Written by Liz Crowe
Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows is an interesting, well-edited novel of magical realism in the style of Harry Potter and others up to and including the title of the book. It is set in the middle grade of a young man’s life in So Cal, contains plenty of characters of color (if they are a bit stereotypical) and tells the story of how this young man comes to find out his destiny as descendant of a long line of powerful magicians. The first third of the book is a lot of telling and world-building and lacks the pace of the second half. The conflict storyline is reminiscent of a super popular Marvel movie one (bad guy wants to eliminate a lot of the horrible people clogging up the world using powerful crystals) but presented in a middle grade way that is creative. Most of the female characters (mom, potential girlfriend, savvy older wizard, bad chick in leather) are one dimensional and, as a fan of “realistic realism” I wasn’t a huge fan of Thomas’ picture perfect relationship with the adults around him. But perhaps a more teenager-like Thomas will appear in later books in the series. It’s an imperfect, yet intriguing romp of a magical kid-based story that HP fans will enjoy. 3.5 stars
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