Review: The Magpie Society: Two for Joy by Zoe Sugg and Amy McCulloch

Author: Zoe Sugg and Amy McCulloch
Edition: audiobook
Publisher: Penguin (October 28, 2021)
Genre: YA, Mystery

Synopsis

My review of The Magpie Society: Two for Joy

The Magpie Society: Two for Joy is a fun but ultimately messy sequel that doesn’t quite follow through on what it sets up.

A Clumsy Sequel

Here we go again. After reading and sort of enjoying The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow but being ultimately disappointed, I read the sequel!

Related: Read My Review of The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow

Admittedly, I have a complicated relationship with these books because they’re very fun… but also so chaotic! To me, the reading experience is kind of like watching a shitty movie. I’m along for the ride and am equally annoyed and entertained by the inconsistencies.

I was happy to find that the writing did improve from book one to book two! Not by great strides, but enough for me to notice. I was also happy to see the whole “a timestamp on a photo is totally solid evidence” being resolved. But the plot? Unfortunately, still just as clumsy and messy as the first book! Seriously, this book has enough happening for at least two books and somehow none of it hit the mark the way I assume it was intended. There is so much going on, it’s a constant whiplash from one reveal to the next with not enough breathing room or context.

With one reveal and shocking event happening after the other, there is simply no breathing room for me as a reader to make up my mind about what is going on. A cascade of events is not a replacement for a good plot or pacing. It also does not make for great tension.

Weird Ending But Ok?

Let’s talk about that ending! I’m keeping it as spoiler-free as possible, but for a mostly untainted reading experience, you might want to skip this part!

I am not a fan of the double ending. Not because the final reveal isn’t a little clever or shocking (it is both of those things), but because it once again ruins what the authors have built. So many of the choices in this series seem like they’re not fully thought through and like shock-factor and surface-level excitement has been chosen above character development and narrative consistency.

The best way I can put it is that the ending was a really odd choice. It manages to contradict a lot of what readers have been led to believe and it felt really out of place, like an afterthought. Unfortunately, this tacked-on attempt at a shocking reveal soured my opinion of these books. Until the ending, I didn’t love the clumsy plot or writing, but I was invested enough to have a good time. The end undermined the whole story and robbed me of any kind of enjoyment in a really weird way. I was left confused and ultimately disappointed like I had wasted my time.

Overall…

…these books are very fun to read but they definitely undermine themselves with plots that feel a little cobbled together. It’s no literary masterpiece and I am honestly disappointed because the story had so much promise!

This book is for you if…

…you liked the first Magpie Society book
…you are willing to overlook narrative inconsistencies and a clumsy ending

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A post you might also enjoy: My Review of The Ravens