Splintered Magic by L.L. McKinney is the fourth and final book in the innovative Disney YA series, The Mirror. The series puts a new, unique, spooky and mature spin on the young adult fantasy genre. This quartet of books tracks one family―and the curse that plagues it―over several generations.
Splintered Magic follows Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao (book one), Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton (book two) and Fractured Path by J. C. Cervantes (book three). (You can check out my prior reviews of each here, here and here.) In Splintered Magic, McKinney wastes no time in jumping right into the magic in bustling New York City in the year 2000, where Trey and Tai’s journey begins and ultimately where the family saga ends.
What is Splintered Magic about?
Twins Trey and Tai are not like other high schoolers.
Trey struggles to suppress his surging magical abilities which continually impede his dream of making first chair cello in orchestra. A budding photographer, Tai just wants to take pictures and maybe find someone to take them with.
However, disturbing images keep appearing in Tai’s camera lens, reigniting the twins’ search for their mother, who mysteriously disappeared ten years earlier. As the two discover more clues, Trey and Tai also uncover strange secrets about their magical ancestors and about a cunning villain who threatens their very survival. Together, Trey and Tai must work to unearth the past and preserve the future of their family.
Harnessing one’s gifts requires hard work and longevity – even if you have magical abilities
There is so much to love about this series and one of the primary themes that Splintered Magic in particular does a great job of is making magic more ‘mature’.
As sixteen year olds, Trey and Tai are in the midst of teen growing pains and their struggles are exacerbated by losing their mom ten years earlier and the fact that they each possess unwieldy, unpredictable magic that they’re not sure how to control, let alone know what to do with. One may generally think of magic as a great gift; a relatively straightforward wand-waving, for example, but Splintered Magic reveals the long-term trials and tribulations that come along with it, leaving the reader wondering if the tradeoff is all it’s cracked up to be. I found this more mature, thoughtful spin on magic refreshing and engaging, as it puts the reader at the heart of the struggle as well – we might not know how to use magic but we sure can relate to and empathize with the characters’ learning experiences, including grappling with the plague of self-doubt that can come with being brave, facing one’s fears, and trying to control the seemingly uncontrollable.
McKinney also does a commendable job of exploring relationships in this book. The relationships between Trey and Tai, the twins and their dad, Tai and Aisha, and Trey and Aisha dig deep and shed new light and dynamics on this modern family unit which is different to the family composition in prior books. I loved that Splintered Magic split the protagonist role between twins and that Trey’s and Tai’s views are woven together into one story in which they both equally lead.
Splintered Magic is very much split into a first act and second act. In the first act, the reader gets to know the twins, glimpse their magic and learn about their relationships. In the second act, the journey drastically intensifies as McKinney makes her own magic in wrapping up the series and tying the generational stories together. This was no easy feat given the richness and complexity of the magic elements across all four books, but McKinney manages it with ease, clarity and a delightful dose of humor.
As mentioned in one of my prior reviews, all books in the series do a good job of addressing gender and racial disparities. It is inspiring to see great stories bringing these issues to the fore in significant and clever ways. While The Mirror is premised on fantasy, the disparities flagged are raw and real (and have been since the 1800s in which the first book is set). Dao, Clayton, Cervantes and McKinney use their talents not only to raise awareness but to educate intelligently and thoughtfully. Young readers and adults alike can learn and benefit a lot from such storytelling.
Finally, and it bears repeating, another aspect I love about The Mirror is the time – and geography – travel between the stories. Readers are transported to:
- 1800s Germany (in Broken Wish, book one)
- 1920s New Orleans (in Shattered Midnight, book two),
- 1960s San Francisco (in Fractured Path, book three), and
- 2000s New York City (in Splintered Magic, book four).
Each different period brings with it new context and characters, and each subsequent book builds on the trials, tribulations and lessons learned from prior books in the series. There is a lot of unpacking to do, and this series strikes me as one in which every time you read it, you may pick up on something new.
Splintered Magic conforms to the necessary parameters laid out in the prior books while simultaneously doing a tremendous job in tackling the unenviable task of concluding the quartet. It course-corrects prior broken promises, works through generational family secrets and encourages hard work, self-belief and persistence to make things right for the past, present and future.
Splintered Magic was released on July 18, 2023.