A Magical Girl Retires

Though Park’s sparkling U.S. debut lacks the illustrations of the print release, the story comes alive in audio. The novel follows an unnamed 29-year-old woman, overwhelmed with credit card debt and newly unemployed. She decides that suicide may be her only option, but just then she is interrupted by the Clairvoyant Magical Girl, Ah Roa. Ah Roa declares that rather than meeting an untimely end, the woman is destined to be the most powerful magical girl in the world. Her power is needed not to rescue the world from an alien invasion but to save it from the fallout of human environmental policies. Shannon Tyo’s narration is both wry and innocent as the protagonist doubtfully explores the magical girls’ union, tries to create her transformation catchphrase, and attempts to believe she could be special—or even useful. Tyo gives her a youthful voice that matures with her slow inner transformation in counterpoint to Ah Roa’s confident, assured tones. Listeners will be glad that, after a few plot twists, the protagonist finds her own path to happiness with Ah Roa at her side.