Review: The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman

The Cost of All Things
by Maggie Lehrman
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Publication Date: May 12th 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 416
ISBN: 9780062320742
Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary | Magic
Source: Edelweiss

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets We Were Liars in this thought-provoking, brilliantly written, and totally original realistic contemporary debut about three teens who must deal with the consequences of spells cast on them in the wake of their classmate’s sudden death.


“The most creepily awesome cautionary tale ever. Magic—or hekame—does exist, and wishes can be granted…but always at a cost. Brilliant, provocative, and absolutely spellbinding.”
 — Lauren Myracle, New York Times bestselling author of The Infinite Moment of Us



“Maggie Lehrman nimbly reveals secrets wrapped around our most basic need. The Cost of All Things is a walk of the soul.”
 — Rita Williams-Garcia, Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner. (Goodreads)

I went into The Cost of All Things expecting just your average contemporary novel, but that’s not what I got from this book at all. While the storyline has a contemporary feel to it, the magical element made it feel something completely different altogether.

The story is told from four different characters points of view; Kay, Ari, Markos and Win. All of these teens have serious issues that they deal with throughout the book. However, instead of dealing with these issues the way we would, they deal with them with the help of a hekamist; a person who can cast a spell to make whatever you wish come true, but the spell comes with a cost. As we go through the novel, we see these characters get the spells they want, and the effects of them as well.

The storyline for the book was definitely intriguing, and held my interest as I turned the pages. The alternative viewpoints throughout the novel kept me curious enough to see what was going to happen next. I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the storyline as well, I love books that have magic in them, and this one was definitely different from anything I’d read before.

Overall; I really enjoyed reading The Cost of All Things. The unique storyline and multiple viewpoints kept me interested in the story, and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. I am really looking forward to reading more books by this author in the future!