Queer magical girls save Portland in Magica Riot, a self-published debut novel by trans author Kara Buchanan.
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Publish Date November 01, 2024
Amazon | Bookshop
Summary
Claire has always known that she was a girl, but was too afraid to come out.
Then, one night, Claire goes to a concert of one of her favorite bands, Magica Riot. And, well, things don’t go quite as planned. Not only are the members of the band magical girls, but apparently so is Claire.
So Claire joins the band – both to fight monsters and as their new keytar player.
An evil lurks in the shadows of Claire’s home city of Portland, Oregon. Can Magica Riot save the day?
Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan’s debut self-published novel is very lighthearted fun.
Thoughts
A Trans Coming Out
Claire is obviously trans. I liked how she was written pre-transition. At the very beginning of Buchanan’s novel, Claire knows she’s a girl but is too afraid to come out and transition. Instead of creating a deadname for her and using he/him pronouns, Buchanan writes about Claire in a way that makes it clear she’s pre-transition without doing those things. It should be noted that Buchanan is herself a transwoman; She undoubtedly understand the trans experience in ways that cis people don’t. Consequently, she’s able to write trans characters struggling with coming out with empathy and understanding.
As a member of Magica Riot, Claire feels seen. Her bandmate, Nova, – who is also trans – was one of the first people to see Claire for who she really is. The rest of the band is also some flavor of queer. As a found family, they see each other for who they are and support each other.
With her new-found confidence, Claire is able to come out to her best friend, Hazel – who she also has a crush on.
Magical Girls
Because Magica Riot relies heavily on the magical girl trope, you’re going to see a lot of the things that go along with it. This includes enemies who patiently wait for the group to transform before attacking. This can, perhaps, seem cheesy – but I needed cheesy right now.
Character Development
If I were to give Magica Riot any notes, it would be that I felt like there could have been some more character development. By the end of the novel, I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on who Claire, Sara and Nova were. That said, I felt like I didn’t really know much about their bandmates Cass and Hana. Interestingly, there’s a website that features character art and descriptions, so if you’re feeling lost, that’s a resource.
Additionally, I was not completely clear on what the motives of the primary villain was. It’s kind of hard to discuss my feelings about this without spoiling a twist that happens – but let’s just say I have questions about how that works.
Magica Riot is supposed to be the first in a series – and it’s certainly set up in a way that there’s plenty of places subsequent installments could go. So maybe the follow-up will answer my questions.
Overall, I thought Magica Riot was a fun book. I’m looking forward to seeing where the rest of the series takes us.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.
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