Lady Victoria Mansfield has been prepared her entire life to live in luxury, and to make a match with a man of equal prestige. Everything is flipped upside down, however, when it is discovered that Tory has magic. Magic is forbidden in Tory's era, so she is sent to Lackland Abbey to be reformed. At first, it is Tory's greatest desire to learn to control and hide away her power so that she can be sent home, even if it may take years. But once she discovers an underground resistance of teachers and students alike who work to strengthen their magic in order to defend England, Tory knows it's only right to join them - especially when the handsome Marquis of Allarde is also there. Allarde is hiding a secret, though, that prevents him from opening up to anyone, including Tory. Thoughts of romance are put on hold, however, when Tory stumbles upon a mirror that takes her to the future, where a different war is being fought. Can Tory and the rest of the resistance truly keep England safe, especially when the danger is in two different time periods?
I found that it took me a while before I could actually become immersed in this story. I kept trying to read it, but I could only manage a few pages before putting it down again. I don't know if this is just because I didn't exert enough willpower over myself to keep going, or because I don't generally like stories based in the past, or if the beginning really wasn't very interesting, but luckily it did get better. After Tory accidentally gave away that she had magic and was sent to Lackland Abbey, I was able to read it more easily. Perhaps this is because of the setting, since I've found lately that the more interesting or ideal or troublesome the setting is, the more I want to keep reading. After some more characters were introduced and Tory stumbled upon the resistance, I was finally able to truly enjoy the rest of the story. It is a good story, though unfortunately it took me a while to discover this, especially considering the short length of the novel.
When Tory was sent through the mirror, she was sent from her own time in the early 1800s to the beginning of World War II. This is the part I found perhaps the most interesting, because of Tory's own perspective. Other books I've read that have time travel, including So Close to You by Rachel Carter, in which the main character also travels to WWII, begin somewhere in the future, traveling backwards into the past. Tory's input was particularly entertaining because she wasn't wondering over how old everything looked, and how little technology there was; rather, she wondered over all the new inventions, such as paved roads and electricity. In the occasional books I read where the characters travel to the future, it is an imagined future. I liked that both time periods Tory was in truly happened, which helped to ground this magical story in facts.
One thing that I did find somewhat unrealistic was the amount of magical knowledge Tory supposedly had by the time she travelled forward in time. She had just begun taking magical lessons herself, and although she'd had power her whole life, she never knew until soon before she was sent to Lackland Abbey. Then, when she travelled to the 1940s, the family she found begged her for magical lessons and she agreed. She taught them enough for them to be able to do magic also. This bothered me a bit because it seemed as though Tory's magical knowledge came out of nowhere, and then the family's ability to do magic came so easily, which somewhat conflicted with parts later in the story when everyone was complaining about how difficult magic was.
Overall I'd still say it was a good book. I thought that the ending was satisfactory, so I was surprised to see that it is a series. I suppose just about anything can become a series, though. I don't know if I'll read the next book, but I did enjoy this one by the end. I thought that there were some good historical details, and the idea of viewing magic as common because of jealousy was original, at least from all that I've read. I'd rate this book three stars. Readers who enjoy novels based in the past, forbidden magic, and complicated romances should read this story.
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