Welcome to the Other London | ARC Review

Thank you to Brain Lag and Catherine Fitzsimmons for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

Fifty years ago, the sky tore open.
Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it sounds.
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Ever since Earth joined the Grand Narrative, a collective of alternate worlds with different types of humans and levels of technology, magic has been a part of life. However, while it’s common enough, magical problems sometimes take an expert (or two) to resolve. Enter the Fixers, licensed magicians whose job is to help people with their arcane tech support.
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Ella Masterson is a high school freshman living in London. (London, Ontario. Not England. The other London.) She’s grown up idolizing magical girl anime and developed a talent for her own magic. When she gets a job working for the town Fixer, adventures abound. Chasing an invisible, talking cat through downtown? Facing off against a water nymph drowning people in the Thames River? All in a day’s work!
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But there’s a bigger problem in southern Ontario than rogue fairies, and Ella might be caught right in the middle of it…

After reading Erynn Q’s short story in The Light Between Stars that I reviewed earlier this year, I requested to read her full book coming out. The short story was set in this same world and with the same characters, and as it was one of my favorite stories I wanted to read and give attention to the full book.

What I love most about The Other London is the world. Fifty years ago a tear broke open the sky, opening up to other dimensions and other worlds. Magic is now apart of every day life. As we continue through the story we learn more about what some of that means. Like how there is a need for fixers who help fix magical things. From small to big things. It is an interesting setting.

I was a little thrown by the main character Ella who feels like a fan fiction mary sue with her constant references to anime. Of course she is special. But on the other hand I’ll give some slack because Ella is also just 14. Adding onto that, the further I got along in the book the more I felt that it was done on purpose as I feel that the other characters are not as stereotypical.

Regardless of that I still really enjoyed the story as a whole and I would like to read on.