The Unwritten Rules of Magic by Harper Ross

The Unwritten Rules of Magic by Harper Ross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Emerson Clarke can’t remember a time when she felt in control of her life. Her father—a celebrated author—blew in and out of her childhood like a hurricane until he got Alzheimer’s. Her mother numbed loneliness with gin. And recently, her teen daughter has shut her out without explanation. The only place Emerson has ever been in charge is in front of the keyboard where, as a ghostwriter, she dictates everything that happens on the page. If only she could arrange reality the same way, life could be perfect. An impossible fantasy—or so she believes until she makes a startling discovery.

After her father’s wake, Emerson steals her father’s vintage typewriter—the very one he’d forbidden anyone to touch—and tests its keys by typing out a frivolous wish. After it comes true the very next day, she tries another. When those words also spring to life, she becomes obsessed with using the typewriter to engineer happiness for herself and her daughter. Easier said than done.

As Emerson shapes her real-life circumstances, she uncovers disturbing truths about her family’s history and the unexpected cost for each story-come-true. She should destroy the typewriter, but when her daughter's secret finally emerges, Emerson is torn between paying the price for bending fate and embracing the uncertainty of an unscripted life.
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The first magical realism book I ever read was one by Heather Webber, and just like that I was hooked. Therefore, when I was invited by the publisher to check out a debut novel in that genre, I jumped right on it. I am so glad I took a chance on this one! While the magic is more subtle than other books that fit that description, there still was a fantastical element that was the centerpiece of the story. However, most of all, this was a book about family...all the messy, beautiful, painful, joyful, difficult, rewarding parts of being a family.

While Emerson leaned toward almost unlikable at times for me, there was an earnestness to her actions that still made me root for her. I am sure we have all wondered at one time or another what we would wish for if a genie came along and granted us three wishes...reading what Emerson does when it seems she has an endless supply of wishes at her fingertips makes for a compelling and memorable novel that I could not put down. I read it in one afternoon.

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