Natalie Debboun

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/ 5 Overall

This review will contain an overview of the plot, however I will not reveal any major spoilers. After this review you will still be able to read and enjoy the book at your own leisure.

Plot Overview: The Unwritten Rules of Magic follows three generation of women – Dorothy, Emerson, and Sadie, in navigating life. Emerson, daughter to Dorothy and mother to Sadie, is our narrator. Following the death of her father, Emerson is plagued with intrusive thoughts about a typewriter he kept locked away in his office. Her father, once a famous author, refused to let anyone else handle the typewriter including Emerson, who wishes to follow in his footsteps.

Emerson, one day following her father’s passing, takes the typewriter and discovers an interesting secret: the device actually is magic! Any wish she types comes true (in reason). Emerson wants to use the typewriter to help her family overcome their personal struggles. However, while still grieving her father and wishing to better understand his secrets around the typewriter, she learns there is more to the typewriter, and her father, than she previously knew.

The Writing: I personally am not the biggest fan of magical realism, however this novel only touched on it heavily in the first half and at the end to wrap up the storyline. The writing flowed very easily and the prose was good. I was a little annoyed by Emerson, the narrator, however I believe the author did that on purpose to demonstrate there’s individual faults we all need to work on.

Emerson’s attitude towards her family at the beginning of the book was overbearing. It was almost as she can do no wrong but her mother and daughter can. However, through the book she realizes that she is acting like how her father did towards her, which at times was cruel and unfounded. She does work through these faults during the novel with a nice wrap up at the end.

Who will enjoy this book? If you enjoy magical realism in a modern setting, along with dissecting personal motives and family dramas, this book is for you.

Overall: I greatly enjoyed the themes and topics this book focused on portraying. Please note this novel does contain some sensitive topics including alcoholism and abortion. If you are looking for a more joyous, lighter read I would maybe skip for now. But definitely read it when you are looking for a novel focused on uncovering family secrets and dissecting past traumas.