The Splendid City
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A genre-blending story of modern witchcraft, a police state and WTF characters, for fans of Alice Hoffman and Madeline Miller.
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In the state of Liberty, water is rationed at alarming prices, free speech is hardly without a cost, and Texas has just declared itself its own country. In this society, paranoia is well-suited because eyes and ears are all around, and they are judging. Always judging. This terrifying (and yet somehow vaguely familiar) terrain is explored via Eleanor – a young woman eagerly learning about the gifts of her magic through the support of her coven.
But being a white witch is not as easy as they portray it in the books, and she’s already been placed under ‘house arrest’ with a letch named Stan, a co-worker who wronged her in the past and now exists in the form of a cat. A talking cat who loves craft beers, picket lines, and duping and ‘shooting’ people.
Eleanor has no time for Stan and his shenanigans, because she finds herself helping another coven locate a missing witch which she thinks is mysteriously linked to the shortage of water in Liberty.
File Under: Fantasy [ Liberty for All | Water is Beautiful | Eyes Everywhere | Stanning for Stan ]
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Heuler (The Inner City) throws together a young witch, an egomaniacal cat, and thinly veiled allegories in a quirky coming-of-age story that never fully delivers. Eleanor and her arrogant, misogynistic roommate, Stan, do not get along. So, she curses him, transforming him into a bow-tie-wearing, beer-guzzling cat. As punishment for her rash spell-casting, her New York coven exiles her and Stan to the new country of Liberty (formerly Texas). The president of this humourously depicted dystopia distracts citizens from the dire water shortage through endless parades and stunts, including a treasure hunt. As Eleanor occupies herself with the search for the missing water witch, Daria, who she believes may be key to understanding the draught, shadowy figures lure Stan with the promise of hidden treasure, and both roommates attract the attention of some powerful political players. The whimsy and topical satire ought to carry this, but Heuler keeps things disappointingly shallow, with a thin plot and characters as two-dimensional as Liberty's propaganda newsprint. While the ingredients are enticing, brought to a bubble, this witch's brew fails to pass the taste test.
