Mercy and Hunter Goode are twins and descendants of Sarah Goode, a witch and founder of the town of Goodeville. Like their ancestors, they are the protectors of five different gates to five different underworlds. It is their sixteenth birthday and time for them to choose the goddess or god they will follow and to become full gatekeepers. Their mother leads them through the ritual, but things go wrong and a creature escapes the gate and kills their mother. If that wasn't bad enough, something escaped from another gate and all five gates are in danger of failing. Mercy and Hunter must rely on their friends to strengthen the gates and one of them must give up something precious to her, but will it be enough?

This is the first book of a new series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. I can't wait to read the next one!

I unfortunately had to DNF this book. I just could not get passed the poor writing. This was my first novel from these writers, who I have heard great things about, but this just did not work. The way the characters speak, the pacing, and the abrupt switching between characters without explanation made for a jumbled mess.

Mercy and Hunter Goode are descendants of a true witch of Salem. Power courses through them and beats in time with the special trees planted by their ancestress that protect their town. But something is wrong with the trees, and the gates they embody are opening to hellish worlds full of creatures who will do anything to escape them.

I read the House of Night series about 12 years ago and absolutely loved them. But everything I’ve read from the Casts since has fallen short. I’m not sure if it’s down to their writing not being as good or my own tastes that have changed. But this book information disappointed me as well.

First of all, the magic system is almost identical to HoN which seems very lazy. Hunter and Mercy are quite different from each other even though they’re twins, but mostly the characters are static and flat. I also had issues with the use of POV. While the chapters shift perspective from one girl to the other, it is all told in third person making things seem detached and shallow. I wasn’t emotionally invested with any of them or the plot points. I definitely won’t be continuing the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my free eARC. These opinions are my own.

I'm so sad to be giving this book less than 5 stars because I LOVE P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (House of Night for the WIN!) but this just wasn't my favorite. It wasn't bad, it was definitely unique and entertaining, but I just didn't have that "can't put it down" vibe at all.

The book follows two twin witches, Hunter and Mercy Goode, who must figure out how to protect the Gates (each of which leads to a different Underworld) after their mother is killed. In terms of content, I really did find the premise to be unique and quite interesting and it had the potential to be a really fantastic read. But while the writing wasn't bad per se, it definitely read very young and a little bit too much like adults writing the way they think teenagers talk and missing the mark. Unfortunately while the book reads like it could be for younger kids, there's mature content thrown in so that it really isn't right for that age group either. Also, this is kind of an insignificant detail, but I found it a bit odd that the girls called their mom by her first name instead of... you know... mom. Is that a thing these days lol???

Some sections seemed to drag a bit, some scenes seemed thrown in out of the blue for no particular reason as it did nothing to further the storyline. I found myself reading this book sporadically and not really thinking about it after I put it down, like I was sort of reading to find out what happens but not really getting into it.

Again, I'm SO sad to give this book a less than stellar review because I really do love this mom-daughter author duo! But it just didn't live up to my expectations this time around. That being said, because the plot was pretty unique, and I do love these authors, I will be giving the next book in the series a try! Sometimes starting a new series can be difficult as you haven't "been with" the characters for long (if that makes sense lol) so perhaps when they get further into the series and get more into the mindset of these characters the writing will flow better! I guess we'll see!

I really wanted to love this book. I’ve heard great things about the House of Night series and I’ve always wanted to check out some of their books.

However now I’m not sure if I’ll read anything else by them…

This book is about the Goode sisters and the town that they live. They’re descendants of witches and use five trees to keep the underworlds away from Earth…or something like that.

Not gonna lie I didn’t fully understand the whole tree thing.

Our sisters are Hunter and Mercy – and I couldn’t full tell who was who a lot of the time.

Mercy is the “Green witch”, is popular, outgoing, well liked, has her best friend Emily and her football playing boyfriend Kirk. She is basically your stereotypical “popular girl:

Then there’s Hunter. Let’s check off the “stereotypical literary lesbian” checkboxes shall we? Androgynous name? Check! Bullied as a child? Check! As a male best friend? Check! Defies social norms? CHECK!

Now I haven’t read any other books by these two, but Hunter makes me feel like they got yelled at for not including enough queer characters and thought “okay we need to make someone in our next book gay, what kinds of things do lesbians like?” She was such a weird caricature of what a queer girl living in a small town would be. I love that queer characters are becoming more commonplace in literature, and I’m all for straight authors writing them as well, but overly stereotypical characters are gross and do way more harm than good. If you don’t know how to write about someone from a certain background, no matter if its sexual orientation, race, class background, either do real research or stick to what you know.

Now even though Mercy and Hunter had pretty distinct differences in their personalities, I found their voices to be way too similar. The story switched perspectives, and sometimes I wasn’t quite sure which twin was speaking.

Same with their best friends, Emily and Jax, despite gender differences, personality differences, parental differences, I couldn’t quite separate their voices. The only character’s that really stood out were Xena and Kirk, but one of them is also a cat and the other is a douche, so its not too difficult there.

And I know that these characters are teenagers, but they are ridiculously juvenile. They speak in hashtags, and make the type of sexual jokes I would have laughed at in middle school. It seemed more like someone’s vague idea about how teenagers speak, instead of actual teenagers.

Then there’s the actual plot:

I liked the idea of this story, its a town founded by a witch, and there’s five trees surrounding the town that keep the town (or maybe the whole earth?) safe. One thing I found odd is that this town is founded by a witch, and everyone knows the Goode family are witches, but they still hide the fact that they’re witches? Like there is only a certain level of witchiness they want people to know about.

The concept of the story was really cool. I love the idea of these tree portals, of how all the terrible mythical creatures are more than likely inside these underworld portals, and its only a cute little apple tree keeping them closed. I loved the whole witch descendant storyline, and how when they’re “of age” they choose a practice of magic and a goddess (or god) to be their…advisor thing.

It’s a really cool story idea, but between the too similar of characters and then the MASSIVE amounts of explaining what was happening instead of showing, made it very difficult to enjoy. There is one part, where the sisters discuss their plan, then they sit there and carefully explain every tiny detail of their plan, but then they go and DO the plan mostly off page. I would’ve much preferred a brief planning stage, followed by fully showing them doing the plan. There was just SO MUCH of it, and I got really tired of reading descriptions of events instead of witnessing the events.

Overall I guess I expected a lot more than this book than what was given, and although I enjoyed the concept, the execution was lacking. I am a little curious abut what happens next, but I don’t think I’m curious enough to read the second book….


Some Spoiler thoughts below

The part where Kirk “reveals” his real personality was absolutely terribly written. One minute he is begging Mercy for forgiveness for bragging about their sex life, and the next he’s playing the part of the big dumb douche. The transition was abrupt and awkward. The reader knows right from the start that Kirk will in fact, turn out to be an ass because every character but Mercy kept saying so, but it just felt so forced. Why help Mercy and Hunter with their spell if you were only in it to get laid? Why comfort and hold her while she cried for her mother? I can’t imagine someone as dumb as Kirk being smart enough to “play the long game” just to have sex.

Also, the sex scene was sooooooo awkward and weirdly worded. I love a good sex scene, but this was just so uncomfortable to read. These were also two sentences featured in this book in reference to sex:

“Sweetheart, would you like to discuss your clitoris—again?” her mother asked.”

“Oh, and you’re welcome for your multiple orgasms. They’re familial, you know.”

gag

There’s also the matter of Hunter and her god/goddess of choice. Obviously, choosing Tyr as her god wasn’t the reason the trees started changing, but they give no explanation as to why she wanted to choose Tyr and if he is not the cause, there is no speculation as to what it could be. I know its setting up for a second book, but it was just too many loose ends.

Thank you to NetGalley/Wednesday Books (MacMillan) for the opportunity to read this eARC. I enjoyed this book tremendously and as a first time Cast reader this has made me interested in her backlist titles. Great characters - and a strong plot made this a hard to put down book. I have to confess I am loving all the books coming out with Greek/Roman mythology folklore in YA books.
This book was something different in which you have twin witches living in a small-town Illinois faced with mythological characters from Greek/Roman escaping from their underworld to reek havoc in the mortal world. I liked how each twin's growth and steps they took to defeat these creatures was so well-written that I am looking forward to the continuation of this series.

Spells Trouble is a book that I know my high school students will devour. The main characters are descendants of Sarah Goode from the Salem Witch Trials. I will definitely be purchasing this for my school library!!

I recognized the name P.C.Cast from her previous series. I was so excited to read from an author I picked up in high school. This story is well paced. From vampires to witches, P.C. Cast continues to entertain with the stories.

My favourite authors of the House of Night series have came back at us with a whole new installment of books on witches now instead of vampires. I was super excited to hear about this book and I had to reach out to secure a copy to read ASAP.

This book is very well written, if you have read previous books by these authors the writting style is very much similar to before with some familiar phrases. It is fast paced and has so much going on that I never felt bored.

The start of the book takes us to the Salem witch trial era and we are introduced to Sarah Goode, a witch about to be hung who manages to escape with her child and eventually helps to create the town where we are introduced to the twin witches, Mercy and Hunter, many many many years later.

These girls are only alike in appearances, both characterisations are beautifully written and so different in their personalities. Mercy is a whirlwind of a character with such an outgoing personality whilst Hunter is more introverted and it is no secret that she is gay which is characteristic that I am happy was included in this book.

It was fun to be able to read in both girls point of views, it gave so much insight to what each twin was thinking and feeling and I was able to relate much better with them both. The plot is a twisting tale and yes I cried, laughed and felt so angry at some parts. It is a highly recommended read from me. You won’t regret picking this one up from the shelves and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

A big thanks to the publishers at Wednesday Books for allowing me to read and review this book before being released.

I was a huge fan on the House of Night series so I was so excited to give this one a try. Unfortunately it feel extremely flat. I dnfed this at about 20% because it was just severely lacking

I had to DNF this book early, about 15%.  The prologue of this book definitely grabbed my attention but it was as if the writing style did a 180 once the current day events began.  The dialogue that starts in the first chapter is so juvenile and annoying that I could not make it past the fourth chapter.  I work with teenagers on a daily basis and they absolutely do not talk the way these authors write teenagers.  The premise sounds awesome and if the writing style had been the same as the prologue, this definitely would have been a book I enjoyed.  It's just hard to push through and read a book when the character's words are so over the top.

The concept here is great and so on trend, but I was shocked at the poor quality of the writing. So uneven and frustrating, it felt extremely trying-hard-to-be-relevant and was not successful.

I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy his book very much. It wasn't written badly or anything, but it's very much a female YA offering. If that's your kind of thing, I'm sure you'll really enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me tag and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.

While I enjoyed this book a lot, there was something about it that, for me, that didn't make it great. The characters, while for the most part, are really good and relatable, they also can a bit annoying and immature. Yes, they're supposed to be in high school, but with the way their mom raised them, I felt they should be a bit wiser. Between the sisters, I definitely relate more to Hunter than to Mercy, and I loved her best friend Jax. The story moved really well, and I loved the magic in it. I was very into Wiccan magic when I was a young teen, so I loved they way it as used in this story and they way it felt respected. This villain, while yes a villain, didn't really feel like a 'big bad' and the climax was a bit 'blink and you miss it.' I am definitely interested to see where this series goes next and even considering picking up the authors' backlist titles to check out their previous work.

Very good read with great character development. The pacing was just right and the writing was nice. The plot could have gone many ways, but it went the perfect route. I enjoyed this read.

As a fan of the House of Night series, I was very happy with this book. It wasn’t as great as their HON series, but it was definitely worth the read. Some parts dragged but others were very good.

I was excited to get the chance to read Spells Trouble early from P.C, and Kristin Cast. House of Night is one of my favorite series ever. It restored my love of reading. With that said, Spells Trouble was not as magical to me. Yes, I liked it and yes, I want to find out what happens next. It was interesting, but it was hard for me to continuously stay into it unlike HON.

Spells Trouble starts with a prologue that I enjoyed, which focuses on Sarah Goode. She was accused of being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials era. She escapes to what becomes known as Goodeville and where the story takes place.

Mercy and Hunter Goode are twin witches and direct descendants of Sarah Goode. On their 16th birthday, they must learn how to become Gatekeepers like the Goode women before them. What starts out as a night meant to reinforce the gates that keep different hell dimensions out, turns into a horrible night that ultimately changes their lives forever.

They must overcome their obstacles and work together to fix the gates and save lives. Will they be able to do it?

Hunter and Mercy Goode are turning 16 and stepping into their powers as witches. Their powers and training have all been guided by the Goddess or God they have chosen to associate their magic with. When they go to the apple tree to strengthen the gate and make offerings to their God and Goddess with the guidance of their mother they are met with the unexpected. A wolf, called Fenrir, exits the gate and tries to kill them. The twin's mother stops Fenrir but doing so is fatal, leaving the twins to find the problem and fix it.

The magic and backstory of Goodeville is as mysterious as it is sweet. Goodeville was a dangerous place until it wasn't, and is now a safe place until it isn't. There are just regular bullies and the like in the town. Mercy has a boyfriend, Kirk, who is captain of the football team. Every one of their friends thinks he is a jerk, including Mercy's best friend Emily and particularly her twin Hunter. Mercy always has an excuse ready for him. The characters are real in that their problems are relatable. Young women are always given this trope of having to teach a boy to become a man, but the truth is that it isn't our job, but it is also a hard lesson that we usually have to learn the hard way. The end leaves us with a cliffhanger wondering how Goodville will fair and if it will be able to stand if the twins cannot stand united.

~ received as an ARC from NetGalley ~

Honestly, I was really excited for this, but I feel like 3/5 is still generous. I didn’t like it and thought about DNF multiple times. The magic itself is good and is rooted in the “Salem” tropes and I love the historical aspect, but everything else was flat. There was a “sex scene” that didn’t need to be in it, and the plot as a whole was messy and undeveloped. I would have ranked it 2/5 but the cover and the magic/choosing a goddess intrigued me too much. Will not read the sequel even though the cliffhanger was interesting (?).

I received a complimentary copy of Spells Trouble from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I love this pair of authors! Great characters, believable actions, and descriptive setting/alternate world make for a very interesting novel. I am glad this will be a series, as I would like to read more about the witchy twins, Mercy and Hunter Goode.