Like A Charm by Elle McNicoll

Title: Like A Charm

Author: Elle McNicoll

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Walker Books

Published: 3^rd January 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 326

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: Edinburgh is a city filled with magical creatures that no-one can see… except Ramya Knox.

As she is pulled into her family’s world of secrets and spells, Ramya sets out to discover the truth behind the Hidden Folk with only three words of warning from her grandfather: Beware the Sirens.
Plunged into an adventure that will change everything, Ramya is about to learn that there is more to her powers than she ever imagined.

After the death of her grandfather, neurodivergent tween Ramya uncovers a world of mystery and magic–and she’s the only one who can see it. From the award-winning author of A Kind of Spark.

“Ramya, you have something this city needs. And it’s something that’s going to change everything.”

Ramya Knox is used to feeling cursed. People only notice her long enough to call her a troublemaker. Except Grandpa. He sees Ramya and her neurodiversity as enchanting. But when Grandpa dies, Ramya’s world loses its charm…until she discovers he left behind one big secret: that magic is real, and Ramya can see it.

Trolls, vampires, kelpies, and more fantastical beings hide in the shadows for Ramya to discover. But the Hidden Folk need protection from the most dangerous creatures of all: the sirens. These beautiful monsters use their voices to get whatever they want, and lately they want power. And anyone who resists, anyone who is different, simply…disappears.

It’s up to Ramya to finish her grandpa’s work and expose the sirens for the villains they are–before their voices frown out the human and Hidden worlds forever.

~*~

Ramya was five the last time she saw her grandfather – the night she saw something that nobody else could see, and her family was ripped apart. Determined to protect her, Ramya’s parents have kept her from the rest of the family for years, and are so busy, they don’t always notice what she can do. Ramya is also neurodivergent – she has dyspraxia, but she’s smart. She has trouble with writing and processing things and is forced to go to workshops at school that she doesn’t see a useful. Seven years after Ramya last saw her grandfather, she finds out he has died, and is left a mysterious book for her. She discovers that magic is real – and only she can see it.

The death of Ramya’s grandfather triggers a quest, and she takes her cousin, Marley, along for the ride. Ramya is tasked with creating a record of the Hidden Folk – trolls, vampires, kelpies and more need her to make this record but to protect them from sirens – a task that her grandfather was working on when he died. Now, it’s up to Ramya to expose the sirens – to save her world and the world of the Hidden Folk – and only she can find a way to do it.

Like A Charm is set in Edinburgh, a place filled with history and magic, and where things are slowly turning dark in this story. Our hero, Ramya, sees the world differently. She sees it and understands it in ways that don’t make sense to anyone else, and everyone from her parents to her teachers make her feel like she can’t do anything. Poor Ramya – she’s isolated and alone, and she knows she is capable of much more than what everyone keeps telling her she can do, and this is where the novel comes into its own, because it shows that being neurodivergent is not a bad thing as society tells us. I loved that Ramya was so forceful with what she could do and what she knew she could do. She had things she struggled with but being able to find out what she can do, and what her real talents are was amazing, because it allowed her – and allows other neurodivergent kids – to find their way and prove to those who underestimate them that they can do things, but they will do it in their way, and a way that makes sense for them, not necessarily the way that makes sense to the world and what the world expects from everyone.

I also loved Marley and Ramya’s aunts, who accepted her for who she was, and welcomed her back into the family after her grandfather died. Slowly, it was these relationships that helped Ramya find out more about the hidden world and what had happened with her parents and grandfather. It made the novel powerful and effective, as did the constant threats and uncertainties, where the characters and readers were never sure what was going on or who to trust at times. This works well in fantasy novels where little clues need to be dropped and doubt needs to be fed to the reader as well as amongst the characters – building to a climax that answered a few questions and set us up well for the sequel.

Everything in this novel was welcoming, and it allows people who don’t fit into society’s boxes to be seen, particularly neurodivergent people. I am really enjoying seeing so many children’s books coming out now with a range of representation and diversity, and seeing disability represented is a good thing. Not only can disabled and neurodivergent children and readers see themselves represented in books, but people who are not disabled or neurodivergent can see that these people are around, and what they contribute to society as well as allowing the voices of people who have never had stories about them to be heard. I think this is fantastic – because the wide range of stories we get to read makes it interesting, and I can’t wait to see what Ramya does next. I have fallen for her story and know she can save the day – it is how she does that I am looking forward to seeing.

I loved this book and hope others do as well.