This was a very interesting book, it had lots a action and I really enjoyed the characters. I am looking forward to hopefully the next book to see what happens next with the twins my favorite is hunter I really want to see her find herself and happiness

** This review was left on Goodreads on 4/13/21 **

As a big fan of the House of Night series, I was excited to see this new series from P.C. and Kristin Cast. This series is about twin sisters (Hunter and Mercy) descended from a Salem Witch. Their family has settled in Goodeville are are guardians of gates to other realms. During a coming-of-age rite, something goes wrong and their mother dies. The girls then navigate their powers and investigate what went wrong, while grieving the loss of their mother.

The prologue of this book was promising, and there are a lot of creative and fun elements of this book. I particularly love the Goode family familiar and Hunter's best friend, Jax. The ending of the book is full of action and fantastical magic. While there are many elements that I typically love in a YA fantasy books, this book suffered from awkward pacing, uneven world building, and revelations and mythology that seem to come out of nowhere. There a large portion of the middle of the book where the plot doesn't move forward very much - things happen, but no major development related to the central mystery/plot. And then a lot of things happen at the end, and it all happens very quickly. There is a part of the book where Hunter says that she wants to earn the right to call someone by their first name - not just have it given to her because of her age. It was an odd statement, but I feel like it correlates to the magic, rituals, spells, and revelations of this book. We get the correct spells, perfect rituals, and all the answers - but it doesn't feel earned, it feels convenient. I know this wouldn't bother most readers, but there are so many excellent YA fantasy reads and this book had so much potential, that I feel like this book could have been so much more.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, about a pair of twin witches who, despite being twins, are totally different people. Mercy and Hunter are the most recent in a long line of Goode witches, dedicated to saving their town, Goodeville, from potential evil - and on their 16th birthday, that evil is suddenly no longer potential. In an attempt to save the girls, their mother casts a major spell, which works, but which costs her her life. With help from the family familiar, the sisters embark on a quest to close the otherworldly gate that let in the monster that killed their mother. This novel contains good information about Wiccan ideas, as well as about several mythological traditions; unfortunately, it also contains a couple of scenes that are explicitly sexual, which, in my opinion, detract from the flow of the story. The same information could have been conveyed without being that explicit, and without impacting the plot; in choosing to write it the way it was written, the author has made this novel inappropriate for readers under the age of about 16, as well as creating a pair of scenes that distract from the story itself. Because of this writing choice, I am rating this novel lower than I otherwise would have.

Trouble is right.

“Spells Trouble” celebrates the birthday of twin sisters Hunter and Mercy as they balance their normal lives and the coming ceremony to take on their roles as witches and protecting their town. When the celebration goes from fun to deadly they find themselves at odds with how to set things right but with the help of their friends both sisters work to manage their new responsibility.

My lack of enthusiasm over this book is not from lack of trying who doesn’t love a good sister witch book? The issue is it seems like a lot off ideas were thrown together with weak structuring to make it make sense and so with the tiniest brush of your fingertips across each page it falls apart.

Looking at the plot itself it’s pretty basic two sisters who despite being twins couldn’t be more different and a drastic change forces them to grow up and work together, that’s fine. My issue is the way the book is written I kept forgetting who was who as we shuffled between Hunter and Mercy’s POV and when we got to the actual plot it was all downhill from there.

Without too much spoilers the concept of being protectors of these trees is pretty interesting but the world building does little to explain the how and why these trees are what they are. It seems almost as if one person wanted to write about mythology and another with witches and they decided to mash it together behind crumbling doors and for me it was not successful. Part of me wishes they spent less time focusing on the romantic relationship between Mercy and Kirk and more on how the magic system worked especially when what we were presented with on page one is no different than how it ended between the former whereas the little extra time given to the craft might have smoothed over some of my problems with the book as a whole.

This may work for some people and I hope it does and I’m just the odd one out but for me this was not worth the time I spent on it.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

I could not finish this book. The beautiful cover and description were appealing and had me requesting the book, And the introduction was fabulous, but as it transitioned to the chatty, airy, twins and friends drama, I could not get into it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. It may appeal to some young adults, just not for me.

Spells Trouble will appeal to many readers who enjoy fast-paced and supernatural stories with heavy character narration.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to review this title.

Final rating 2.5/5 stars

I really wanted to enjoy this one. But the characters felt so generic and I had trouble connecting with any of them. The beginning was so compelling but I just found myself getting bored. It was a good concept (so witchy!) But the magic itself didn't feel fleshed out.

Ahhhhhhh this was just such a wonderful book and I just thoroughly enjoyed myself. I didn’t want to put this book down. I just fell in love with this wonderful story and it’s wonderful characters. I will most definitely be reading more stories from this wonderful author.

I’ve never read the series written by this mother/daughter team, but knew it was incredibly popular, so I had high hopes for this book.

The premise grabbed my attention immediately. Twin witches, ancient portals, monsters infecting a town – what’s not to love? The prologue was also promising, and I was excited to see where the story would go from there. But I lost interest pretty soon after that. The inciting incident doesn’t happen until around the 25% mark. After that, there are several scenes that don’t contribute much to the plot, and the pacing feels uneven. I read a lot of YA, and obviously teens engage in sex, but I was surprised to come across a pretty graphic sex scene. It felt out of place – especially considering the trauma Mercy had just experienced. The book should definitely be marketed to the older YA age group.

The authors do a wonderful job with Mercy and Hunter – each have distinctive voices and personalities. Jax is probably my favorite character – everyone should have a best friend like him. I also enjoyed Xena – both as a cat and a human!

This book just wasn’t for me, but would probably appeal to die hard paranormal fans and fans of these authors’ other series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was hoping for a little more from this one. I just couldn’t connect with the characters or the plot. I would have also liked a bit more romance but the writing was well done.

Witches, Salem and the amazing authors P.C and Kristin Cast, what more can a reader ask for?! Spells Trouble had me hooked at the Prologue, which I don’t typically get hooked with. I enjoyed the storyline that P.C and Kristin created. While this is not my favourite witchy series by far, and to be honest, I may not read again I do appreciate the hard work that goes into writing a novel. A few downfalls that I picked up on was the level of YA, while some YA tends to be on the higher spectrum, Spells Trouble was on the lower end of YA for me, more of a mix between middle school and YA. There were also a few romantic … aka sex scenes that didn’t seem to fit with the storyline, being place just because.
Overall, this novel was not my cup of tea but it might be yours! If you enjoy younger YA Witchy books them this book is for you!

I DNF’ed this book at 25% because it was just not for me. But let’s look at what I liked ~

Likes:
*Love the cover, it’s what drew me to the story in the first place and a book about witches? I was definitely interested.

*Right away there is some crazy action with the girls 16th birthday ritual night but I can’t say for the rest of the book because I wasn’t interested in finishing.

*The Goode twins, Hunter and Mercy, are different and have distinct voices.

*Their familiar, a cat named Xena turns into a human, so that was fun.

Random Notes:
*The one time I read this mother/daughter duo is when they came out with the House of Night series back in 2007! I followed it up until book 5 maybe? It was fun and I was obsessed with it in 2007-2009 and then I outgrew it. The writing here is much more suited for teen readers (except there is detailed sexual content). At times the story felt superficial and rushed especially when their mom died.

*I felt no connection to any of the characters.

*I really wish this held my interest because the concept is good and witches always make for a fun and thrilling story.

Final Thoughts:
Overall this one is definitely not for me because of the writing style which felt rushed. At times I felt like I was in my 20’s reading a young adult novel again, but not in a good way because times have changed in the young adult world and I did not finish it but I think many people will still enjoy this one. I feel like it’s written for teen readers except for the detailed sexual scene.

This was promising: a story with a strong sisterly and mother-daughters bond, daughters suddenly left in the company of a shapeshifting cat, and the need for the sisters to repair broken magics. And while the diverse characters felt a bit tokenistic: the One Black Person, the One Lesbian Girl, the characters were at least interesting and developed through the book. But then it became a predictable sister-against-sister mess, setting up a big sister/witch fight in a sequel. I was really disappointed that writers who were so creative with everything else in the book couldn't have come up with something better than this for a conflict.

I really wanted to love this book. I read The House of Night Series as a teenager, I was trying to be mindful to not compare them, but the fact is I had high expectations for this book. I was expecting to immediately be pulled into an engaging world with characters that I could connect to, and that's just not what I got.

The writing felt very young compared to their previous work, like it was aimed at 10-12 year olds instead of teenagers.

The concept was a good one, I was very interested in reading it from the description, Unfortunately the story did not grab my attention and the characters fell flat.

*Thank you to the publisher for this eARC.

I thought the author's style of writing would be more developed from their earlier book. However, this story is much like their other stories. Young girl coming into power and trying to battle a more evil force. It has become very repetitive. It was a slow read for me as I have read it before in their other books. The characters never really developed but rather stagnant.

Thank you to Martin's Press and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book a great deal. I also loved the house of night series so I was excited for this. The fact that it was based on witches caught my attention and after the first few chapters I was hooked. It’s definitely YA aimed so if you’re looking for something more adult based maybe pass on this one. But it has magic, a lesbian witch, and mythology so I truly enjoy reading it. I loved that they linked the sisters back to Salem directly and that their ancestors had such an important part of founding/keeping the town safe which was passed down to them, maybe sooner than expected. They are high school girls so there have to deal with saving the town for a murderer and typical high school drama. It was an addictive read, once I started I didn’t want to put it down

Loved this book so much!! So magical!! I was hyped for this book and it did not disappoint. One of the best books of 2021!! Loved the writing and the prose!

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for this arc!

I loved this book! Centering on twins that are turning 16 in a small town. Hunter and Mercy may look alike but that is where their similarities mostly end. Hunter is an aspiring writer and quite introverted while her sister, Mercy, is the life of the party and always outspoken. Both, however, do have one thing in common: they are witches!

Turning 16 is always important for any teenager, but for a witch it can be defining. Mercy, Hunter and their mother, Abigail, have generations of witchy history to uphold and the twins 16th birthday is part of that. However, things are not what they seem and the ancient trees that hold the five gates to different worlds closed while also serving as points of power for this magical family may be falling apart already when the Goode family gathers on this cataclysmic night.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I loved the feelings of love and magic that simply radiated from these characters. Also, the connection of sisterhood and friendship mixed in with spells, tarot decks, ley lines and an action-packed story made me keep reading till the end! And I cannot wait for book 2!

Book: Spells Trouble
Author: PC and Kristen Cast
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Wednesday Books, for sending me an ARC.

Maybe I am not the best person to write this review, because I am a little bit bias. I read the authors House of Night series in high school and university and really enjoyed them. Whenever I saw they had a brand new series coming out, I knew I had to try to get an ARC of it. I feel like that this series, like the House of Night series, is going to be very long with short books. I’m fine with that. I like it whenever authors focus on bits of the story at a time. However, it also means that it takes forever to actually get the entire story arc. Anyway, I have faith.

What really surprised me was how much PC and Kristen’s write has improved. Even though I enjoyed House of Night, I will be the first to admit that the writing really wasn’t the best. However, here, it seems like the mother and daughter duo has listened to all of their critics and taken it to heart. While the writing is still on the simpler side, there is a lot more depth to it that wasn’t there in their previous series. Yes, it is your typical YA writing, but the sentence structure is more complex and as a whole, everything just seems to be put together a lot better. While the dialogue is still rather cringe worthy, it works. I mean, once you stop and think about the characters, it does actually work and works really well for the characters-just saying.

What really pulled me in was the opener. We start back during the Salem Witch Trials with Sarah Goode and her upcoming hanging. The sense of darkness and death comes across the page so well that you have no other choice but to keep reading. We have the magic and, with that, a little bit of hope that everything is going to be okay. You are sucked in and you have to see just how everything is going to be carried out. I have to give them five stars for the hook alone. This is how you hook your readers and keep them reading.

Then, we move into modern day where we meet the characters who are going to be focus of the novel. They are high schoolers and act like high schooler. Mercy and Hunter are twin sisters and are witches. The book switches back and forth between the two sisters. At first, I thought they were going to be cookie cutter copies of each other. However, as I kept reading, I found myself being proven wrong. The more I read, the more I realized how different they are. I think I did prefer Hunter’s character a little bit more, but I did enjoy Mercy’s point of view too. We get to see them come together, then be torn apart as their life keeps throwing difficult situations at them. We see them going through heartbreak, loss, friendships, and so much more. While this book is about witches and defeating a bad guy, we get to see a lot more. I loved the little moments with the characters.
Now, I gave this a four star rating. Why?

Honestly, there are holes in this book. While the magic is a large chunk of the book, it’s not really fleshed out the best. There are different kinds of witches, gods, and goddess, but it’s not really explained as to what each can do. The magic system isn’t explained at all and it’s almost like the authors expect the readers to just go with it. This may be bugging me because I’ve been reading adult fantasy lately. I would just like to know what makes the different types of magic special and what they can do. Maybe this will be explained more in later books?

The ending also felt rushed in my opinion. I don’t know why it did. We had all of this build up and increased tensions toward the end of the book that I thought we were leading up to the second book. However, in the last five percent or so, we see an ending and it felt rushed. I honestly think it should have been extended into book two or the book should have been longer. It just felt like ending was just tacked on for the sake of having an ending.

Despite my issues with this book, I still had a good time reading it and I can’t wait to see where it goes. As far as first books go, this one does have that hook that I need to pick up book two.

Spells Trouble comes out on May 25, 2021.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/yJ9iLzrA6hU

I always know immediately if I am reading a book written by the Cast women. 😊 Their books always have at least one (but usually more) strong character that has a deep bond with nature, other creatures, and the world around them. Spells Trouble has the entire Goode line of women who manifest this connection and make you excited to keep reading!

Spells Trouble is the story of sisters who use their witchy powers to protect their town and care for the gates that surround it. Kristin and P. C. Cast did a wonderful job of creating a world that blends the modern world and magic seamlessly.

This is a great start to a new series and I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from NetGalley. Spells Trouble will be released in May and hopefully news of when the 4th book in the Tales of a New World series will be shared soon. That is another series by Kristin and P. C. Cast that I highly recommend! 😊