Review by Kayleigh
Series Name: Seamere College, #1
This is a delightful romantic urban fantasy with terrific banter and all of my favourite tropes.
Favourite Quote:
Good god, I hate her. I’ve always hated her beating me in class and being so difficult to read and acting so uppity even though she’s laughably poor and her family comes from nothing.
And I really fucking hate her now.
I hate the way she’s affecting me.
Book Synopsis:
All Gwendolynne Chan needs is to get through final year. As the top student in the magical familiars stream, she is on track to be awarded Dux of the entire school—as long as the pretentious prat Harrisford Briggs doesn’t beat her to it.
Harrisford Briggs’s father, the chief financial officer of Magecorp, a major global distributor of magic, expects him to come top of the class. Harrisford, though, can’t help but notice that his father has been acting odd. And there are strange whisperings, too, of uncontrollable surges of excess magic.
When these magical surges begin to rock London, causing chaos and explosions and familiars going feral, Gwen and Harrisford find themselves reluctantly involved, putting both of their veterinary careers at risk.
Along with Gwen’s snarky cat familiar, Gwen and Harrisford must team up to diagnose the problem. But as the two academic rivals fight their burgeoning feelings, they quickly realize that magic is not the only thing surging.
Review:
Welcome to modern-day London, filled with magic, familiars and a magic system that runs on capitalism. This is a story that throws you into the world. We quickly meet Gwendolynne, a high-achieving Type A vet student weeks away from finishing her degree and entering the real world. She’s nervous and excited, and demands perfection of herself not only to be the best for herself, but also to help her parents, who’ve sacrificed so much to help her get through school. We learn bits and pieces about the magic system and how it works in modern-day London, England and the world through some of her early interactions. The magic system (about which I still have so many questions) isn’t perfect and has been turned into a massive industry by two multinational companies that control most access to magic.
Through the first little bit of the story, Gwen, our perfect brown-noser, breaks some laws to save a cat who’s being abandoned by the CEO of one of the magic companies because he’s not well. It’s fixable, but the family would rather see him put down instead of taking care of him. Gwen acts on impulse and smuggles out the cat, who becomes her familiar. Percy really reminded me, in the best way, of Salem, Sabrina’s cat from the ABC 1990’s version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. He’s snarky, smart and kind of awful but lovable. Now that Gwen’s broken some magic laws, we get to see a more nuanced version of her, one who realizes something is very wrong with the magic system, and she’s determined to figure out what’s really happening. She has to learn to trust people, and we meet some of her classmates, who adore her and have just been waiting for a chance to be with her when she finally takes her nose out of the book and acts a bit human.
Strange Familiars is filled with a mystery centred on the magic system and its origins. There are heists, adventures and a shadowy group that is determined to bring down the massive corporations that Gwen and her friends get sucked into. It’s a lot for one young woman who’s also trying to graduate top of her class and land her dream job so she can support her family. The veterinary aspect of the school was fascinating, and I wanted more magical and non-magical animal interactions. The school itself seemed interesting, but much more like a magical high-school-level boarding school than an advanced veterinary school. In this way, the book felt a little more YA than adult fantasy.
Gwen is book smart and works hard, but isn’t great at the social side of life. She’s a scholarship student and is very aware that she comes from a struggling immigrant family and that she has to work extra hard for everything she has. She has a bit of a chip on her shoulder, but through some of her teachers and colleagues interactions, it’s clear that the chip is there for a reason.
This is in complete opposition to the sexy, wealthy and privileged Harrisford Briggs, whose father is #2 at the largest magic company in the world. Harrisford, though, is a bit of a poor little rich boy. His mother vanished when he was 4, his father was always working and kept him at arm’s length, and he always had trouble determining if people liked him or his money. His bearded dragon, Pudding, whom he’s had since he was 4, has been the one constant he can trust. The other thing you should know about Harrisford, and one that we learn through his POV in the story, is that he has his own reason to be competing for the top spot at school with Gwen. Although he hates her for her awkward attitude, aggressive competitive spirit against him and her breathtaking intelligence, he is also helplessly in love with her, which terrifies him. Harrisford definitely comes across as arrogant when we first meet him, and he is disdainful of Gwen, her poverty and her struggles. Gwen also isn’t a perfectly rounded, gleaming character; she has her flaws and also has to work through them. Watching Harrisford and Gwen learn about each other as they try to figure out what’s causing the magic system to erupt around them, killing people and familiars as well as graduate school, is a delightful romp of enemies giving in to the love that they both deeply feel for each other. I always love it when everyone around them can tell that they are into each other, but the main characters are too stubborn to see it for themselves. Gwen and Harrisford are a terrific couple, and they also learn to be friends first, which is just the icing on the cake.
Strange Familiars is a duology, and I can’t wait to read book two when it’s published. I have so many questions, and there are so many loose threads that I hope to see resolved. It’s a terrific cliffhanger that makes me excited to return to the world.
Thank you, Berkeley Publishing Group, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
