Find and Embrace the Magic: A Review of The Scribe

There are people who are generic. 
They make generic responses and they expect generic answers. 
They live inside a box and they think people who don't fit into their box are weird.

But I'll tell you what, generic people are the weird people. 
They are like genetically-manipulated plants growing inside a laboratory, like indistinguishable faces, like droids. 
Like ignorance.

~ C. JoyBell C.

In October, I am writing about all things autumnal: from art to spooky books, author interviews, recipes, and autumn-inspired writing prompts AND participating in the Two Pages-a-Day writing challenge.

A

va Matheson has always felt…different.

The whispers and labels grew more clinical and more hateful as she grew older:

Excitable.

Emotional.

High-strung.

Hyperactive.

Troubled. . .

And then she meets Malachi.  And every label she’s had to endure, including the ones from her own mother, are brushed away by an ancient magic.

Too Much . . . Is Not Enough

Some personality types simply cannot fathom (or abide) someone who thinks differently, sees differently, and acts differently than they do.  Ask any artist and chances are, the wounds inflicted by those critical types can still bleed. 

I have a few scars of my own and still deal with negative comments from “generic” critics all the time.   Perhaps that is why I couldn’t stop reading Elizabeth Hunter’s newest story, The Scribe, until I turned the last page.  Because for Ava (and through her, me) can finally give her critics the finger: she’s not troubled, she’s not “too much” to handle. . . .

She is so much more. . .than human.

Write What You Know

Characters can take on a life of their own ~ it’s their story and they will tell it their way, by Jove!  Sometimes this means the setting you thought was perfect is actually all wrong.  But what if you’ve never been there?

Elizabeth Hunter is a true master of her craft.  What she doesn’t know ~ and she knows quite a bit about the historical backgrounds and locations of her novels ~ she researches.  This time, by taking a trip to Istanbul (not Constantinople) to experience the locale for herself. 

Image credit: Elizabeth Hunter

And that experience is evident in the city and country descriptions of The Scribe.

I’ve never been to Turkey, but Elizabeth has.  And through her, I could feel the burning heat of the sun; smell the humanity and see the colours of the market stalls; feel the grit of the sand. 

Hear the whispers that surround Ava wherever she goes.

Finding Her Place. . .and Yours

We may not be what Ava is (and to find out what that is, you’ll have to read The Scribe!), but we can relate to her struggle to find her place in a world that doesn’t understand her.  And for a moment, we can pretend that we too have magic in our veins that sets us apart.

And maybe we, like Ava, can also find the courage to embrace the beautiful differences within, and bring some magic into the unbelieving world around us.

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

I received this book as an ARC from the author.  I have not been paid for this review.

A word of warning to those who don’t like cliff hanger endings, The Scribe has one.  But the agony of waiting for Book Two is worth it to meet and fall in love with Ava and Malachi.