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."

The first I actually heard of this book was when my other book blogger friends were receiving copies of the US version Kat, Incorrigible.  I remember seeing their cover & thinking WOW this is gorgeous.  I did a bit of digging & finding out about the book and soon realised we had a totally different cover & title.  At first I really did prefer the look of the US cover, but on actually seeing the UK book I have to say ours is quite gorgeous too.  In some ways its also more fitting to the themes of the book.

After my digging I was so excited to find a book that was not only set in the Regency period, but also included magic - HEAVEN for me to read.  Its a fantastic way to introduce younger reads to period set books, but with hints of what they are used to reading these days with the magic.

The book moves at a great pace with the right amounts of humour and building intrigue & suspense.  Totally enjoyable for me as the reader. 

Kat is a fantastic lead character and potential role model.  Of course you have moments of thinking 'No Kat, don't do it!!!' but at the heart of it, she is a lovely family orientated character that is admirable.
I also adored Kat's family!  Her step mother is quite a dragon, but the more you read of her the more I felt myself softening to her hard demeanor.  Her Dad is lovely, but quite useless.  Her brother is like most of us girl's brothers in that he is unreliable & needs to mature, but still makes everyone love him!!  Her eldest sister Elissa I got the most motherly feeling from and you can't help but feel sympathy for how she feels she has to look after her family.  Lastly Angeline her other sister.  She's the most like Kat with her fieriness and unpredictable nature, but is still a sister I would love to have had!!

The book comes together with a very neat resolution, but with plenty of room for follow ups, that's awesome as I really want to read more about the Stephenson family!!

This book is targeted at a younger age bracket than my normal picks of YA books, but I have to say at no time did I feel this was too young for me to be reading.  I would say the style is reminiscent of the Harry Potter books, just in the fact that anyone could read them.  Stephanie doesn't write down to or patronize the reader.  This is truly to be enjoyed by all! 

Rating 4 Out Of 5


This Is Published In The UK By Templar

This Can be Purchased From HERE and at all good stores