REVIEW: A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis

At twelve years old, any proper young lady in Regency England should be sitting quietly at home, practising her embroidery and keeping her opinions to herself. But Kat Stephenson is no ordinary young lady. Kat's father may be a respectable vicar, but her late mother was a notorious witch and Kat herself is the newest target of an ancient magical Order. In the first thrilling instalment of The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, there are highwaymen to foil, sinister aristocrats to defeat and true loves to capture for Kat's two older sisters. 


I jusknew I was going to love 'A Most Improper Magick' - it's just my kind of book! I had high expectations, and I was not disappointed! Kat was a brilliant character, and I loved her sisters as well. Angeline was probably my favourite character after Kat -  she was clever and funny, and very entertaining to read about! Kat's other sister Elissa was more serious, but I liked her too. I loved their sisterly relationship, they bickered and fought at times (of course!) but they were ultimately loyal and kind towards each other, and I thought that was great. I really like great literature sisters, but you don't get it much in books theses days, so it was a lovely change to have it in this book.

Kat was just amazing! She was all that I love in a person (or character), rebellious, adventurous, fiercely loyal and funny! She was fiery and loveable and I loved reading the book from her point of view. 

There was a wondeful cast of supporting characters - to name a few, Elissa and Angeline's love interests, who were romantic and lovely, the girls' father, and their stepmother whom, towards the end, I sort of started to...like? Am I supposed to start liking her? Because she seemed a lot nicer near the end of the book :) Charles seemed like a really fun character with a lot of potential - I was disappointed we didn't see more of him, and I hope he will be in the next book more!

Stephanie Burgis is a fantastic writer - her descriptions are exact and made it easy for me to imagine what people, clothes, and rooms looked like. She also has a brilliant way with words - she phrases things and uses words in a way that I never would have even thought of doing! She is just an amazing writer and I am dying to read more of her work. Reading A Most Improper Magick just made me feel so happy - it's definitely a feel good read!

The only thing I have to complain about is the magic in this book - I didn't get the whole Guardian-magic thing. What they did wasn't really explained at all, and that annoyed me! I liked reading about the witchcraft magic though - that was explained a lot better, and was quite enjoyable to read about!

A Most Improper Magick is one of the best books I've read this year - middle grade 1800's fantasy is my new favourite genre! ;) I must admit, I love reading books from this era - I would recommend this to fans of Cora Harrison's 'Jane Austen' series. This amazing book is written beautifully, has an unstoppable, extremely likeable heroine, and deserves to be read by everybody! I am absolutely dying to read A Tangle of Magicks. If you haven't already, add A Most Improper Magick to your to-read lists now - it's a must-read!

Source: For Review - a massive thanks to the publisher for sending me this in exchange for an honest review.

Format: Paperback
Pages: 256

Age group: 9+

Official Publication Date:1st August 2010
Publisher: Templar Publishing