The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic: A Novel
Aug 2013 · Sold by Penguin
4.3star
64 reviews
Ebook
576
Pages
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About this ebook
An imaginative story of a woman caught in an alternate world—where she will need to learn the skills of magic to survive
Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true.
Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic.
For lovers of Lev Grossman's The Magicians series (The Magicians and The Magician King) and Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night).
Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true.
Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic.
For lovers of Lev Grossman's The Magicians series (The Magicians and The Magician King) and Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night).
Ratings and reviews
4.3
64 reviews
First Last
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December 26, 2014
Story itself is really good but if you would remove all names what doesn't have any real significance the book would be 1/4th thinner. And thinking woman.... I don't know who that is in this story when the Nora is utter idiot and not using her brain what so ever. She's totally simple and one dimensional caracter and easily guessable. She's not even clever. Only thing she has is good memory. I think the story has very good base but the caracters need to be 'fattened' to make them more real.
1 person found this review helpful
Queen von
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August 30, 2017
The trilogy was a pleasure to read, a cross between literary fiction and fantasy. Characters were developed, 3 dimensional, with plenty of imaginative situations and lovely imagery. Wish there were more than 3 novels in the series. Particularly enjoyed addition of real figures--like Will Shakespeare--who were welcome additions in plausible circumstances. Perhaps the main character is a bit predictable, but otherwise a stellar series.
Nastassia Ayana
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September 13, 2013
A long drawn out story with an annoying protagonist and a anti-hero with very few redeeming qualities. The action parts are pretty tasty though and the simplification of how exactly magic works in that world is a fresh take on an overdone genre.
About the author
Emily Croy Barker, a graduate of Harvard University, has spent more than twenty years as a journalist. She is currently the executive editor at The American Lawyer magazine. She lives in New Jersey.
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