I was so excited to get back into this world with Simon and Baz (and Penelope, of course)! When we last left them they had been traveling around America looking to save Agatha (again), and collected a cursed human, named Shepard, along the way. The had to race back to England because there were reports that they were needed back at Watford.
Simon and Baz are still trying to work things out, Agatha doesn’t want to have anything to do with any of them, and Shepard came home with Penelope so she could enlist her family’s help, which turned out to be a terrible idea because her parents have no intention of giving magical help to a Normal.
Also, we find out that the Mage left everything to Simon in his will, and apparently the fact that Simon killed him doesn’t change that.
So Simon, still deep in depression, uses his inheritance to buy himself a flat in London, partially to try to be self sufficient, but also just to get away from everyone. He completely ghosts Baz, who tracks him down, forcing Simon to break up with him to his face.
So Baz goes to Oxford to wallow in self pity at his dad’s house, whereupon he finds out that his stepmother, Daphne, has apparently left Baz’s father.
It turns out that, after the Mage was killed and Simon lost his magic, various con artists have popped up claiming to be the Chosen One. A particularly charismatic charlatan by the name of Smith Smith-Richards, has been telling magicians with little magical ability that he can give them magic. Daphne, who has never been very powerful, has bought into his bullshit and made her way to him and become one of his followers.
So Simon and Baz decide to investigate. Of course Baz sees right through Smith’s act, but as someone who was once very magical and has since lost his abilities, Simon is completely taken in. Also, Simon never wanted to be the Chosen One in the first place, so he’s more than happy to let someone else take over the job. But of course he’s a fraud and Simon has to find that out the hard way.
Baz and Simon also make up pretty quick, so we get to spend most of this book with them as a couple.
Meanwhile, Penelope is trying to figure out how to get Shepard uncursed. She tracks down a magician who specializes in demonic texts to read Shepard’s tattoos, as well as the summoning spell he used (which he has to write out phonetically and hope they can figure it out from there).
Turns out the summoning spell was a proposal of marriage and the tattoos are a contract detailing the terms of their engagement.
Penelope is of course furious when she finds out because she’s been developing a crush on Shepard. Also, it is vital information about the curse that he knowingly withheld from her when she was trying to help him get uncursed.
Turns out, Shepard is not his legal name, which nullifies the contract, so Penelope uses that to free Shepard.
Then they all have to take down Smith-Richards together, but mostly Simon because he’s an idiot who insists on doing everything himself.
Also we find out that Simon is immune to magic, and I’m kind of pissed that we don’t get to find out why, or what consequences that will have for him going forward. Simon thinks he’s really a Normal and that all his magic came from the Mage, but a Normal couldn’t have given himself wings.
Since it turned out Smith-Richards’s spell was merely allowing people to tap into all their allotted magic at once (which meant they burnt out and were then unable to perform any spells at all), I wonder if creating wings and a tail for himself used up all of Simon’s magic and now he’s just tapped out. But that still doesn’t explain why he’s immune to magic now…
We do also find out who Simon’s family is. Turns out he was the Mage’s biological son all along. He finds out by stumbling upon his maternal grandmother and uncle, who are thrilled to have found him.
At the beginning of the book, Simon is determined to get his wings and tail surgically removed. He chickened out, but kept talking about doing it later. He doesn’t get around to it in this book, and I really hope he never does. They tend to come in handy in emergencies and in the bedroom 😉
I love Simon and Baz together, but I’m concerned that Simon doesn’t know who he is or what he wants. How can you have a healthy relationship without figuring all that out first?
Oh, and Agatha finds out that the goats of Watford are magical winged goats who are supposed to want to stay on the grounds of Watford. Rumor has it that, if the goats ever leave, Watford will fall.
While everyone is off doing their thing, Agatha starts hanging out with Niamh, who works at Agatha’s dad’s magical veterinary office and takes care of the goats once a week. They have started leaving, so she tries to herd them back onto Watford grounds. Agatha finds out she’s pretty good at taking care of magical goats, so she takes over the job full time, and the goats must like her because they decide to stay. Also Agatha starts up a lesbian romance with Niamh and I was sad that we didn’t get to see what happens with that relationship.