Review: Mary Quirk and the Secret of Umbrum Hall

Mary Quirk and the Secret of Umbrum Hall by Anna St. Vincent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What I loved about this book:

1. The protagonist, a teenage girl, is practical, sensible, and (even though she experiences some understandable strong emotions given the events that occur) capable of calming herself down and getting on with the job at hand. She's the kind of person whose goal is to keep her head down, her grades up, and her sarcastic thoughts from escaping her mouth, because she doesn't want any drama.

2. Of course, she gets a big heaping portion of drama. But not in the usual YA "the adults are incompetent or neglectful, therefore the kids are forced into heroism" way. The adults are pretty competent, but they do need the kids to step up as well, for believable reasons.

3. She knows the difference between illusive and elusive. The writing is, in fact, literate in general, doesn't make any of the usual errors, and is one of those books you can just relax into because (as a reader once said of Roger Zelazny) within a couple of paragraphs you know you're in good hands.

4. It's set in a magic school, but it isn't just another bad photocopy of what the characters call "the H place" with a cast and plot that are thinly disguised fanfiction/made from box mix. The setting has an entirely new and fresh kind of sensawunda, the high-school shenanigans are kept to a minimum, the romance is slow-burn and low-key, and all in all it's a good ride.

The only thing I didn't like is that there wasn't more of it, and I'm eagerly waiting for the sequel.

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