This was my first read by FT Lukens and it was a delightful welcome. Spell Bound's world building pulled me in. I really liked the magic system and how magic worked for each character. I loved the characters and was drawn in by their relationships with one another. I loved the black cat/golden retriever energy between our main characters.

I'f I had any complaints I would have liked to learn even more about the characters past. We got brief glimpses into their lives before the novel. This left me with some questions that I would have loved to see play out farther.

Still, 5/5. Quick, fun, and joyful read. I truly enjoyed it.

Wow. This book. I had read In Deeper Waters and loved it. I was extremely happy to be approved to read Spell Bound early.

A nonmagical teen boy seeks an apprenticeship with the most powerful sorceress.

The absolute perfection of this story and the representation within its pages. The pronouns, the crushes, and the magic!! I loved Rook. I loved Sun. Grumpy/Sunshine is my favorite trope and these two deliver. Antonia and Fable also have a frenemies type relationship and I loved that for them.

Rook started this story alone and by the end he had a family and a partner. It was an emotional roller coaster to get there but I enjoyed every second.

An adorable romance and a great fantasy as well, I absolutely adored this book. The dual-perspective made the romance really fun to read, and all of the characters felt like they could be real people, and real people that I would very much want to be friends with,. It's also a very quick read, as not only is it a rather short book, but it moves quickly (without it feeling like the plot was being sped through).

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

Magical/dystopian books are not my favorite or usual genre, but sometimes the world-building is so natural that I forget that I’m reading such a story. Spell Bound belongs to this category, and F.T. Lukens has become an auto-read author for me.

Even though this fantastic cover fits the covers of In Deeper Waters and This is Ever After so well, the story is way different. F.T. Lukens goes back to the world-building of one of their older books, Rules, and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic, and Spell Bound is perfectly comparable to that one. So, no princes and castles, but the present world full of spells and curses.

I fell in love with this magical story from the first page. F.T. Lukens humor is so witty. To name a bubbly and open boy Rook, after a European crow, and an always wearing black, grumpy, and antisocial teen Sun. It’s simply brilliant. The frenemies-to-lovers trope is one of my favorite, and Rook and Sun were fantastic and cute frenemies! The corners of my mouth turned up every time they interacted with each other, and the smile on my face only grew bigger and bigger when they became friends and realized they had feelings for each other.

There’s so much more to love in this book. The rep was excellent and it’s found family trope all over. And the discussion about keeping people out of the community and gatekeepers was so good. That there’s no right way to be magic, just like there’s no right way to be neurodivergent or queer.

I believe that Spell Bound is F.T. Lukens's best novel so far. So put it on your TBR and get a copy as soon as it’s out!

I was given an Arc copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was my first book by this author and now I want to go read everything else by them. I read this book in 24 hours because I just couldn’t put it down.

In this book Rook is non magical (or so he thinks) and wants to apprentice for Antonia because she is the most powerful sorceress. She takes him on and when her and her rival go missing it’s up to Rook and the rivals apprentice Sun to find them!

5/5 stars and I will be ordering a physical copy for my shelf!

3.5/5

I came here because I absolutely loved In Deeper Waters, and this book definitely didn't disappoint! The cover was absolutely beautiful in such a magical way, and the whole story just oozed with so much magic I couldn't get enough of it. The characters were a delight to read, each with such unique personalities. Rook, charming and extroverted who fears that he'll never have a place to belong; Sun, my autistic beloved, who's scared of being unlovable but lets Rook in anyway, and Antonia who is an absolute badass and one of the best written anti-heroes I've seen in a while. The magic system, while not unique, feels well thought out anyway, and I didn't struggle with understanding it at all. That said, I did feel like at times, especially in the beginning, some characters felt one-dimensional and unrealistic, like a caricature of a certain trait they possessed, and their motivations didn't necessarily make sense to me at times. The plot is a bit slow at first so I struggled with getting into it initially, but it certainly picks up and I found myself enjoying the latter half. I would definitely recommend this book if you like queer stories, F.T. Lukens' writing, loveable characters, and YA fantasy with a sprinkle of humor.

In Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens, Edison Rooker yearns to experience the magic that was lost when his grandmother died. He applies as office staff at Hex-A-Gone but desperately wants to learn magic. Everyone assures him that he’s not magic and the tests agree. Not one to go along with the rules, his boss, Antonia, names him Rook, her new apprentice. Her colleague, Fable, and Fable’s apprentice, Sun, soon get entangled in their schemes. Rook is eager to use his Spell Binder to harness the power of the ley lines along with some downloaded spells. The Consortium, the head office of Magic, decrees a non-magician can not do magic. While Antonia and Fable are captured, Sun is turned into a cat and escapes with Rook and more hijinks occur. You might find this sweet story uses some familiar tropes of friends to lovers, grumpy and sunshine, and found family to get its’ message to you. You belong. “ You.” “Me.” Thanks to NetGalley and Margaret K. McElderry/Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for the ARC.

I was a big fan of FT Luken’s last two books, but this one was honestly a disappointment. I didn’t really get a feel for either Rook’s or Sun’s characterizations, and neither Antonia nor Fable were all that likable to me. The plot had the potential to be interesting and make a stance about magic and belonging, but instead mostly dragged. The part where Sun turns into a cat felt a little creepy, and the romance between them only had legs in the third quarter (but it was good enough to redeem this book from a 2 star rating). I found myself resistant to putting this book down, but only because I wanted to finish it so badly so that it would be over.

A lovely found-family novel, and a sweet YA romance. I love Lukens's creations of worlds that automatically and with no fuss include diversity in race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. As with In Deeper Waters, treatment of magic stands in for other types of social policing and control. I’ve urged my school's library to purchase Spell Bound, as well as Lukens's other novels.

I have come to expect a certain level of joyful chaos in FT Lukens work and Spell Bound delivered exactly that!

I have been a fan and follower of Lukens work since the beginning and the premise of this story had me excited as it didn’t fit the fantasy mold I have come to expect from them. This modern urban magic take was refreshing and world building felt more concrete and real than I even hoped for! This gave me a The Devil Wears Prada vibe (I genuinely could not tell you why, maybe it’s Antonia’s office downtown and her eccentric ways … or maybe it was just all the coffee running Rook does lol.)

The writing gave what I’ve come to expect of Lukens, which is witty and lighthearted - even when the situations become a little dire! The characters are all chaotic and lovely and full of so much heart that I just want to hug all of them ( I’d ask permission from Sun first, of course). What this story does really well is ease us as readers into the characters - Usually I’m not a fan of slower beginnings but it was necessary here for us to become attached to Rook and Sun individually before they are thrown into an intense situation together.

Also, the grumpy/sunshine trope here? Fantastic. Show stopping. Round of applause. Sun had just the perfect level of general annoyance at the world around them and Rook was just so happy to be along for the ride - their dynamic was funny but also made sense in a way that played to both of their strengths.

In the end this is a wonderful story about finding one’s own self worth and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who can see it too. Found family is something I know I will always get out of an F.T. Lukens book and what is more found family than a non-magical magic guy and his grumpy little partner and their wary of breaking the rules magical teacher and their scary all powerful frenemy that has taken up the non-magical magic guy as her apprentice?

And finally, can we have a round of applause for the cover?! Sam Schechter never fails to amaze me with their work. Holy cow. I want wall posters of every cover they have done.
Special thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was another good book by the author and further confirms that they are an auto-buy author. I enjoyed the story and the characters and would read more adventures set in this world. My only complaint is I feel like the book should’ve been longer and somethings could’ve been more fleshed out so some things didn’t feel rushed.

As by request of the publisher upon receiving this ARC, I will not publish my review publicly until a month of the release. Luken does it again. Amazing world building and found family tropes mixed with adventure and a touch of angst. As far as magic books goes this one takes from traditional lore and adds a spin to it. Sun and Rook were such aptly named characters and I enjoyed seeing their relationship build and grow. I would have gladly read something longer if we got to see more of their relationship growth, it did seem a little rushed. I would have even been happy to have this as a duology so there would be more from all characters. Overall another great read from Lukens.

Spell Bound is an uplifting story about magic, realizing your self worth, and finding your family among the most crazy and eccentric group of people.

F.T. Lukens does an remarkable job building up the characters in this story. Rook and Sun, the main characters, naturally evolve as the chapters progress. Other characters, like Antonina, have very interesting layers that keep you interested in learning more about her. The magic system in the story is uncomplicated yet quite amusing.

The story is a slow burn and it pays off with a stimulating finale, but it does feel a bit rushed during the last few chapters. Wish we would of learned more about how Ley Lines replenish or come back to life.

I’ve read both In Deeper Waters and So This is Ever After, and by far Spell Bound is my favorite. I’ve enjoyed all three books, but there was something about the magic and the way the story was told this time around that just made me feel more connected to the story.

Rook and Sun were both very easy characters to root for. One thing that I felt most strongly about was their understanding and respect for each others boundaries from their very first meeting. Their interactions were something to look forward to while laughing along with their jokes.

Antonia was someone to look up to. She was strong and knew it, but her arrogance was more endearing than off putting. The found family that came out of this was something that I love to see in stories.

I’ve said this before about a couple of books, but overall I think Spell Bound is beautiful in its simplicity. There isn’t an overly in depth plot, but the story still moved forward. The plot that was there was quick and easy to get into. It’s definitely more of a character driven story, but I think the flow was just right.

I’m looking forward to more stories by this author in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this early!

FT Lukens already was an auto-buy author for me after loving their last two novels, but Spell Bound just reinforced that. Their writing style just works so well for me, and I’m obsessed with the way they develop characters and the way the characters interact with each other.

Rook was the sweetest baby angel and one of my favourite characters I’ve read about in a while. I feel like this book really benefited from having Sun’s POV as well, but because I am so in love with Rook, I did like that his POV was highlighted a bit more (approximately 2/3 of the chapters were from Rook’s POV, and 1/3 were Sun’s). They were both such great, well developed characters and I loved that even the side characters were developed enough for the readers to really get to know them as well. Antonia is such a badass, but it was also amazing to see how much she cared about Rook. Fable totally grew on me as well; they may not have won me over the same way Antonia did, but it really was clear to see what a good person they were.

I appreciated the representation with both Sun and Fable being non-binary, and Rook being gay, and those things not being anything other than character details. Sometimes it seems like many books feel the need to make that part of the storyline (often in a way that adds conflict) as opposed to it just being who the characters are. I also liked the inclusion of both family (with Rook talking about his grandmother, and Sun with his sisters) and found family! Lastly, important topics were discussed as well, like Rook’s loss of his family and the life he knew, and Sun’s boundaries with personal space. The way they so easily accepted and understood each other really made me see their connection quickly and I loved watching it continue to develop.

This was such a good read, and so, so witty! Yet also made me cry. This book just checked so many boxes for me, and I won’t hesitate to recommend it to others.

Thank you to Margaret K. McElderry Books & NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you Margaret K McElderry Books and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I enjoyed this book a lot! Rook just lost his grandma and his connection to the magic world. His only hope is Antonia Hex, one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world, but with no magic of his own will she work with him? Sun apprentices for Antonia’s rival Fable so when they meet Rook the two begin a perplexing relationship. Rook’s work with Antonia is not exactly legal, what happens if the authorities find out? As Sun also begins to help Rook will they get in trouble as well? I loved the witty sarcastic yearning that was Rook and Sun’s relationship! I absolutely adored Antonia! I loved her personality and strength and no cares given attitude! Spellbound is full of adventure, Magic, and sarcastic wit which I love! I had been waiting for this book for so long, so glad I got to read it! Absolutely delightful, can’t recommend enough! I’m excited to read it again!

I will always slam a request/read button for F.T. Lukens, no doubt about it. It's well written in typical F.T. Lukens fashion, and the bond between the characters was fun. It's the epitome of the happy person likes grumpy person trope, but tropes are tropes for a reason and I'm always here for them when done well.

The world building was fun, though as another review stated I did feel it was slightly too similar to the rules and regulations for mediating myths & magic, but I loved those books so it didn't totally bother me.

My biggest complaint is that I wished we spent more time with Sun. They're amazing, and I would have loved a little bit of a deeper dive into them than what the book gave us.

Overall, a solid read and another great entry into the F.T. Lukens catalogue. I didn't love it quite as much as their other works, but it was still great and a fun use of my time.

Also, that cover tho.

Very sweet and love the found family aspects, but otherwise struggled to get through this. I found the pacing to be uneven, and the plot unsatisfying as it was a bit predictable, though the prose was lovely. The characters are all such a joy, however, that I stuck with it to the end. Recommended!

Rating: 8.5/10 Spell Bound was, without a doubt, F.T. Lukens' best book to date. The concept is completely fresh. Urban fantasy is generally underutilized in YA fiction and this was breath of fresh air. The plot was slow moving and, in doing so, gave readers a chance to become fully immersed in this world before getting swept away by major plot points. I will most likely purchase a copy when this book is released! My only complaint has nothing to do with the actual content of the novel--it is for the description of the book. Not only does it spoil parts of the book that don't show up until the 50% mark, but they are a little deceptive about the relationship between the main characters (by the time those spoilers happen). I personally don't like when the summary gives too much away. It takes away from the reading experience.