I borrowed an audiobook copy of Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis from my local library to listen to while walking a 5k.

In nineteenth-century Angland, magic is reserved for gentlemen while ladies attend to the more practical business of politics. But Cassandra Harwood has never followed the rules…

Four months ago, Cassandra Harwood was the first woman magician in Angland, and she was betrothed to the brilliant, intense love of her life.

Now Cassandra is trapped in a snowbound house party deep in the elven dales, surrounded by bickering gentleman magicians, manipulative lady politicians, her own interfering family members, and, worst of all, her infuriatingly stubborn ex-fiancé, who refuses to understand that she’s given him up for his own good.

But the greatest danger of all lies outside the manor in the falling snow, where a powerful and malevolent elf-lord lurks…and Cassandra lost all of her own magic four months ago.

To save herself, Cassandra will have to discover exactly what inner powers she still possesses – and risk everything to win a new kind of happiness.

The audiobook includes the novella Spellswept. I thought it was a sweet little prequel to the series. I liked the writing style and voice of the main character and the challenge to societal dictates. I do find that when authors simply swap the gendered dynamics of social position, without also building out the implications of that, it is much less effective than it could be. That’s true here. A similar thing could be said (though I’ll try to be vague) about the decision to force the school to accept the girl, promising it is only about her, not about all women. But all in all, it was a cute read.

The main book, Snowspelled, I also enjoyed, but I have some complaints. The first is simply that, since the audiobook started with the Spellswept prequel, I expected the main character here to also be Amy, as it was in the prequel. I was disappointed to discover that this book is set years later and focuses on Cassandra. (Of the two, I was, at the time, much more interested in Amy.)

Second, though Amy isn’t the main character, she is in the book, and after building her up to be intelligent and capable, we discover that (as is SO OFTEN) the case, she had to give up her hard-earned future for love (and is happy with the decision). I hate this trope so much, and it’s beyond common. Burgis writes strong, female-forward books that frequently buck the gender norms. I was especially disappointed to see it here.

Beyond those initial complaints, I did like Cassandra. I adored her ex-fiance. He kind of remains a shadow, however, never fully fleshed out, which is a shame because he is so likable even as he is, that I wanted more of him and their relationship. The narrative tone is fun, and it is satisfying to see the group succeed against adversity in the end.

I was a tad bored throughout, however. The story feels deceptively low-stakes, which doesn’t really match the level of political world-building or authorial intent (I think). Despite that, I’d likely read the next book in the series. Or listen to it, as Emma Newman did a good job with the narration.

Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis.