Short Story Review – The Conjurer’s Wife by Sarah Penner (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 40 pages
Publisher:‎ Amazon Original Stories
Release Date: January 1, 2025
ASIN: B0D6RSVHLR
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 3/5 stars

“In 1820s Venice, world-renowned magician Oscar Van Hoff confounds sold-out crowds with his astounding manifestations. Even his beautiful wife and assistant, Olivia, is mystified. Her job is to smile and recite her lines—onstage and in society. But the thankless routine is bringing out her rebellious side. Then, on the eve of what promises to be Oscar’s greatest performance yet, Olivia uncovers a secret with the power to shatter all her husband’s illusions. Now the finale belongs to her.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this as an eGalley from NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: This is a very short read that has some magic and irony in it. I don’t have much to say about it; it was okay but nothing special.

Oscar Van Hoff is a magician that confounds his audiences with amazing magic. His wife, Olivia, is his beautiful assistant. Olivia is suffering from amnesia and getting more and more discontent with being Oscar’s perfect assistant. Then Olivia uncovers the secret of Oscar’s magic, along with another horrible truth.

This is an okay story with an ironic twist to it. However, the page space is so short you don’t really engage with the characters or the world. The story felt very dissatisfying to me. Although Olivia uncovers the secret to Oscar’s magic, we never learn more than the basics of what happens. This world does not seem to have magic in it normally, so I was puzzled by this one small piece of magic.

The whole thing feels very unfinished. To write a really good short story, you need to be able to build characters and a world in a very small space. It is difficult to do that well, and I don’t feel like this story did a good job at that. It is fine; it only took me 20 minutes to read. However, it is also completely forgettable.

My Summary (3/5): Overall I could have taken or left this. It is an okay story with a fun bit of irony, but the world and characters didn’t really come alive from me. If you are looking for a mediocre story about magic and a woman taking her independence from a controlling man, you might enjoy this. I just found it to be bland, and it didn’t make me want to seek out additional writings from this author.