Random Magic by Sasha Soren: Book Review

Professor Random has sneezed Alice right out of Wonderland. He sends young Henry Witherspoon into the book to find her and put her in her place before the world as we know it comes to an end. But Henry accidentally gets sent into the wrong book. Luckily, he meets the unflappable doodle witch, Winnie Flapjack, who takes him under her wing and helps him find his missing Alice.

This book is for those people who actually believe that it’s about the journey and not the destination. Me? I just want to get where I’m going.

The book was fun, and I enjoyed seeing where Winnie and Henry were going to end up next and how they were going to get out of their current mess. The overall plot of finding Alice isn’t a very big deal in the book though. It’s more of an excuse to throw everything together. I enjoy books more if everything flows together better.

Winnie’s solutions to problems were ingenious. Change live to dead? She can do that, no sweat. Defeat a crazy queen in chess? Sure. Take on a boat full of pirates? All in a day’s work to Winnie.

Henry was a different matter. He was a loyal little thing with a big heart, but he was a little slow. He never learned to just do what Winnie said; he was always questioning her. He always came out the worse for it.

The pacing was a little off for my taste. Some of the vignettes dragged on too long for me.

Oh! I almost forgot! The prologue is confusing. As far as I can tell, it has very little to do with the rest of the book. So just skip it. My sister grabbed this and read it while she was house-sitting for me, and she couldn’t wait for me to start it, just so she could ask me what was up with the prologue.

That aside, this was a fun book. It’s not perfect, but if you’re just looking for a romp through an author’s over-the-top imagination, this is the book for you.

Thanks to the author for sending me a copy for review.