DRC Review: A Curious Kind of Magic by Mara Rutherford
- Story Eater
- Oct 20
- 3 min read
Release Date: 21 October 2025
Rating: 4.5/5
Narrator: Anna Burnett
Book Boxes/SE's: OwlCrate YA October
Synopsis: Howl's Moving Castle meets Little Thieves in this cozy fantasy about the teenage owner of a (mostly fake) magical curiosity shop and a girl cursed to turn everything she touches into magic.
Everyone in Ardmuir knows that Willow Stokes is a charlatan, including Willow herself. Her father's shoppe hasn't sold anything magical in decades, and it's only hanging on by the skin of the fake dragon's teeth Willow sells as charms, along with “enchanted” ostrich eggs, taxidermied chimeras, and talismans made of fools' gold.
Until outlander Brianna Hargrave appears and turns Willow's fakes into exactly what they're purported to be. But try as Willow might to enlist Bri's help, she wants nothing to do with Willow and her curiosities.
Because Brianna is harboring a secret of her own: everything she touches turns to magic, and the consequences have chased her all the way to Ardmuir. All she wants to do is find a particular missing grimoire, which contains a spell that can finally put an end to her curse.
Desperate to keep her father's shoppe, Willow proposes a bargain that could save them both. Together with the frustratingly handsome printer's assistant, the girls will uncover a plot that goes far deeper than either could have imagined. But when Willow is forced to participate in an ambitious collector's quest for the rarest magical object in the world-a quest that risks almost-certain death-she learns that not all treasure is for sale, and that true magic is closer than she ever could have imagined.
Review
A Curious Kind of Magic surprised me. I read A Crown of Coral and Pearl and loved it, but I haven't really liked any of Rutherford's books since then. I'd say this one comes close to that enjoyment I had for ACoCaP. The themes and message pull at the heartstrings, and the content is generally appropriate for older YA readers (meaning the intended audience of 13-17 years), though it does have some adult language and brief, non-explicit content. At the very least, I recommend trying this one, even if from the library, if readers are curious.
The plot symmetry and character development most impressed me. Willow starts and ends in the same place but not as the same person. Many of the important things about what it means to be fulfilled in life get highlighted; and the usual shallow plot lines of vengeance, teens lusting after 1000-year-old faeries, and hyper-sexualized underage characters don't crop up here. Rutherford focuses on loyalty, friendship, honesty, and self-sacrifice; and I found myself taken aback by the time I finished the book. I usually only read those kinds of wholesome, much-needed themes in indies, not mainstream B5 books, and certainly not in the YA market, at least not for almost 10 years or so. Huh.
I found the narration stellar. Pitch, tone, character voice variation, and everything in between dazzled me even more than the surprising story. I don't think I've enjoyed a fantasy narrator so much since I listened to Moira Quirk read me Anji Kills a King (not for the faint of heart—the content is pretty heavy). I will certainly be looking through Burnett's backlist to see any other books of interest. I look forward to listening to more releases from Burnett and hope there are many to come.
Overall, 4.5/5 for the story and 5/5 for the narration. Excepting some coarse language, what a surprise and breath of fresh air. If B5 YA offered books of this caliber as a rule, I'd still be reading them. No sexual content, timely themes, and well written to top it all off? Color me impressed.
My thanks to Wednesday Books for the DRC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.
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