A Girl’s Guide to Love & Magic by Debbie Rigaud
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Special thanks to Scholastic Books for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
Cicely Destin, a Haitian American teen living in Brooklyn, loves the annual West Indian Day Parade that takes place in her neighborhood. The colors, clothes, tastes, sights, and sounds all celebrating Caribbean culture fill her with pride and joy. This year, the parade will be extra special: it falls on Cicely’s birthday, AND Cicely will get to hang out with her awesome aunt, Mimose, a social media influencer known for dabbling in Haitian vodou. But when Mimose’s dabbling becomes a little too real, and she seems to be possessed by a rogue spirit right before the parade, it’s up to Cicely, plus her best friend, Renee, and her crush (!), Kwame, to try to set things right. Cicely and her friends set off on a winding, thrilling scavenger hunt through Brooklyn to find the items that will undo the possession. But can Cicely help her aunt if she doesn’t fully realize her own powers just yet? (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
Plot:
This book has one of the best covers I’ve ever seen; I was immediately attracted to the book, and it made me look forward to it more. The author included vibrant imagery in the book to describe the West Indian Day Parade, and I like how it matches the cover. The beautiful imagery heightened the story and made me feel as if I was experiencing the story with the main characters too.
The book is fast-paced and can be finished in a short amount of time. It is engaging and keeps me guessing, but some parts don’t make much sense to me. The plot is about a scavenger hunt to gather ceremonial items related to the Vodou culture that is needed to unpossess Cicely’s aunt. The characters have little knowledge about Vodou, so I expected more obstacles in their journey; however, they always got lucky retrieving items and made it to their final destinations despite being distracted a lot. I find it unreasonable how everything was resolved so easily and smoothly.
The Haitian Vodou culture is an important aspect in this book. I like how the author included just the right amount of information to make it educational without it feeling too heavy. The scavenger hunt is a fun way to discuss Vodou and the spirits, so it feels less intimidating for readers like me who are unfamiliar with the culture. Also, instead of emphasizing believing or not believing, the narrative is open and respectful, so I enjoyed reading the book even more.
Characters:
My favourite character is Kwame because he is kind and reliable. Although he wasn’t close with Cicely at first, he still volunteered to help her with her dangerous journey of un-possessing her aunt. As the only male in their scavenger group, he is mature and takes on the role of protecting the other members. He is also considerate, especially for Cicely’s feelings. Near the end when she had doubts about her aunt’s intentions to become an influencer, he tried to talk her out of it. When Cicely got slightly angry, he didn’t mind and continued to comfort her. He is an important character, and I believe the hunt wouldn’t have succeeded without him.
I find Cicely annoying sometimes since she doesn’t appreciate anything and gets mad when Kwame is being considerate of her. Other than that, I admire her determination and bravery in saving her aunt.
Romance:
I feel scammed by the title. I expected more from the relationship between Cicely and Kwame, but it was overshadowed by their mission to gather the ceremonial items. Although the little romance shown was cute, I believe that it wasn’t enough to lead up to their kiss, so it felt abrupt. Still, there were some parts I liked a lot, such as when they laid down on the grass next to each other as depicted on the cover.
Ending:
The ending surprised me. I didn’t expect Cicely’s mom to be the priestess and to ultimately un-possess Cicely’s aunt since she seemed resistant to Vodou culture earlier in the story. Everything was resolved too quickly, and the ending felt rushed which is what brought my rating lower. I believe I would enjoy the book more if it were longer.
Reviewed by Renee L.