We Used to be Magic

By Bea Ingalls

Reviewed by Lucie Rose

We Used to Be Magic is a glamourous drama romance set in the fashion filled streets of New York City. A few months ago, Audrey was plucked from a cold seaside cottage and pushed into the bustling streets of the concrete jungle. By some miracle, someone looked at her and didn’t see a directionless, confused girl trying to figure out what she wanted, but a flashy, promising young model. Strutting runways by day, attending galas by night (stuffed into a shoebox apartment by later night) Audrey is finally feeling happy. That feeling only increases when she meets cute, British waiter Ezra at a work dinner. Handsome, rich, the world at his fingertips, you’d think a guy like this would know what he wanted. Ezra thought so to, but then his mother died and he was shipped off to boarding school, and the rest of his familial relationships seemed to fade with the memories of his mother. Now, being forced to get a job and reconnect with people he neither likes nor knows, the last thing Ezra expected was to enjoy his time in New York. That was, until he met Audrey…

Marc Jacobs said it best: “Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them.”

Fashion is an inescapable, irresistible part of the world. By many it is considered not only an art form, but a way of life. And for characters like Audrey and Ezra, it’s both. We Used to Be Magic explores the depths of the fashion world, the good and the bad, and entangles it with a romance between too charming yet relatable leads. A fleeting meet cute. An instant connection. A touch of fate. Ezra and Audrey’s romance includes all of this and too much more. I’ve never been one for the ‘fate pushes them together’ trope, but this book did it well. Not so obvious as to be assaulting, but rather a tapestry of small, intimate details that weren’t always revealed to the characters themselves, but made it clear to the reader that these people were meant to be.

Even when decked in silks and sequins, the world of fashion can be tough. No amount of style can change the prejudice and corruption that often plagues this field and makes participating in it that much harder. For models especially, while some would give anything for the demanding life they live, even beauty can’t sustain a life lived on the go, giving everything and receiving little in return. The author addresses the ups and downs of the fashion world, its frivolous flaws and beautiful benefits, in a way that neither exaggerates nor denies any of the aspects of this complicated profession. It shows the reader how mesmerising this world, the places it takes you and the opportunities it provides, can be.  A main theme of this book is the feeling of being directionless. Lost. Having no idea where to go or where you even are. It displays how people from all walks of life, whether it be from runways, boarding schools or rooftop bars, can be confused. While developing their romance, Ezra and Audrey also go on journeys of self-discovery where they try to figure out what their want from life, and what they’re willing to do to get it.

Overall, I’d rate this book three out of five stars, recommended to teens aged fifteen to seventeen.

Warning: mentions of death, sexual assault and swearing.

Orion Children’s Books

Bea Ingalls