Charmed Life

This post originally published on January 6, 2010.

Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 1977
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Book
Series: Chrestomanci series #1
270 pages (paperback)
 
Synopsis: Eric Chant (usually referred to as Cat) and his older sister Gwendolyn unfortunately become orphans after their parents drown from a boating accident, and are put into the care of certified witch Mrs. Sharp. Gwendolyn is a brilliant prodigy of a witch and Mrs. Sharp, along with the rest of the neighbourhood, are incredibly proud of her and aid her in any way possible to further her magical education. This is no good for Gwendolyn’s ego, which is the size of a blimp; she does not care about anybody but herself and is convinced she will become a Queen one day. Cat, on the other hand, is a meek and shy young boy who does whatever Gwendolyn tells him to do. The siblings are later adopted by Chrestomanci, a powerful magic-user. Gwendolyn is furious about this because Chrestomanci refuses to teach Gwendolyn advanced magic, only beginner magic, and Cat is embarrassed because he doesn’t know any magic at all. Gwendolyn decides to play tricks on Chrestomanci and everyone else at the castle, finally resulting in the removal of all her magical powers. The day after this, Cat goes to his sister’s bedroom to find that Gwendolyn has run away into another world and has left a girl who looks eerily similar to Gwendolyn as her replacement.

My Thoughts: Charmed Life is the first book in the Chrestomanci series, although you don’t need to read any of them in order as they don’t directly relate to one another (thus, I am ordering them by publication order). This is a fun book, full of quirky magical things. I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading, although I knew it would have Jones’ usual magicians and brand of humor, and I wasn’t disappointed at all. I was very pleased to meet Chrestomanci, who reminded me very much of Howl (from Howl’s Moving Castle). What I liked about this story world was the idea of parallel worlds; these worlds are formed when a big event in history occurs, such as a war, and with such events, there are a multiple number of outcomes. At such points, the world splits into parallel worlds and each world continues on the path the different outcomes continue on. Parallel worlds may each have copies of a person though they may end up with different personalities. What’s even cooler is that Cat, the main character, has NO copies of himself in the parallel worlds, making him exceedingly rare. Every copy of him that could have existed, exists in him — giving him nine lives! I do wish the story dove into the whole parallel worlds thing a bit more; it felt like only the surface was skimmed, and I’m sure there was a lot that could be done with it.

Cat/Eric is pretty much a doormat and never thinks for himself, though he does mature throughout the story. He makes a nice protagonist that way because he teaches you that just because you are a bystander watching another make mischief doesn’t mean you are completely innocent. Still, it frustrated me whenever Cat just stood by and let Gwendolyn’s spoiled, bratty behaviour continue. I suppose you can say I enjoyed reading Gwendolyn’s character as well … Even though she makes you want to dive into the pages and strangle her half the time, she was extremely interesting and you never knew what she was up to next. I happen to have an appreciation for characters I loathe with a passion, because although I may not like them, they still affected me in some way; I’d rather passionately hate a whole cast of characters than have a whole bunch of boring, dull characters who can’t evoke any sort of emotion in me at all.

All in all, a very fun book to read. It’s the kind of magical book you can re-read over and over again. The ending is exciting, with a big battle and everything, although I’m extremely sad that nobody gave Gwendolyn the kick in the head she deserves (and how sad! Chrestomanci gets kicked in the shins instead! Where’s the justice?!)

My Rating: 3.5/5