Fourteen-year-old Caroline Smith’s life has always been filled with secrets, but nothing can compare to her accidently discovering that her whole family has magical powers! She is thrilled to learn how to use her powers that she never knew she had. But that joy melts away after someone uses magic to cause her harm and wants her dead. A masked man—who has strong, dark powers—will do whatever it takes to end every Smith’s life. With the help of her grandmother, Caroline trains in hopes of staying alive and stopping the masked man once and for all.
Fourteen-year-old Caroline Smith’s life has always been filled with secrets, but nothing can compare to her accidently discovering that her whole family has magical powers! She is thrilled to learn how to use her powers that she never knew she had. But that joy melts away after someone uses magic to cause her harm and wants her dead. A masked man—who has strong, dark powers—will do whatever it takes to end every Smith’s life. With the help of her grandmother, Caroline trains in hopes of staying alive and stopping the masked man once and for all.
Chapter 1
1943
In his four-year-old daughter’s room, Dilandro picked up some toys that had been left out from their playtime. To take his mind off his dreadful day, he had joined her at the tea party she was having with her stuffed animals.
But she had run off to get more snacks and got distracted by her mother. They both had rolled out dough to make bread for dinner, and his little girl had forgotten all about him.
Soon, the whole house smelled like fresh bread, making his mouth water.
After picking up the last toy, he looked out the window and toward the front yard. A cold winter had just ended, and spring was among them. Most of the trees grew flowers already, and the sun shined down on the lush, green grass. He looked out toward the woods that stood a few hundred feet away. As he did so, a shadow stood out like a sore thumb. He squinted, trying to make out what it was.
A man dressed in all black stood in the woods. A tree hid half of his body. He also had a black mask that covered his face as he stared in Dilandro’s direction.
Dilandro backed away as he realized who it was. He swallowed, wondering how long it had taken him to have finally found him and how long had he been watching from the woods. He wondered if the masked man had seen him with his daughter. But he pushed that thought aside.
“Lucy!” he called, not taking his eyes off the man. “The time has arrived! He’s here!”
In a matter of seconds, the house’s mood changed from blissful to tense.
Lucy, Dilandro’s wife, stopped working on the bread and hid their child in the kitchen closet, hoping she would stay quiet and not be seen by the man outside. Lucy and Dilandro both closed their windows and locked all the doors as fast as they could. He peeked out the window again by moving the curtain slightly out of the way.
The masked man stood as still as a statue, but he was closer now, in the sun. He held a fist down by his side as he stared at the house through his mask.
Their child came into the room, looking up at them with a curious expression. It was clear she was wondering why her parents were acting so weird.
“Sweetie, hide for a little bit, please,” Dilandro said as he picked her up. “Don’t come out until we come get you. I love you.” He kissed her forehead and sat her down in the closet, bending down to look at her one last time before he reached for the handle and closed the closet door.
He went over to his desk and pulled out his wand from a drawer. As he picked it up, hope and fear engulfed him. He walked over to his wife’s side.
“I want to help,” she said.
He turned toward the front door, making his wife think he had not heard her. But then he stopped, turned around, and kissed her as if this could be the last kiss they shared. He looked straight into her eyes. “You have to stay here and keep her safe.” He pointed to where their child hid, making Lucy glance at the closed door. They both knew he loved that child more than anything else. “Do not come out for anything. Do you understand?” he asked with tears in his eyes.
He worried—with all his heart—that the man standing outside would hurt Lucy or his little girl if something went wrong. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if something happened to either of them.
“Be careful,” she said, pulling him in for a hug.
He kissed her forehead before heading toward the front door to face the masked man. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Dilandro walked outside. His hands shook as he held his wand out in front of him. He tried to hide his fear but failed. He hoped his powers were as strong as those before him, but he doubted it. He had stopped using magic years ago because he never thought he would need it.
He had never believed the legend of the masked man who had caused his family so much pain. His three older brothers would explain who he was and what he could do. They all would hide when they were younger. They worried day and night that the masked man would find them. But he never did. Dilandro was only a baby when they had lost their parents to the masked man, so as he got older, he didn’t believe that the masked man was real. He stopped hiding once he was old enough to live on his own. But now, he had to face that mysterious masked man who slowly walked toward him.
He wished he had stayed hidden and listened to his brothers.
The masked man had slowly taken most of the Smith family’s lives for years. The family had stopped using magic to try to save themselves, but all who was left now was Dilandro, his three older brothers, and their kids. “Well,” the masked man said in a deep, calm voice as he looked at Dilandro, “I finally found you.”
Chills covered Dilandro’s body. He wondered why he was facing the masked man who stood only a few feet away. He knew he should’ve stayed hidden like his brothers told him to. And now, he might not ever see them again. A deeper pang of fear hit him as he realized he might never see his wife or daughter again either.
“Well, it took you long enough,” he said, trying to hide his fear.
The masked man laughed under his breath. “You seem scared,” he teased.
Dilandro had had enough small talk with this man. No longer would the masked man kill his family or anyone he loved. He pointed his wand. “This will end today!” he said, weaker than he would have liked.
His enemy laughed at the fear in his voice. He lifted his hand, clutching a wand of his own. “Oh, it will end today. Just not the way you think.”
Dilandro flicked his wrist, yelling out one of the first spells that came to mind. “Gepsic!” Power ran through his body and came out of his wand. His magic had a strange feeling since it had been so long since he had used it. But the moment the power lifted his wand, he knew it was not enough to hurt the masked man. This spell was strong to others, but the masked man had so much power that it didn’t hurt him the way Dilandro would’ve liked.
But to Dilandro’s surprise when the bolt of power hit the masked man, he dropped to the floor.
The magic had hit him in the face, cracking the mask to reveal a purple eye. He screamed. He looked up at Dilandro, full of rage and hate. He slowly stood while not looking away from Dilandro. Blood rolled down his face from where the broken mask had cut him. The cut was deep, but his hate was deeper. He turned and flicked his wand at Dilandro with a great force.
The power came faster than Dilandro could think, but he jumped out of the way and moved his wand, saying another spell. This time, the masked man also moved out of the way. He had to think fast. Just as he thought that, the masked man hit him with a powerful spell. Dilandro froze. He couldn’t move at all—except for his fearful eyes—even if he tried. A wave of panic ran over him as the masked man walked over.
“You lost,” he said, making direct eye contact with Dilandro.
Dilandro tried with all his might to move, but it was pointless. The masked man pointed his wand at him with wicked eyes looking deep into his soul. He thought it was over. He waited for death, but it didn’t come. Instead, the masked man looked over Dilandro’s shoulder. Chills spread through his body as a familiar voice filled his ears.
“NO!” Lucy yelled, standing on the house steps a few feet away.
Dilandro tried to yell no, but it came out so quiet that he wasn’t even sure he had said it. This was his war, not hers. He wished he could turn around, look into her eyes, and make her go back inside. He never wanted her to get involved in this part of his life.
They had married only five years ago, and she had known about the masked man and how he could hurt her and her future child, but she told him didn’t care. She loved Dilandro too much to not marry him. Plus, at the time, they didn’t even know if the masked man would ever find them.
The one thing that put Dilandro at a slight ease was that she also knew how to use magic as well as he did, maybe even better. Her powerful mother had started training her once she was old enough to safely do it. But now, Dilandro wished that her mother had never shown her how to use her magic. Because he knew she would never go back inside, even if he begged her to.
He just didn’t want anything to happen to her.
Lucy looked at the masked man as a light breeze blew by, making the moment feel frozen in time. She held her own wand tightly in her left hand as she looked between the masked man and the love of her life. Chills ran up and down Dilandro’s arms as the silence continued.
“Oh,” the masked man said. “I didn’t know you were home. If I knew, I would have invited you to say goodbye to your pathetic husband.”
She swallowed hard as he pointed his wand toward Dilandro with a wicked smile.
“Ready to die?” he asked Dilandro.
She raised her wand at Dilandro. “Freezenone!”
He dropped to the floor. As her magic worked, the masked man sent another spell toward him, but he darted out of the way. He kicked the masked man’s knee, making him drop his wand. The masked man stumbled onto the ground, giving Dilandro enough time to run toward the dropped wand and put his entire weight on it, snapping it into two.
The masked man looked down to see what was left of his wand. “You will regret that!” He shot great power out from his hands without needing his wand. The yellow power emerged from his fingertips and went into Dilandro’s chest. Lucy cried out as the power hit her husband. He looked over at his wife with pain and sorrow in his eyes. Then he vanished.
“NO!” Lucy yelled. Her whole world had just fallen apart in one second.
Time slowed as she stared at where her husband had just been. She would never hug him again. Talk to him. He would never see their child grow up. Today had been the last day she would ever lay eyes on him.
The masked man lowered his arms and walked toward her. She wanted to fight him. She wanted him to pay for what he had done to her and her daughter, but she knew she had to keep their child safe. She turned and ran back into the house, locking the front door behind her. She opened the kitchen closet door.
Panic filled her mind as she looked into an empty closet. Her heart pounded in her chest. She held onto the doorknob tightly. “Caroline!” she called out, turning away from the closet. She waited for her daughter’s voice. Nothing came.
She ran around the house to find her daughter. She eventually found her in Lucy’s and Dilandro’s bedroom, standing by a closed window. She seemed so innocent, not knowing what had just happened, with a doll in her hand. But when Lucy picked her up, she noticed tears in her daughter’s eyes.
“What happening?” she asked, but Lucy just held her tight. “Where dada? I heard yelling.” More tears streamed down her face. She had just been playing with him only an hour ago.
Lucy’s heart broke once again. Her eyes filled with tears. “Caroline, I need you to know that your father will always be with you and that I love you.” She set her little girl down on the bed. She heard the masked man pound on the front door. The noise made them both jump. She knew she had to act fast.
“Where dada?” her child asked again.
Lucy kissed her forehead. “I need you to be brave,” she said as she held her daughter’s arms and looked her into her eyes.
“Mama!”
A loud sound echoed through the house. She knew that the masked man had gotten into the house. It would only be a matter of time before he found them. “I need you to be brave, loving, and strong. Can you do that for me?” she asked as she pushed a lock of her daughter’s brown hair behind her ear. She noticed just how much she looked like her father. Her heart broke even more.
Caroline nodded. “Yes mama.”
Lucy held her close, trying to hold back her tears. She knew what she had to do to keep her daughter safe. She and Dilandro had talked about this before. But the last thing she wanted was to say goodbye to the one thing he had left her.
“We’ll be together again someday. I promise you!” she said as she lifted her wand toward her little girl. “Teleportsheam!” A blinding light covered Caroline, and Lucy closed her eyes. When she opened them, Caroline no longer sat in front of her. All that was left was the doll she had been holding. Lucy knew her baby girl would be safe now with her Aunt Tilly, who would take care for her niece as if she was her own. She could not think of anyone better for her to stay with. She wished she could have gone with Caroline, but she wanted to make the masked man pay for taking Dilandro from her.
The bedroom door flew open to reveal the masked man. “You can’t hide her from me!” he said, looking around the small room. “Where’s the child?”
Lucy was taken aback by the fact he knew about Caroline. She got up anyway and raised her wand. “I will never tell you!”
“You’re going to wish you told me,” he said as raised his hand like he had done minutes ago to Dilandro. Yellow power flew from his hands and into the women in front of him. She didn’t have time to fight for her life. She disappeared much like Dilandro had minutes ago.
He rolled his eyes. “This was not how I planned this!”
He flipped over the dresser that sat next to the door as he yelled. He had heard Lucy teleport the child away, but he didn’t know where to. After ending Dilandro and the child, he would only have to find the three other brothers and any child they had. But now, even if he took out that side of the family, the Smith family would still stand because he let that little brat get away. He needed to find her before going after anyone else, no matter how long it took.
He looked down and picked up the doll that laid on the bed. It had a small tag on its leg. If lost, please return to Caroline Smith. He smiled.
Now, he had a name.
Caroline has been passed from one family member to another, never quite fitting in. When she's fourteen, she's sent across the country on her own to live with her Grandmother in a sleepy, North Carolina, seaside town, from where she lived with her paternal uncle in Washington State. Once there, in Duck NC, she discovers her family secret and that her life is in danger from a masked man. The same masked man who made her parents disappear ten years previously.
Seaside Magic is set in the 1950's, and with it, Schneider has pulled in the sights and sounds one would expect from rock'n'roll era United States. The convertible Fords, the dresses, the diners and the food. What Schneider doesn't seem to be able to capture is the correct tone for the era. Caroline's Grandmother encourages her to call her 'Jewel', a pet name form of her first name Julia. Jewel also seems to use extraordinarily modern language; in a letter to Caroline, she signs it 'XOXO' (which, according to the Washington Post, the earliest documented form of the written hug was in 1960). She also says things such as:
"Yup, I went there," Jewel did a mic-drop motion and walked out of the room.
Mic-drops weren't commonly used as a 'ta-da' or 'so there' kind of moment until the 1980's, when comedians or rappers would use the motion to end their set or emphasise a point.
I know I sound remarkably like a stickler with this review, but when I read a book (even fantasy), I want to be completely immersed. If there's a strange dissonance, such as actions or words that are starkly out of kilter with the era or the world, I struggle to find the world the book is set in believable. Yes, I know fantasy is fantastical, but a well written fantasy book can feel as real as our world. Unfortunately, Seaside Magic just falls short in too many places.
S. A.