I think this next book might have put me off of using a typewriter for a while. In The Unwritten Rules of Magic by Harper Ross, Emerson Clarke is facing a life potentially spinning out of control. Her father, a famous author who never finished his last series due to an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, has recently passed away. Her mother, who felt almost trapped in the relationship with her father, has continued spiraling into her alcoholism. Her teenage daughter is withdrawing from her emotionally and not giving any clue or explanation as to why. Desperate and upset Emerson lashes out by stealing her father’s good luck charm, an old typewriter. The thing is she never remembers him using it except late at night after everyone was in bed. While trying to sort out her own feelings she types a random note on the typewriter in which she makes a wish, one that is meant to help her out a little. Emerson doesn’t really think anything about it until the wish seems to have come true. Now she finds herself faced with a dilemma, using the typewriter to potentially help out and improve certain situations or leave it alone and try to forget it. As the allure becomes too much she ends up facing the idea that perhaps using something like that can have really unexpected consequences.
This one was a bit of a doozy in that it did a really good job of balancing out the belief and disbelief in the idea of the typewriter being able to grant wishes. It also did a great job of balancing all of the different elements and layers going on in Emerson’s life as she worked on processing everything that was happening in her family. However, outside of that I feel like the story also did a great job of capturing the emotional aspects of growing up in the shadow of such a famous parent. Especially considering Emerson followed in her father’s footsteps and also became a writer. I feel like that was somewhat underplayed because of the focus on the effects of the typewriter but at the same time it underscored everything that was going on in the rest of the story. This is definitely something that you can’t downplay in terms of its effect on the characters. It feels like Emerson grew up feeling like nothing she did was good enough and so she felt like everything had to be perfect which pushed her to try and use the typewriter’s magic ability. I will say that the outcomes and consequences of the typewriter are what ended up helping her grow over the course of the story so that the Emerson at the end of the story is pretty different from the one you see at the beginning. It ended up being a surprisingly introspective story that I am happy giving four out of five stars.
I would consider this a mix of fantasy and contemporary fiction as it has elements of both mixed together pretty well. It would probably hold the most appeal to readers who prefer either of those genres. The book is aimed predominantly at adults but there really isn’t anything I would consider objectionable or troubling that would make it unsuitable for younger readers. I would still say that only readers older than about fifteen though. It is good though and worth the consideration so I hope you will try it if it sounds like something you would like. As always, consider sharing your thoughts in the comments if you do.