Overall I did like this book. The book does start off slow but does pick up about halfway through. This book takes place over four days. A lot happens to both the sisters and the town during this time. Both Hunter and Mercy need to fight the evil trying get into our world and at the same time fight the evil in their personal lives. I will be interested to see where the series goes next.

P. C. Cast and Kristen Cast are back at it again with "Spells Trouble," the first in a witchy YA series perfect for fans of "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina."

"Spells Trouble" follows twin witches, Hunter and Mercy, who live in Goodeville, Illinois at the apex of five ley lines of magic that keep gateways to the underworld at bay. But when something goes wrong in their yearly ritual, they realize the gates may open for the first time in centuries, letting nightmarish creatures into their world that will threaten the lives of those they love most.

A popular author duo during the vampire craze of my middle school days, seeing the two Casts reunite on a new project stoked a nostalgia so strong I couldn’t help but request an early copy. But almost ten years after our initial meeting, the authors haven’t changed much…and not in a good way.

The popular teen drama spiked with paranormal fantasy, a little bit of sex, and a lot of cringey trying-too-hard-to-to-appeal-to-teens dialogue might have been right up my alley when I was 13, but now I just can’t help thinking it needs some modernization.

For a story about magic, the fantastical elements of the novel took a backseat to the relationships of the often cliché characters, and the magic system was left mostly unrefined. How much power exactly do the witches have? How do they use it? Does the world know about them? All these questions are left open and viable to change to suit the moment and plotline at hand.

Not to mention that nearly every sentence was burdened with an overload of adverbs and adjectives as if the authors were afraid to place a noun without them and making up what must have been at least half the word count. Meanwhile, the actual action and spell work of the story were a too-small fraction of the overall narrative, even for the first novel in a series, and the structure made any potential twists and surprises obvious long before the characters were allowed to figure them out, sapping out the tension and dousing them in naivete.

All I can say for this story is that it had an idea and ran away in the wrong direction with it. Palatable only for teens who like pulp, I rated "Spells Trouble" 2 out of 5.

Thank you to Netgalley Wednesday Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review!

This is about twin witches, Hunter a Cosmos witch and Mercy Goode an Earth witch. During their sixteenth birthday celebration their mother performs a ceremony where the girls become protectors of the Gates to keep all kinds of evils away. During the ceremony the mother becomes a victim when an evil force breaks through causing havoc in the small town of Goode.
I believe this book should be relabeled from YA to New Adult, as there are several explicit sex scenes not appropriate for that audience.
This one was just okay for me. It felt like it was going nowhere and just blah.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and author for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mother and daughter writing duo P.C. and Kristin Cast have struck supernatural gold again, this time with the first installment of their Sisters of Salem series, Spells Trouble. Twin sisters are celebrating their 16th birthday like most teens, partying on the lake with their friends, but that ends with their curfew and the girls head home so they can perform their ritual with their mother. You read that right, their ritual with their mother. The women are hereditary witches and trace their craft all the way back to Sarah Goode, one of the originally accused witches of Salem, MA. Only something has gone wrong and in the attack their mother is killed by something the young women have no clue how to defeat.
Now the young women are on their own, but are they really? A mysterious person has appeared, who just so happens to have the same name as their mothers familiar, with some strange behaviors. They’ve enlisted their best friends to help them, and they need to stop the monster that’s now roaming their small town of Goodeville wearing the human suit of one of the residents. First up, figure out which resident, second, figure out which monster. But that’s not even the half of it. They’re also learning that the Goode Witches are the guardians of the five gates to five different underworlds that intersect in Goodeville and it’s up to them to keeps the gates sealed shut, but now the seals are dying.
And if all the supernatural problems and deaths weren’t enough, the twins have to deal with teenage issues as well. Boyfriends who are jerks, bullying, loss of a parent.
I really enjoyed this book. The writing is great, the story is intriguing, full of twists, with a great supernatural bent that teaches about five other pantheons that witches follow. We’ve got a wide cast of characters, all who lend their own voice to this quickly moving plot. I definitely recommend this wonderful story.
**I received an ARC of this story from the publisher and NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

I'm not sure what went wrong for me with this one. The intro was really good - escaping the jail and getting away with her daughter. I could have definitely read a whole book about it.

But the story was about twins Mercy and Hunter. This book had a tough time deciding what it was - at times, the story felt middle grade with huge info dumps disguised as history lessons, other times it felt New Adult (most notably with a very detailed sexual encounter that felt completely randomly thrown in). The girls felt very young at times but, again, were drinking and making other interesting choices. I think if this had been aimed for older, there could have been more details and emotions given into the story and really flushed it out. Or if it had been younger, the odd sex stuff, drinking and other odd discussions would have not been there and then the lighter take on magic would have fit well for the younger age. But this book didn't seem to do either well and I just never felt pulled in or interested in the story.

<i>A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.</i>

I'm not going to lie I was NOT a fan of this one. I was a HUGE House of Night fan when I was a teenager and absolutely devoured those books. I'm usually super into Young Adult books because I think they can be whimsical, sometimes unrealistic, but also relatable when you think back to when you're a teenager. Makes sense? Probably not, but I'm sure most folks understand.

I loved the premise/idea of the plot and storyline, but felt like it was poorly executed. Choppy writing and super juvenile (which I can totally see people being like well, duh!). It was hard to get through, but it also flew by, skipping through important details that could have significantly added to the development and the story itself.

I don't want to necessarily discourage people from reading this one because you may have a different POV from my own and that is what makes for good conversation. I'm hopeful/looking forward to the next book as I would love to see this story grow and evolve and *hopefully* be better than the first installment.

In Spells Trouble, we meet Hunter and Mercy Goode. They are descended from a long line of witches from Salem, MA. Long ago Sarah Goode settled in Illinois and protected Goodeville with trees. This part makes the premise of the book oh so interesting.
But the book reads more like a teenage drama. The authors have made sure to give us all the pieces to be current and politically correct. Hunter is bullied all through childhood. Mercy is popular. Hunter has a sexual orientation toward girls. Mercy is dating the football quarterback who is damaged emotionally by his mother leaving but is really the misogynistic jerk that everyone but Mercy believes him to be. We have a teen sexual encounter that is quite descriptive and didn’t add anything but anguish to the story.
The witchy part of the story was really good. The teenage angst and drama not so much.
The ending shows that there will be additional books to follow.
I’m on the fence about recommending this book. I think it has potential as a good urban fantasy, however, the teenage angst and sexual content subtract.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

Spells Trouble was just a tad too unbelievable for me. I don't want to have to suspend my disbelief that much for a story to work. I'm all for authors writing progressive female characters, but the twin's mother was annoyingly sweet and supportive. Her comments were a little too endearing and nonjudgmental, which I found off-putting. She felt more like an eccentric aunt than the girl's mother. It didn't help that they called her Abigail instead of Mom, which we get no explanation for. Right of the bat she's talking to Mercy about safe sex, condoms (making sure they make it onto her new boyfriend's penis), her clitoris (and how she's been blessed with multiple orgasms), and even discussing the ring size (Mercy's boyfriend gave her his ring) and insinuating that it means her boyfriend has a large dick. None of this felt like appropriate "Mom talk," because of how their mother chose to address these topics. She made it creepy and gross, not educational and informative.

I enjoyed the prologue, but everything that happened in the present felt over-the-top and forced. It was like jamming two puzzle pieces together because you're convinced they fit, only to realize your mistake later on. This book had a lot of pieces that felt forced together, which really hurt the story's believability. There was also a lot of telling and very little showing.

The chapter with Dearborn? WHAT? That whole debacle was very poorly explained, and then his behavior later on was incredibly offensive (it honestly felt like he was a completely different person). He should not have been talking to the girls about their dead mother (it's in the synopsis, lower your pitchforks) so casually. Where was his sensitivity to their loss? The other officer just kept apologizing for his behavior, but it wasn't even remotely acceptable. I don't care if he's been through an "ordeal," he can't be callous and insensitive. He also can't discuss another investigation with two teenage girls. It was just too unrealistic for me to continue reading this one. Stopped around 24%. (★★☆☆☆)

Narration: I started listening to an ARC of the audiobook and seriously considered switching to my physical ARC after a few chapters. The voice really didn't work for me, and I thought it made the characters sound ditzy and immature. Even their mother's voice had a childlike quality to it, which made it hard for me to take anyone seriously.

I was attracted by the blurb but I found the story slow and it didn't keep my attention.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, P.C. Cast, and Kristin Cast for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I very much enjoyed the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast and followed those books through their publication all the way to the end. While I have seen some of their other books around, I have been a bit wary about trying out something new by the duo. So this was a bit of a leap of faith for me.

Hunter and Mercy are twin sisters, descended from the original line of witches in Goodeville. When their mother seems to have been mysteriously murdered, the sisters use magic to investigate. Their mother isn't the only one who is murdered; more residents of the town seem to die an untimely death. Could it be someone has followed the faith of the wrong deity?

There is a blend of both Greek and Norse mythology within the novel, and an interesting mix of mythological beasts from both that wreak havoc on the town. Fenrir and a certain famous cyclopes are to name a few. There is a lot of similarities to House of Night, such as goddess worship and cats as sacred/magical beasts (one cat in particular who seems to take the form of a rather helpful human).

The ending definitely leaves the reader waiting for more, as this is just the first book in the series. This is great for older teens, those interested in mythology, or those interested in witchcraft, as well as those who like the "high school experience" type of book. There are certainly some older teen elements on the sexual side, but those who know P.C. and Kristin Cast know that their young adult novels generally have some spicy romantic bits and drama. A fun novel, though a bit basic. I am interested in the next one, but not whole-heartedly invested.

Thank you Wednesday Books and P.C. & Kristin Cast for sending me an ARC of this book! As a long time fan of this mother-daughter duo I was super excited to receive an early copy!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the twins, Hunter and Mercy, and thought this was a really neat twist on witches!

What I loved:
- this felt super reminiscent of House of Night! Though the books weren’t actually that similar, this felt like “coming home” to a series I’ve read and loved.
- Mercy and Hunter! As someone who has twin siblings that are nothing alike, it was awesome to see twin MCs that are drastically different.
- The friendships! This is where it really felt reminiscent of HON to me. They have a deep bond and are all willing to do anything they can for each other.

What I didn’t love:
- a good bit of the dialogue had me cringing. I work with a team of high schoolers and don’t know any that actually talk the way Mercy and Hunter talk with their friends
- this (mostly) read on the younger side of YA, which really surprised me after reading both authors other books. Then at other times it would read like an upper YA book (in the romance department). I’m hoping the next book has a more consistent balance and falls closer to the middle of lower and upper YA!


Overall I am really excited to continue this series and am looking forward to Omens Bite!

When I was a teenager, I fell in love with The House of Night Series. It combined my love of vampires, witchy stuff, and romance into one book series (which I admittedly still need to finish). So, when I saw that P.C and Kristin Cast were coming out with a new series focused on witches, I knew I had to read it.
The novel focuses on twin witches (Twitches, anyone?) Hunter and Mercy Goode, descendants of one of the first three women accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials, Sarah Good (spelled Goode in the book). Hunter and Mercy are complete opposites. Mercy is outgoing, energetic, and a social butterfly, whereas Hunter is introverted, calm, and would rather stay home to write her romance novel. But despite their differences, they have a profound bond.
On their 16th birthday, their lives get turned upside-down when the five Gates to the underworld, of which their family has been Gatekeeper over for generations, begin to open. Their mother manages to close one, sacrificing herself in the process, but a creature from another gate gets loose and starts wreaking havoc on the town. Now, Hunter and Mercy must take on the mantle of Gatekeepers themselves to protect the town and prevent any other creatures from escaping from the mythological underworlds into the living realm.
The thing I liked most about Spells Trouble is the world-building. Now, anyone who’s read The Crucible or studied the Salem Witch Trials knows that the women accused of witchcraft were not “actual” witches, but in the case of Spells Trouble, at least one was: Sarah Good. And that’s where this book starts. The prologue opens with Sarah Goode’s imprisonment and subsequent escape using magic. As someone who both read and was in a production of The Crucible in high school, I loved this nod to historical events. It totally grabbed my attention and had me invested in what would happen next.
In terms of the magic system, it seemed to be heavily inspired by modern Wicca, paganism, and witchcraft. I’m not super vocal about it, but I do practice witchcraft, and the way the Casts describe spell work and the Goode girl’s connection to magic felt very real to me. It was well thought out and well researched, and it made reading it really enjoyable. It was also reminiscent of The House of Night, which also had some pagan elements to its magic system.
That being said, there were some things that I didn’t quite like about the book, but I think they’re mostly revolved around Mercy. I couldn’t really connect with her as a character, and she often confused me. I didn’t like her boyfriend at all. Time and time again, she compromised herself and her relationship with his sister for him. It seemed almost like a forced narration point, I couldn’t understand it, and I spent more time than I would have liked waiting to find out if she would end up kicking him to the curb.
Also—spoiler, but I feel like it’s essential since this is marketed as a young adult book—there’s a surprisingly in-detail sex scene in the middle of the book. It wasn’t terribly graphic, but this is marketed as a young adult book, and the characters are teenagers. It was also kind of out of place and seemed like its graphicness could have been cut out while still maintaining the emotional inner monologue that ran through it.
Despite the elements I didn’t like, I ended up really enjoying the book. I liked the shifting perspective between Hunter, Mercy, and the antagonist, and I loved the real-world ties to Wicca and paganism. I’m excited to follow the series as it’s released, and now I definitely want to go back and reread The House of Night.
Thank you, NetGalley and Wednesday Books, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love stories about witches, and studied the witch trials during my undergrad, so I was very excited to read this book. The historical prologue was immediately engaging – and part of me wished we could stay with those characters. Instead, we meet twins Hunter and Mercy Goode, and I enjoyed reading about their story too.

The twins have opposite personalities – I definitely identified more with Hunter – but I also enjoyed Mercy. I think it was neat that they were close and yet so different from each other.

We also meet the sisters at a time of transition in their lives – they are coming to terms with their family legacy of being gatekeepers to the underworlds and also have to deal with the tragic death of their mother. The story is quite fast-paced and alternates between light and dark subject matter. I really liked the magic system and mythology connections.

I thought the concept of the five gates to different underworlds – Norse, Greek, Egyptian, Japanese and Hindu – was really interesting, and that idea was one of my favourite parts of the book.

I think the premise of the book was really strong – one criticism would be that sometimes it felt like the writing style didn’t quite match with the story’s potential. There were a few times that the writing and pacing seemed off. Overall, though it was still enjoyable. I think particularly for a younger, female audience.

I gave this book 3 out 5 stars. It didn’t completely blow me away, but I think the story has potential and there were elements of the book that I really liked. I will definitely check out the second book when it comes out. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press (Wednesday Books) for the advanced copy.

As soon as I saw the cover for this one, I wanted it. When I got my physical copy and saw the cat hiding in the O, I was even more anxious to start it. Sadly, that anticipation didn't end up continuing once I started this.

I'm really not sure where this book went wrong. It had all the elements I love in books; magic, friendships, animal companions, and mythology references. Somehow these elements didn't combine into something enjoyable though. .

I'll admit that I loved Xena, and would gladly read a book solely about her. Her cat-like actions were hilarious, and I loved any scenes she was in. Those might be the only things I end up remembering though.

I didn't necessarily dislike this one, but I definitely didn't like it either. I'm not planning to reread it, but for now, I'll keep it because of the pretty cover.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

I highly enjoyed the House of Night series by this duo and couldn’t resist getting into a new witchy series tinged with a bit of mythology. I have a mixed bag of feelings after spending some time with the Goode twins. Right off the bat, I loved where the plot was going: Gates to underworlds, being gatekeepers, coming of age into witchy powers all intertwined with an underlying layer of being true to yourself and standing firm in your beliefs and decisions. I also enjoyed the addition of LGBTQ representation and small-town biases. Sounds awesome right! Unfortunately, I had some cons that kept popping up in the middle of my enjoyment.

My drawback surrounds a few things. The characters read younger than their age. Yes, I know this is YA. Yes, I know I am an adult, and I may be slightly out of touch with the persona of the young and wild… but I really did feel like I was reading about middle grade characters a lot more than expected. The sex scene stopped me in my tracks too. I love a good smutty read but this felt thrown in; honestly, the whole relationship aspect between Mercy and her boyfriend, Kirk, could have been left out. The multiple-orgasm chat between daughter and mom (among other things), the over the top and unrealistic police portions and the way characters discuss the deceased just made me cringe a bit.

With that noted I do think the idea of the plot was captivating. The epilogue really set the stage and though it veers drastically from that starting point the authors made the mythological cyclops and underworld portions pretty entertaining. I adored the unique takes on different mythological elements and even found a soft spot for some of the not-so-great characters at points. These aspects lifted the novel back up for me. It truly was a rollercoaster of ups and downs.

Speaking of ups and downs I also had the opportunity to listen to the ALC (read by Cassandra Campbell) when I couldn’t read the ARC. I did enjoy the audio, though I would’ve liked a little more differentiation between voices for some of the female characters. I do think Hunter was captured well overall and let’s be honest, she is kind of a fave right now. I am leaning more towards the physical act of reading overall. The narration took a little away with lack of inflection and sometimes emotion. Another up and down area for me.

Knowing me, I plan to read the next book. The ending left me with tons of ideas on where this will go next and kind of hoping for a darker turn with more Hunter focus and less Mercy. This is a fast paced and easy to read YA fantasy novel. There is explicit sexual content not suitable for the younger side of this genre. Thank you to Macmillan audio and Wednesday Books for the ability to fully immerse myself in the gifted audio and physical copies. All aside, I am looking forward to what happens next. I think our duo has more instore for their readers.

I unfortunately DNF this at around 20%. The character seemed to be written in an extremely stereotypical teen way and I couldn't get past how they were written and their dialogue.

I love stories about witches coming into their own power and I love stories about sisters. So, this book was perfect for me..

This book was a bit of a surprise, mostly good. I wasn't expecting it to be spooky and creepy, but I'm glad it was. It made it even more enjoyable.

I liked the sisterly connection and the growth in their relationship. I could relate to this part of the story. I don't have a twin but I do have a sister. Our connection is very strong even if we have rough patches along the way. We are always stronger when we're together. I feel like Hunter and Mercy are the same deep down.

There are some very scary aspects and some very difficult themes. I do think these are written well and have meaning within the story. When the first monster appears in their town, all hell breaks loose. The murders are gruesome and the descriptions are vivid. I was a little creeped out but not enough to stop reading.

If there is one complaint, it is the steamy scene. I feel it goes beyond what this age group is ready for. YA includes 12 year olds. My grandson is 12 and is in no way ready for any of the descriptions that this particular scene had. This needs to be listed as Upper YA, and even then goes too far, in my opinion. It made me cringe because these are 16 year old kids we're reading about. The story would have been just as good without everything that happened in that particular scene.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. There is so much to love about it, I can't wait for the next installment.

After tragedy claims their mother’s life during a special birthday ritual for Hunter and Mercy Goode, the 16 year old twin sisters are left as the only remaining descendants of founding witch Sarah Goode. Goode witches are the protectors of the five gates to the underworld designated by five unusual trees throughout the city of Goodeville. When the twins realize that the five trees are dying and the gates are weakening, they must rush to perform a spell to strengthen the gates and heal the trees quickly, with the aide of their familiar cat person, Xena, and best friends, Jax and Emily.

Young adult fantasy with witches is not one of my go to genres, but I enjoyed Spells Trouble. I requested it on author’s name recognition because I love the House of Night series. This one didn’t keep my interest as intently as those, because the main character, Mercy, did more whining than action, which I found annoying. Hunter is definitely the stronger twin, as she proved several times, which redeemed the book for me. Overall, I liked the book and would recommend it if witches are your cup of tea!

Give me witches and I will read the book.

Enter, Spells Trouble. Our story actually starts where I wasn't expecting, The Salem Witch Trials, with who I thought was our main character escaping to set up a new life in Illinois... but then we flash to present day and meet her children - twins Mercy and Hunter. We meet them around their 16th birthdays when they are about to fully accept their powers... but when the main event rolls around things don't go as planned and they lose their mother. Following that, adventure ensues.

I really enjoyed this story and love the relationship Hunter and Mercy have despite being VERY different from one another. The ending was somewhat surprising, while still being a little predictable - but it did leave me excited to hear more about the twins and their journey.

P.S. Happy book birthday Spells Trouble (5/25/21)

I’m 61% of the way through this book and not sure if I’m going to finish it or not. I really wanted to like this book, sisterhood and witchcraft? Sign me up! But there are definitely a lot of elements that are keeping me from loving this book.

- the voice feels off, it’s sometimes super juvenile, using terms like “bestie” all over the place and giving way too much exposition. The best writing I’ve encountered in the book so far was the prologue and I wish the whole story was more like that.

- random clinically graphic sex scene, didn’t even feel smutty or passionate it just felt weird and out of place and way too detailed for a YA book

- the treatment of grief in this book is what really turned me off. Death of parent is a big content warning for Spells Trouble and in this book for some reason the literal day after her mother dies a character is expected to be her old self and the other characters perform a spell to “remove her grief” so she can “get back to normal” and really keep emphasizing how they are so different now that they’ve grieved when it has been a matter of days. I think this is a really irresponsible, immature way of framing the grieving process and while I understand the characters are 16 and that this might get addressed in the end of the book, I really didn’t like the way that grief was presented it felt shallow and like a plot point to overcome not a chance for real emotional development in this story.

Overall this story feels like a cheesy CW or ABC family show about witches in high school.