The Charmed List

By: Julie Abe

St. Martin’s Press

Wednesday Books

Publish Date 5 July 2022

Teens and YA

100 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would like to first thank both St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Good Reads Synopsis:

After spending most of high school as the quiet girl, Ellie Kobata is ready to take some risks and have a life-changing summer, starting with her Anti-Wallflower List—thirteen items she’s going to check off one by one. She’s looking forward to riding rollercoasters, making her art Instagram public (maybe), and going on an epic road-trip with her best friend Lia.

But when number four on Ellie’s list goes horribly wrong—revenge on Jack Yasuda—she’s certain her summer has gone from charmed to cursed. Instead of a road trip with Lia, Ellie finds herself stuck in a car with Jack driving to a magical convention. But as Ellie and Jack travel down the coast of California, number thirteen on her list—fall in love—may be happening without her realizing it.

Book Review:

This was a fun and quick read. I gave the book 4 stars.

This is about Ellie and Jack who were best friends for most of their growing up years until his mom passed away and then things changed. Jack decided to leave the friendship behind, and this left Ellie alone. Ellie soon made friends with Lia, and she didn’t alone anymore. The only thing is she couldn’t Lia that she does magic.

As the summer before their Senior comes around there is a trip that girls are going on and Ellie has made a list of things, she wants to do to break out of her wallflower stage. Number four on the list is to get back at Jack. This goes horribly wrong. Lia discovers that not only does Jack do magic but so does her best friend Ellie. This can turn out bad for the two if Lia doesn’t agree to go to some class and learn more about it and keep it secret. Lia is angry and won’t talk with Ellie.

As a punishment the two old friends are now traveling to the convection, and they have to learn to get along. They start to get along and then Jack’s Dad says somethings that Ellie overhears, and she is back at being angry with Jack and not trusting him.

There were a lot of up and downs with book and some fun times. Do Jack and Ellie work out their problems? Does Lia forgive Ellie? You will have to read the book to find out.

This was one of those books I was drawn to because of its gorgeous cover. The colors, fun constellations, adorable couple and "charming" title... I couldn't resist! It took a little while to get into the story-the main characters, Ellie and Jack, just didn't seem likable at first so it took a little while to connect with them. Their friendship growing up seemed so sweet, but I don't know...to me it seemed like Jack said some pretty cruel things so I'm a little surprised they were forgiven and forgotten so easily in the story. What I loved: all the magic, especially the magical shops on their road trip! It was all so whimsical and fun, and I truly enjoyed reading those parts! Overall, I thought this was a fun YA novel that definitely picked up about halfway through. Thank you for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

The Charmed List is a quiet Young Adult Romance between two former friends who had long ago gone their separate ways but because of a wayward prank returned to each other. I will say that I wanted to reach the end of the story, but didn’t have the enthusiasm for the story as I had hoped. I wanted to read more about this secret magical world that only magical people and magic-aware knew about. But I wondered what’s the purpose of this magic and why keep it a secret? As someone who grew up with brujeria, I have this cultural belief and expectation about magic. Yes, it shouldn’t be put out there and spells should be liberally applied, but when it’s used, there should be a reason—even if it’s slightly selfish. So I wanted to get more in depth with the character’s magical purpose and that distracted me from the story.
The couple were forced (the trope of forced proximity) to take a roadtrip and set up for a magical convention where they’d sell their families wares. And on this road trip, the hero helps the heroine go through her list of milestones to accomplish that summer. While they’re both dealing with repercussions of a prank gone wrong and making the heroine’s best friend magic aware (and I couldn’t understand the true consequence of becoming magic aware). As common in Romance, there’s a lot of miscommunication or lack of communication of feelings and expectations, and there’s an abundance here. But I appreciated how outside forces—siblings—wanted to help the couple come back together.
While this wasn’t high on my list of things I appreciated, the author is a wonderful, often lyrical, writer. There are a lot of creative world building, but the descriptions fell short for me.
Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this book was adorable! It was such a sweet family romance but it was the magic that just added that sparkling touch. I feel like I need more books in this world.

So… somehow I missed that this book had magic in it? I went back and read the cover copy, and it does talk about there being charms and a “secret magical world”, but I guess I assumed that was metaphorical? Whoops on my part.

It isn’t a bad thing for THE CHARMED LIST to have magic. I just wasn’t expecting that when I started reading, so I felt thrown for a chapter or two. Once I understood the magic system and how it worked, I connected with the story more.

I enjoyed the fact that their families have sort of rival businesses or roles in the community. And the setup of Ellie and Jack being forced to go on the road trip together was great. I loved that.

One of the things that kind of bugged me was the history between Ellie and Jack and even her feelings about him. It felt like she made some pretty harsh judgments about him at a time when he was deeply grieving. I kind of wished they talked more specifically about that and that Ellie had more opportunity to own that perhaps she made some mistakes, too. There’s a little bit of that.

The whole premise is that she and Jack had a big falling out that she’s still nursing hurt feelings over, and I could understand her feeling hurt over what happened. What was hard to understand was that she never considered that he’d just lost his mom, whom they were both close to. I guess I felt like Ellie sometimes came across as shallow and selfish.

That aside, I enjoyed the story’s awkward flirty moments, secret magical towns, and lots of the side characters in the book. Ellie’s sister and Jack’s brother are probably my favorites, but I really liked Ellie’s best friend, too.

All in all, this was a fun summertime read with a little magic sprinkled in. I think readers who enjoy books by Sandhya Menon will enjoy THE CHARMED LIST.

Falling in love is magical. This is a classic case of a young woman trying to find herself. It doesn't help that Jack turned her back on her. He's the only one that can understand her, right?

But forced proximity will force Ellie and Jack to face it all. And that is the part that is magical! I love this troupe and I loved watching Ellie grow!

Loved this quick and easy to read magical friendship to romance story. I enjoyed the author's use of charms to save and use magic as well as the "hate to care about you" banter between Ellie and Jack. There were so many dynamics to this story. I enjoyed every one.

This was a cute read. It was definitely giving Disney channel movie vibes. If you want a light, easy read this one is for you.

A story about friends to enemies to friends to lovers who also get a second chance. A prank gone wrong make it’s so a dream road trip between friends turns into a nightmare road trip with an enemy. But are they really enemies, only time will tell. I found this to be a fun quick read.

I love the idea of magic and love books that talk about magic. I normally really enjoy YA books but this one felt a tad too young for me. I tried to love it but I felt like it was a miss for me.

A lot of my issues with this one is that it felt a bit one-sided. Sometimes, that can work to a book's advantage, but in this ones case, it did not because it felt more like teenage angst to an extra degree than anything. That being said, it does offer the why behind the bitterness in a way that keeps you wanting more.

The Charmed List by Julie Abe is a sweet YA friends-to-enemies-to-maybe-more road trip book with a little magic mixed in.

Ellie is determined this will be the summer she stops being a wallflower (her words, not mine). She has a list of items she’s sure will change things including falling in love and a first kiss, not necessarily in that order, and she’s excited about a planned road trip with her best friend, Lia, to a convention to showcase her family’s tea. Lia doesn’t know that Ellie and her family are part of a magical world, and Ellie isn’t allowed to tell her. Before they leave, they tackle an item on Ellie’s list. Get back at Jack, her ex-best friend, neighbor, and fellow purveyor of magic who stopped talking to her years ago for reasons Ellie still doesn’t understand. Unfortunately the prank goes awry when Jack uses magic to stop it, and Lia sees. She’s furious Ellie kept that world from her, and now Ellie and Jack are in danger of losing their own magic because of the breech. Part of Ellie and Jack’s punishment is that Jack will replace Lia on the road trip. One guess what happens next.

I enjoyed this book. I always like a road trip book, the magic was fun, and I zipped through it pretty quickly once I started. Ellie was not my all-time favorite main character. I found her confusion over what happened between her and Jack to be a little dense and some of her motivations for things didn’t make any sense to me. I say that knowing she’s a teen and the book was written for a YA audience, so maybe that won’t be a problem for other readers, but for a character who was written as pretty likeable and considerate, she seemed strangely clueless and unempathetic about a lot of things. Still, I was happy when the characters got their happy ending and I’m glad I read it.

If you’re looking for a light, fun YA romance with magical elements this is a great pick. Thank you so much to @WednesdayBooks and @netgalley for a copy of this one.

If you could have a magic potion to give you more of an attribute—confidence, strength, space (they use one in the book to fit more in the car)—what would you want?

The magical elements of this story were initially unclear to me. It took quite a while for me to become (mostly?) sure that the novel takes place in a world where a portion of the population is "magic aware". Unfortunately, I must also add that the writing did not strike me as exceptional, although I did love the depiction of the younger siblings of the main pair of characters. Story did not grab me enough to finish, but I imagine there will definitely be an audience to recommend it to, as there are always readers out there for a good friends-to enemies-to lovers arc.

I absolutely loved this young adult contemporary romance! Even though the main characters are in high school, I really enjoyed the romance. It's so sweet! And, the family rivalry is absolutely bewitching. I can't wait to read another novel by Julie Abe. Julie's writing is so good!

On a roadtrip to save Lia, a non-magical friend, frenemies are forced to work together and in turn the they work on the anti-wallflower list sort of together.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for this charming novel for review!

The premise of this book is good, but it didn't feel complete. The relationship between Ellie and Jack felt better developed in the backstory than in the present. Also, the book is advertised as a road trip romance the road trip felt like an afterthought. I did enjoy the book, but I would have liked another fifty pages of development.

Julie Abe's The Charmed List is a cute, frothy YA rom-com for the first 75% (which I enjoyed) but what was really great about it was the last 25%. Her emotional prose concerning the grief and trauma of the hero/LI, Jack, and the blooming of deeply insecure Ellie is quite touching. I wish there was a little less repetition in Ellie's inner dialogue sets throughout the book, but overall this was a cute read and if the reader can hang in there the end is quite lovely. There incorporation of charms and spells is quite cute as well.
Thank you Wednesday Books & Netgalley for the sweet read!

This was a really cute read. I loved the magic in it. I especially loved that the main character had a bucket list of things she wanted to do so she can come out of her comfort zone. How many of us would love to do something like that. Add in an enemies to lovers trope and what we have here is a fantastic summer read! Bucket list - check. Shy main character - check. Magic - Check. Enemies to lovers - check. road trip - check. Great read especially for summer time!

This was a really sweet, best-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers book with magical realism included. Im a sucker for this type of book (cupcakes that give you courage?!, yes please)
This also includes one of my fav tropes--forced proximity.
All in all, a really sweet first love story that Id recommend to anyone 14+

An adorable friends to lovers rom-com brimming with paranormal elements. Fans of the forced proximity trope will love it. It reminds me of a YA version of the Fix-It Witches series. If you are looking for a quick-paced, YA, paranormal rom-com, this is for you!

Thanks to the Author, Publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC.

This was a cute story for young adults. There is a magic component but it's kind of a small part of the story. Honestly, I think this would be better without the magic or if the magic was a bigger part of the atmosphere and overall feeling of the novel. I liked the Japanese American references and always love a mixed-race character, but the magic didn't add much to the story and actually took away from my enjoyment of this book.