A Clockwork Witch (The Clockwork Chronicles Book 1) by Michelle D. Sonnier – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur.

The Clockwork Witch by Michelle D. Sonnier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Arabella Sortilege is a young witch who lives in Victorian England, she is the youngest of a large family, a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter to be exact but she is the only one out of all her female relatives who has not shown an ounce of magical talent. She is known as a “brown bud” and she is a disappointment to those around her, leading to her being shunned because of it, her family make her complete the mundane tasks so that they don’t have to get their hands dirty and can spend more time practicing their art and interact with her as little as possible, all apart from one who is her best friend and the closest in age as well.

One day, the Sortilege family are invited to an event where an invention is unveiled and Arabella is fascinated with it, especially when she can see it all shining with an inner glow, all apart from an area in the centre, when she asks her sister about it, she finds out that it is magic she can sense, but not in any way which would be classed as normal, her sister advises her to stay quiet about what she has seen until they return home.

As the days go on, Arabella begins to notice that she can see other aspects of technology shining like magic, however, this leads to trouble and Arabella begins to feel like she finally understands what her sisters feel, apart from it is with an element, which is not natural. As events continue, Arabella’s secret comes out and she is even more trouble than before, she now has to face the judgement of those around her and the Trials which every young witch has to go through, to enable her to declare her Technomancy and the fact that she both understands and can manipulate machinery.

Will Arabella be able to stay out of harms way long enough to pass the Trials and be finally accepted into the family and develop her talents, or will the danger she faces stop her in her tracks, or will the judgement she faces be the most severe possible? This is a sci-fi fantasy where magic and technology combine in a coming of age tale of one young witch finding her place within a world where the rules are absolute and anything outside of them is considered an abomination.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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