Goff is a misfit orphan living in a small American town, where he’s bullied both at school and in his horrible foster home. He has one chance of escape—a writing competition that could win him a place at an elite boarding school. The only trouble is, he has an unexpected new identity as a wizard to contend with—plus has to face off an evil force that threatens to destroy everything and everyone he knows.
With echoes of Harry Potter, The Graveyard Book, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, MISFIT’S MAGIC: The Last Halloween is an entertaining and likable young adult fantasy that sometimes struggles to come out of the shadow of its influences. Which is not to say that author Fred Gracely isn’t a talent in his own right—he clearly is, and when he trusts in his own vision the writing is at its strongest. Take his enchanting, Bradbury-esque descriptions of a small town in autumn, ‘The air smelled of rotting apples and wet earth. The store windows glowed with Halloween colors…’ or ‘a breeze rustled the leaves dangling over the gravestones. An owl hooted in reply, serenading thin clouds sliding in front of a low, large moon like a flock of ghosts.’
There is a sense that Gracely didn’t quite get to the deeper heart of his story, as its disparate notes don’t always sing in harmony. If this were a potions class, you might say that while the ingredients are right, they don’t always froth and bubble. For instance, the main villain feels cliched and flat, while Goff’s sojourn into wizardry comes off as a little forced and contrived. Plus intriguing plot threads get dropped abruptly, including Goff’s attempt to raise the dead, his tentative friendship with a cheerleader, and his unresolved foster family relationships. These examples and the lack of background detail on Goff’s dead parents suggest that a lot might have been held back for sequels which, if so, does this book a disservice. It would have been better if Gracely had aimed to tell a complete, intact story. That said, there are a couple of walloping twists and reveals around two of the magical characters, proving that the author knows how to spin a surprise-filled yarn. Gripes aside, this is a genuinely touching tale on the power of friendship, love, and courage. And by the end, Goff feels like a friend whose adventures you want to keep following. Undoubtedly, Gracely is an engaging storyteller and a talent to watch—and hopefully, he’ll get the plot cauldron frothing and bubbling in his next book.
A warm and lively young adult fantasy following a teen wizard and his oddball friends as they confront an evil force threatening their small town, Fred Gracely’s MISFIT’S MAGIC: The Last Halloween has enough anarchic action and surprises to keep reader’s turning the pages.
~Deborah Martin for IndieReader