty-seven minutes. She can tie a knot faster than a fleet of sailors, and she already owns a rather pointy sword.
There's only one problem: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates refuses to let any girl join their ranks of scourges and scallywags.
But Hilary is not the kind of girl to take no for answer. To escape a life of petticoats and politeness at her stuffy finishing school, Hilary sets out in search of her own seaworthy adventure, where she gets swept up in a madcap quest involving a map without an X, a magical treasure that likely doesn't exist, a talking gargoyle, a crew of misfit scallywags, and the most treacherous—and unexpected—villain on the High Seas.
There's only one problem: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates refuses to let any girl join their ranks of scourges and scallywags.
But Hilary is not the kind of girl to take no for answer. To escape a life of petticoats and politeness at her stuffy finishing school, Hilary sets out in search of her own seaworthy adventure, where she gets swept up in a madcap quest involving a map without an X, a magical treasure that likely doesn't exist, a talking gargoyle, a crew of misfit scallywags, and the most treacherous—and unexpected—villain on the High Seas.
In short: Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson is a whimsical and light-hearted story that never takes itself too seriously.
The humour and the characters are what makes a book like Magic Marks the Spot shine. The pirates were basically parodies of what pirates are thought to be - scourges and scallywags - and debut author Caroline Carlson adds a lot of comedy poking fun at the stereotypical pirate image. The characters are all a bit two-dimensional, but I guess I don't expect much complexity from such a light, easy book. Even though the characters weren't complex, they were plenty vibrant. Magic Marks the Spot is one of those books that makes you wish you were listening to it via audiobook instead because you know a narrator could have had a lot of fun with these quirky characters.
I think my only complaint stems from one of the book's strengths: it's light-heartedness, while totally fun, kind of took away from any suspense in the book. I know pirates to live dangerous lives, and there are certainly pirate ship fights in Magic Marks the Spot, but at no point is any character in any real danger at all; there are only mild troubles here and there. And you can't tell me it's because it's an MG book and they needed to tone that down. You can still have a clean book for MG readers and have a little more tension there!
Ultimately though, I really enjoyed myself while reading Magic Marks the Spot. It garnered a number of chuckles out of me and I had a lot of fun with the cast of characters - especially the talking gargoyle. It reads as a standalone, but is really apart of a greater series entitled The Very Nearly Honourable League of Pirates. I would definitely recommend this book to MG fans who are looking for something that never takes itself too seriously.
Other Reviews:
Sweet Tidbits
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I'm with you about the cover! MG ones definitely have one of the bests because they're illustrated and most of the time the most original. <3 I don't usually read MG-lit books though, so this one didn't catch my eye, but "whimsical" and "had you chuckling" are definitely strong points in a book.
ReplyDelete"The pirates were basically parodies of what pirates are thought to be..." - Ooh! Yay! I don't think I've ever read a pirate book that strays from what pirates are typically thought to be, so I'm pretty sure this will be refreshing and hilarious at the same time.
About the suspense bit, though: I don't think it would bother me much, because I'm kind of used to my MG books NOT having much suspense. Like THE SPINDLERS by Lauren Oliver, for example. It was fun and sweet, but not too original and not too suspenseful either.
Thanks for putting this on my radar, Aylee! Fantastic review as always!
Great review. It sounds cute but like it needs a little more danger.
ReplyDeleteThe cover is darling.
The humor and the characters make this sound like something I too would enjoy
ReplyDeleteSounds like an adorable book! I think a bit more tension would be nice, even for the MG crowd...but it's always nice to find something humorous and FUN. I hadn't heard of this one, so thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDelete-Lauren
Ahh lovely review Aylee ^^ It's funny how your reaction to wanting to read this one so closely resembled mine :) I actually should have started this one already myself, but my current review e-book is slooowly sucking the life out of me so I've fallen behind. I love the humor you mentioned in your review and how light-hearted it reads, though I can see how that could cause it to be lacking in the intensity department. Thanks to your insight though, I'll know what to expect so maybe it won't be too bad ;) I'm even more excited to get into this one now :D I might even put my current one on hold *eyes e-reader*
ReplyDeleteYour review is the second I've read that describes this as tongue-in-cheek humor, which makes me think I'd really like it. This sounds like a very fun read :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like so much fun! I am at the beach right now and needing something like this to read. Loved your review I hadn't even heard of this before now.
ReplyDeleteThere be pirates?! Well, why didn't anyone say so? I can never resist a good story about pirates you know, especially if it has a cover like this one. Too bad that they weren't used to their full potential. Middle Grade books can certainly handle a bit of danger here and there.
ReplyDeleteI don't read much MG; usually,but I'm willing to give this one a chance. Thanks for the lovely review, Aylee. :)
This one caught my eye too! For the fun title and pirates. And then I found out it was an MG title when the cover came out and I was sad. You said you don't read a lot outside of your genres, but sometimes this is what I think whenever I see an MG novel. It's nice that it made you laugh with the tongue-in-cheek humor; sometimes it seems like YA has a lot of... one-liners that don't quite work or are trying to imitate the success of other types.
ReplyDeleteHehe. It's a good thing she pokes fun at the stereotypical pirate image. Why else should our dear girl protagonist want to join the ranks of scallywags? "Even though the characters weren't complex, they were plenty vibrant." <-- As vibrant as that cover??? :) "Magic Marks the Spot is one of those books that makes you wish you were listening to it via audiobook instead because you know a narrator could have had a lot of fun with these quirky characters." <-- Oooh, depends. I listened to one MG audiobook and the narrator made the villain sound like the guy from Pirates of the Caribbean who calls Elizabeth 'poppet' and I just couldn't take him seriously.
"at no point is any character in any real danger at all; there are only mild troubles here and there." Oh, what a shame. Conflict without tension is probably my least favorite thing to read.
The talking gargoyle sounds like a lot of fun and it's great that the book reads like a stand-alone (seriously, series, please stop with the cliffhangers or open endings). Glad you had fun with its light-heartedness!
This sounds like something my teen (and wanna be teen) kids would like - I'll have to show it to them :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like something my teen (and wanna be teen) kids would like - I'll have to show it to them :)
ReplyDeleteI remember coming across this a while back and immediately adding it to my wishlist, even though I rarely tend to pick up middle grade titles these days. I love pirate stories too! I definitely think there should be more of them in YA. I'm glad you enjoyed this overall, and thought that it was fun and humourous. I'll be sure to get my hands on a copy when I can. Lovely review as always! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm adding this to my wish-list! It sounds really sweet and adorable :D
ReplyDeleteI don't mind if the characters are a little two dimensional in MG as long as they don't feel cartoonish.
I like pirates too and this one sounds very cute. It's also something that I could easily read when I'm stressed and share with my younger brother and cousin. I'll see if I can find a copy of this one from the library, Aylee :)
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this one until now, but it sounds like a great MG to add to my list! This is definitely one that I could see you reading, it looks totally your style! The pirate aspect seems so adorable in this story, and I'm happy to see that it's so lighthearted, even if it took away the tension in this story. I'll have to read this one! Wonderfully written review, Aylee. :)
ReplyDeleteThose three things that attracted you to the book are so cute and I'm glad you enjoyed it overall. I'm not a huge MG fan personally, but I do have a few books lying around which I hope to get to at some point. Great review, Aylee!
ReplyDeleteSarika @ The Readdicts
This looks super cute and I think I will take your advice and see if this is available on audio. The concept of a talking gargoyles sounds entertaining. I also really like the idea of pirates and a girl making her own way when she's told no.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!
Aylee, I'm very thankful you awarded this 4 stars, which mean you liked it, just didn't necessarily fall head over heals in love with it. I won a physical copy from Goodreads. I wish I had an ebook, since I can either listen (with text to speech or read it) which helps me get through books faster. I'm motivated to read it now. I bet I end up liking the gargolye the best, too.
ReplyDelete