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Laure Eve’s \u00a0The Graces<\/em> is at the top of my book recs \u00a0this fall, and not just because it decorates my room \u00a0for the season better than a pumpkin ever could. It’s everything I never knew I wanted in a book about witches.<\/p>\n River, which is not her real name, \u00a0moves to a small \u00a0coastal town with her mother \u00a0to escape some \u00a0disturbing event \u00a0that appears to be her own fault. SO VAGUE, but this exactly where Laure Eve wants us: with a lot of questions and marinating \u00a0in the sense \u00a0that something feels \u00a0off<\/em>\u2014not unlike the dark, disconcerting \u00a0elements that appeal so much to me in \u00a0Coraline<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0Mix this with Tana French’s \u00a0The Secret Place<\/a><\/em>, the \u00a0overall feel of \u00a0The Craft<\/a>, \u00a0<\/em>and a \u00a0pinch of \u00a0Carry On<\/a><\/em>, and you get what one review \u00a0describes as \u00a0“a creepy little story” in the best way possible.<\/p>\n High school would’ve been manageable with revenge spells, amiright. \u00a0Source<\/a><\/em><\/small><\/p>\n When River \u00a0discovers at her new school that \u00a0the ethereal \u00a0Grace siblings\u2014Thalia, Fenrin, and Summer\u2014are rumored to be witches, she does everything in her power to \u00a0get them to notice her. \u00a0But her \u00a0obsession is \u00a0not about having \u00a0an in with \u00a0the student body \u00a0A-list; it’s about decoding their \u00a0potential witchiness, which is magnetic to her in a way that makes us think there must be *something else* going on here. (There is.)<\/p>\n How I \u00a0imagined Summer \u00a0Grace. (+1 for Laure Eve having \u00a0multiple Pinterest boards<\/a> for the Grace fam aesthetic.)<\/em> \u00a0Source<\/a><\/em><\/small><\/p>\n Other than the plot twist (!), what you’ll love \u00a0is how Eve handles \u00a0the \u00a0magic: whereas Harry Potter<\/em> \u00a0spells are tangible and mostly straightforward, magic in \u00a0Graces<\/em> \u00a0is murkier \u00a0and constantly questioned. Are the Graces \u00a0just having a bit of fun with the \u00a0witch rumor while it lasts, or do their spells actually cause otherwise inexplicable incidents? River \u00a0isn’t sure, and the Graces aren’t quite either. I love this deliberate uncertainty\u2014how \u00a0and why the \u00a0characters question magic = \u00a0all \u00a0of us still waiting on \u00a0our Hogwarts letters.<\/p>\n ~<\/p>\n Our \u00a0Spark team has \u00a0been chatting about the surge of witches and spells<\/a> in popular culture recently, and the \u00a0consensus is that we’ve always been on board (Sparkitor Janet almost certainly cast a spell on someone in middle school; success \u00a0not \u00a0recorded). It’s no wonder these worlds have always been \u00a0so enticing, especially to young girls. When you grow up being conditioned into thinking \u00a0you can’t do the same things as boys, seeing a woman \u00a0with a wand<\/a> \u00a0is pretty powerful.<\/p>\n To do magic, to cast spells, to be a Hermione\/Buffy\/Sabrina\u2014these compel us \u00a0when \u00a0double standards are crawling everywhere and “to [verb] like a girl” is still kicked around \u00a0as an insult.<\/p>\n Role model then, role model now. Source<\/a><\/em><\/small><\/p>\n This is exactly \u00a0the narrative that \u00a0The Graces<\/em> plays into\u2014a female protagonist in search of both herself and where she fits in to the world \u00a0of magic. \u00a0For a Guardian article<\/a>, YA author Ruth Warburton \u00a0comments:<\/p>\n Often the traditional way of looking at relationships in young-adult fiction is that the guy has all the power and the interesting life and the girl goes along for the ride, but that’s not the whole story. \u00a0Increasingly, we’re trying to bring our daughters up to believe they can be the leader; they can have the adventure; they can do the cool stuff and one thing about witches is that they allow you to explore that moment when girls become teenagers and realise the power they have as women and how exhilarating that can be.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n On that note, it’s time to \u00a0cast an \u00a0emoji spell<\/a> \u00a0and tuck into The Graces<\/em>, which I can say with confidence is the \u00a0literary \u00a0equivalent to \u00a0allspice.<\/p>\n Are you so into it?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Laure Eve’s \u00a0The Graces is at the top of my book recs \u00a0this fall, and not just because it decorates my room \u00a0for the season better than a pumpkin ever could. It’s everything I never continue reading<\/span>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.impawards.com\/2009\/posters\/coraline.jpg\")
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