Biddy lives in a version of 1912 where magic has been disappearing over the last seventy years.
Biddy has known magic all her life, residing on the hidden island of Hy-Brasil with her guardian, Rowan, and his rabbit familiar, Hutch.
Biddy loves the island, but yearns to see the outside world.
When Rowan doesn't come back one night after journeying across the sea in search of more magic, Biddy finds herself thrust into a dangerous adventure that will change everything Biddy knows.
Can Biddy track down Rowan on the foreign streets of London?
Is there a way to save magic?

I have a mixed history with this author's previous books, having really enjoyed one, and ending up not finishing another. However, the blurb for this book intrigued me, and I decided to give it a try.
Biddy was a likeable and relatable protagonist. I empathised with her, and rooted for her. I was also a little jealous of Biddy growing up on Hy-Brasil, which sounded wonderful.
I liked both Rowan and Hutch, and the relationships they had with Biddy and each other. Hutch was my favourite character overall, as I liked how much he clearly loved both Rowan and Biddy and fretted for them.
The setting of Hy-Brasil was interesting, and it was the total opposite of the dark, grimy streets of London.
The plot was interesting and held my attention, but I wasn't gripped by what was happening. I thought the story was set up well, and I did enjoy the world the author had created.
The writing style was easy to follow, and I would definitely pick up another book by this author.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.

I really wanted to love this. It sounded like a book I would live but it was just so slow that I ended up bored even though there was parts of the plot was actually interesting

The Magician's Daughter is an absolutely wonderful, breathtaking tale of magic, memory, power and family. It's Howl's Moving Castle meets The Hexologists in vibe, an Edwardian treat with a rich magical world that feels both realistic and fairy tale at the same time. One of those rich, deeply powerful books that hooks into you while you think you're just sailing along on its adventure. A must-read for fans of The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

i really wanted to like it because i loved the other book by this author (Uriah Heep!) but this one is too slow and too dragged for my liking hence DNF :3

This was such a wonderful surprise! The Magicians Daughter is a very underrated standalone that focuses on family instead of romantic love, which is something we always need more of. The magic system is simple but elegant, the characters loveable but flawed in very understandable ways and the book has a wonderful atmosphere perfect for fans of A River Enchanted or Emily Wilde. I also absolutely loved how it managed to communicate tat good people can make terrrible mistakes without them defining them.
I can really only reccofmend this one, one of my facourite reads of the year so far!

A relatively dark historical fantasy that my young adult daughter would devour. A truly magical read.

This was beautiful, if a bit slow.

Biddy (short for Bridget) grew up on a hidden, magical island that only appears once every seven years, raised by a vigilante magician called Rowan and his rabbit familiar Hutchincroft. She longs to see the world she's only read about in books, longs for human contact other than Rowan, longs to be a magician herself, even though she doesn't have a scrap of magic of her own. This desire to both see the world that exists so close and yet so far away, coupled with the frustration and sadness and disappointment of growing up surrounded by magic without being able to work it on her own, is almost enough to tear Biddy in two. As she watches Rowan leave every night to Robin-Hood-like steal magic from the governing council of magicians to release it to where it's actually needed, while she has to stay behind, she dreams about the world outside of their little magical island.
Until Rowan doesn't come back one day.

This was beautifully written, with flowing sentences that don't feel weighed down by complicated word choices or pretentious prose. Chapters went by light as air. While the plot did feel a bit slow at times, it ended up being just the right pace for plot points to unfold without feeling rushed or drawn out.

Most of the characters were something special. Biddy, torn up between wanting to stay in her magic world and also to grow up and learn to exist on her own. Rowan, with a wink of mischief in his eye and a complete disregard for his own personal safety. Hutchincroft, my personal favorite, the rabbit familiar with a love for bacon and muffins. Morgaine, the sorceress with shifting allegiances. Anna, the first friend Biddy ever makes.
The only thing I have to complain about is the one-dimensionality of the villains. Vaughan, textbook evil dude who steals all the magic for himself with the power of bureaucracy. Storm, his torturer, who was (for me) the most disappointing character in the entire book. There is just something off about how Storm's storyline and transformation were handled that does read a bit ... uncomfortable, for someone who is basically disabled. Anyway. Maybe I'm making a mountain out of an anthill again.

All in all, this was a beautiful story. I didn't quite get the "cozy fantasy" feeling that other reviewers described, as the book did feel quite dark to me at certain points, but I loved it all the same. I think I can look forward to re-reading this quite a few times, and that is always a win in my book.

Magical!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Oh, this was SO much fun to read.

This is a real treat as a YA historical fantasy. I got a lot of His Dark Materials vibes from the themes and tropes at play here.

What I enjoyed:
- The mysterious nature of Biddey's existence. The question of why she can't leave, where does Rowan go and the realisation that Biddey is not at all equipped to deal with the outside world when he does not return promptly.
- Biddey is non-magical and thrust into a very magical society. It's like the reverse of The Chosen One trope and I loved it because we as the reader are very much Biddey in this book.
- The small cast of characters ensures each one is well defined and fleshed out. I felt like I knew them all intimately.
- Whilst the overall revelations weren't a surprise to me I feel like they'd be satisfying to a younger audience and for that reason I still enjoyed them.

A solid four stars.

That was incredibly atmospheric and full of historical whimsy, as we follow an interesting pack of characters living on a secret island. The opening chapters were lovely to read, as we get a glimpse into this picturesque peaceful island that seems to radiative cosiness and the interesting dynamics between Biddy, Rowan and his familiar Hutch. I thought the world building was good, and the magic presented as something wild and untameable really fit the tone.

However I do think the story itself was a little too convoluted at times. It's packed to the brim with a bit too much going on all at once, and as such the pacing is a little too slow for my liking especially when Biddy's story moves to London. It almost felt as though the hook was split into two parts, with all the charisma and magic going to thr first half of the book, while the second half just wallowed in too much exposition and explanation. I also found Biddy incredibly naive at times - which I know can be explained by her isolated upbringing, but it did get a little grating.

Beautiful descriptions and world building, but the pacing was far too slow for me and the characters never really connected with me.

I also never really fully connected with Biddy

Historical fantasy that got a little dark at times but overall had a cozy vibe. Although the main character was a young adult the novel felt classically timeless - it could easily be shelved as adult or young adult fantasy. I found it a little slow at times but enjoyed it and would read more books by H. G. Parry.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

This book had the same effect on me that The Night Circus did in that not only did i was magic to be real, i believed it was. A really enjoyable read

Thank you for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. Unfortunately I struggled to get in to this book. It is well written, but I didn't connect to the story

this was okay, felt whimsical and is accessible and easy to read. it was missing a lot of factors i typically enjoy in a book of this genre, but i'll just call that personal preference! i think a lot of people would like this book.

— thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the free digital ARC.

This was such a delight to read! I knew nothing about it before I went in and hardly even heard about it beforehand and that helped me enjoy it even more so.

Firstly, I loved that it was set in Britain set in 1912, more fantasies need to be set in Britain.
We follow young Biddy as she slowly embarks into the real world and the world of magic.

It's whimsical, delightful, and if you love an animal/familiar companion then you'll simply adore Hutch.

Thank you NetGalley for this earc.

A Radical Act of Free Magic was one of my favorite books of the year and I cry buckets when I had to say goodbye to the characters.
I was a bit wary about this book as The Shadow HIstories was a top series.
This is a good fantasy story, a coming of age full of tenderness and wonder. I enjoyed it, it made me smile and loved the characters and the world building.
I missed the suspence of The Shadow Histories but it's a great story that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

It is a good read. I got a mixed middle grade and fantasy with this book. The plot and characters are good. I read it without expectation but it doesn't exceed it nor disappoint me.

I have read other books by the author, and she specializes in bringing extra oomph to historical fantasy. She usually takes an actual event (or entire sets of events) and builds a magic-filled world around it, filled with darkness and emotions.
I start with this declaration because this was the bias I began this book with. If I had read it as an individual book with no prior knowledge of the author, I might have rated it slightly higher. The writing style was slightly similar but toned down to suit the young age of the central protagonist. This was the only thing that saw me through. I wanted so much more from this that I was left disappointed. It is by no means a bad book. It has its heart-filled moments, as well as nail-biting ones. It was just missing that extra part that has me reading these books in as few sittings as possible to get to the other end.
We have a semi-lonely girl sequestered on a magical island (of sorts), with a magician and his Familiar as company. She is aware of bits of her past and that of magic as a whole, but she does not know enough to keep her safe when she finally has to take action.
There are ethical debates sprinkled throughout the book, with a reasonably believable ending. I would recommend this to fans of historical fantasy who have not read other books by the author. I would highly recommend her previous work and look forward to the next!
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

For the first 50% of this book, I was really excited and truly loved what I was reading. The world, the characters, and the magic all clicked with me. Wholesome, yet adventurous, a great main character, an interesting concept… But after the 50% mark, my excitement started dwindling because it felt as if all of a sudden the book came to a stop. It became somewhat…boring. I pushed through and finished it, but I do think the execution of the second half of the book could have been done better. Maybe having more POVs would have been good, the wonder Biddy felt at discovering new things was wonderful at the beginning but hindered the story as the plot advanced. Overall it was a great concept and story, with wonderful characters, but turned a bit sluggish towards the end.
Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC!!

Biddy, a teenage girl, has been raised on an isolated island by a mage, Rowan, and a rabbit, Hutch. Due to dire circumstances in the magic world, the trio has to go out in the world and fight the good fight to restore peace and order.

This fantasy read was really enjoyable! I loved the world building and how intricate everything was, the characters' backgrounds, the mythology and the different rules to the magic world. It was a new take on an already popular trope, and it was fun to have a fresh input.
The characters were all really well written. Biddy was a strong femal character despite her youth, which I always love. Re the other characters, it was interesting because they were beautifully imperfect and human. They were layered and true to themselves. It's fascinating because usually we fall into the dichotomous bad/evil stereotype, but here I found that it was more nuanced than that. Well with most of the main characters, some others were purely evil, let's be honest here 😂
The plot was also intriguing and I did not see the twists coming.
The downside I have to mention though was the pace of the book. I had trouble getting into it at first considering how slow the story was.
I do believe a lot of people won't mind this at all. I just like my fantasy book with more action and less description maybe.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.


Review will be posted on Instagram the second week of April.
Waiting for Amazon to approve the review.