Chronicles of Whetherwhy: The Age of Enchantment by Anna James

What worked:

The characters of Whetherwhy fall into different magical focuses related to the “five” seasons. Children of age go through a ceremony to identify the season guiding their futures. Spring is the season of creation, summer is for revelation, autumn is the power of transformation, and winter is to soothe and calm. An exception is the citizens who can use powers from all the seasons and become enchanters. Juniper is the main character when she’s identified as an enchanter and is sent to Thistledown Academy for her schooling. Readers will join her as she learns to control her powers. A unique aspect of these abilities is the enchanters weave strands of magic from different seasons to create spells. Think of it like sewing together the ingredients of a recipe.

The plot is fairly uneventful until Juniper’s trip to Thistledown offers readers a taste of what’s to come. She doesn’t understand how a horse-drawn carriage can complete a two-day trip before school starts tomorrow morning. The driver, Nimbus, picks up two more beginning students including Zinnia, a pompous rich girl, who readers will notice flaunts her superior attitude throughout the story. At an inn, the children encounter several threatening men and something unexplainable happens to Juniper. Juniper’s twin brother Rafferty reenters the book about a third of the way in when he takes an apprenticeship to be nearer his sister. He meets Jessy, another apprentice, and readers will immediately sense the mystery she brings to the book when she tells Rafferty, “Keep your wits about you.” This subplot creates the plot’s conflict and merges with Juniper’s story in the end.

The author creates intrigue through cryptic descriptions. Juniper’s strange experience at the inn has never been seen before and it delays her learning at Thistledown. She’s unable to summon her magic like the other students but she’s assured her powers will come back shortly. Juniper wonders if that’s true. The queen has been hiring more enchanters than expected but there’s little evidence of what they’re doing for her. A secret society is meeting at the bindery where Rafferty works and he learns there’s a connection to the death of Jessy’s parents. This group presents a mystery that Rafferty and Jessy will need to solve.

What didn’t work as well:

The story shifts between Juniper and Rafferty with each shift going on for several chapters. The downside is it breaks the flow of each plot and requires remembering what happened before rejoining each one. However, these separate subplots are necessary as there are two distinct stories and settings to be covered.

The final verdict:

This is a fun, suspenseful adventure of young characters learning to use seasonal magic. Many books have characters with new powers become superior to others but Juniper merely displays a special aptitude for her ability. It makes her more humble and relatable. Overall, I recommend you give this book a shot.