A Spell To Wake The Dead is a great fall read and with all the witchy vibes and magic, it is great for the upcoming spooky season! Two teenage girls (Mazzy and Nora) who dabble in witchy things, stumble upon a body washed up on the Cape Cod coast. Despite ensuring others they would let the police handle things, the two stay involved and find not only more bodies but get wrapped up with the dangerous Hand of Nephthys group! I loved the spooky and eerie atmosphere of the book and all the weird almost unexplained things that kept happening to Mazzy and Nora. I kept turning pages trying to figure out what was going to happen. The occult and Egyptology parts were so interesting and the group called the Hand of Nephthys was definitely full of bad people and things! Add this to your TBR for spooky season!
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for an eARC of this book!

This was such a fun, spooky, and weirdly wonderful read. I really enjoyed the atmosphere that Lesperance conjured (pun intended) from the first page with the haunting setting of a mostly deserted Cape Cod in the off season and the main characters Mazzy and Nora who dabble perhaps a bit too far into some mostly harmless witchcraft. This is exactly the kind of contemporary fantasy I love where the world of the supernatural bleeds into ours in a way that almost feels plausible and very real. It probably helps that the writing was so immersive and the characters were so beautifully developed that I felt like I had grown up with them, known them my whole life, could turn around and strike up a conversation as if they were really there. With fall approaching, this is the perfect time to dive into this beguiling story of ghosts and witches and secret occult societies!!

Wow! Just wow! I'm normally a slow reader, but I read this in three days because I could not put it down. This book throws you right into the exciting incidence right in the first chapter and then it never has any dips or lulls. Interesting things are constantly happening that hold your attention. It's rare for me to find YA books, let alone any books, that do that successfully. So, thank you!!!

Just know that this book is not for the faint of heart. However, if you are intrigued by witches, ghosts, possession, creepy cults who perform deadly ceremonies, then this book is for you.

I honestly thought this was a perfect, creepy YA story. There is friendship, a tiny romance and lots of mystery.

4.75 rounded up to 5. The only thing that I took off 1/4 point for was that since the story had such an awesome pace, we didn't always get a lot of background or development on characters and backstories.

This was such a good spooky time I will definitely be picking this back up around Halloween time. A great little murder mystery

A perfect fall read! This story leaned heavily into YA, which took some getting used to for me, but I think most readers will enjoy it under the right circumstances—specifically: with a PSL, a knit blanket, and a crackling fire nearby.

We follow Mazzy and Nora, best friends who’ve dabbled in witchcraft with varying degrees of success. On a beach day spell-casting adventure, they uncover something sinister…a discovery that sets them on a dark and dangerous path. But these girls are determined. With a mix of spells, quick thinking, and a little supernatural assistance, they chase answers to the very end.

Nicole Lesperance is a new-to-me author, and I found her writing incredibly digestible and enjoyable. You don’t need to overanalyze or dissect meanings; it’s pure vibe fiction. The atmosphere was so rich and vividly drawn that I felt instantly transported to a crisper, cozier time. I read this during the heat of summer and couldn’t stop myself from lighting a pumpkin candle.

The friendship between Mazzy and Nora was nostalgic and sweet. Thy made me miss my own childhood besties. The characters felt real and likable without falling into the usual YA clichés. That’s a rare treat for me, since I’m pretty picky about YA voice and tone.

There’s definitely a spooky factor here: the eerie small-town energy, the dark magic, and a chilling method of murder. But at its core, this is a supernatural mystery that’s fast-paced, well-structured, and brimming with fall energy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5⭐️
This is a YA witchy murder mystery. I really enjoyed it. Kept me guessing to the end. Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group for ARC.

Such a fun spooky time!! Love a good spooky romance and this would be perfect to read around Halloween time!

This was a really great book. Like with all the YA mystery novels where the teens think they can solve crimes that the professionals can't, there were times when I wanted to shake Mazzy and Nora to try to get some sense into them. But their mystery was so much different than everything else I've read, and it had me sitting on the edge of my seat with the hair on my neck standing on end. This was creepy and fascinating and at times, very sweet. I loved Mazzy more than I wanted to knock sense into Nora. Elliott and Henry were sweet additions to the story, and the ending was just so perfect.

Fantastic story, definitely worth the read!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

4,5☆

This was sooo good. The book does a fantastic job of mixing mystery with magical elements. I loved the main characters so much and felt that they were very multidimensionally written.

The plot progressed in a way that felt fitting and exciting. This kept me hooked and I constantly wanted to know what happens next. The ending was perfect in every way.

I really recommend this to both mystery lovers and those who love books about witches!

I received an advanced copy of A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nicole Lesperance through NetGalley — thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun, creepy read. It’s a YA murder mystery with a horror vibe and a bit of romance thrown in — think slow-burn male/female connection but nothing explicit. The friendship between the two female leads is strong, but it’s their curiosity with magic that gets them in over their heads. They stumble across a coven committing human sacrifice and from there it gets darker, stranger, and much more dangerous.

The pacing is steady, not rushed, which worked for the build-up of tension. I had to stop reading one night because it was honestly getting a bit creepy — and I’m not usually spooked by books.

There’s a decent twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. I really enjoyed this as a quick, engaging read that kept me guessing.

#ASpelltoWaketheDead #NetGalley

This was such a dark, atmospheric read with just the right amount of witchy suspense! I loved the eerie Cape Cod setting and how the supernatural elements slowly crept in, building tension with every chapter. Mazzy and Nora’s friendship felt real and raw, and the mystery kept me hooked until the very end. Perfect for fans of twisty thrillers with a touch of the occult. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this author!

A Spell to Wake the Dead is a fast-paced YA thriller/horror with a creepy, witchy vibe throughout.

This book hits the ground running with the opening scene. The writing is rich and descriptive in a way that sets the tone (haunted) and pulled me right into Cape Cod (which I knew almost nothing about).

The girls have a close best friend dynamic that slowly twists with the plot. I spent a lot of time questioning whether one of them was lying, imagining things, or an unreliable narrator. It’s unsettling and keeps the creepiness going even when the plot slows in the middle.

Even though this is a story about witches, magic is rarely a deus ex machina. Every action has consequences. The girls make a lot of questionable choices and then have to deal with the results. Ultimately the ending is unpredictable yet satisfying. I stayed up past midnight to read the last quarter!

The writing is really fresh and original. It’s sometimes hard to find ‘if you liked this’ recommendations, but I’d put this on a list with The Craft and My Best Friend’s Exorcism.

Spells to Wake the Dead passed the vibe check—it's spooky, eerie atmosphere meshes well with the witchy murder investigation, and instantly hooks you. Loved!

A Spell to Wake the Dead is a great, spooky, witchy story. Despite the fact that this a YA book, I was pretty fearful in some places. I’m not a big horror fan, but I found that I really enjoyed this book despite some of the scary scenes.

The atmosphere of the book was nice and creepy, the magic spells performed by the two main characters well crafted, and the story itself very engaging and entertaining. I was really hoping there wouldn’t be a neatly tied up ending where the FMC was just imaging things, and I was not disappointed. Overall, this book delivers. Great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Reader Group for the advanced copy of this book.

"Two teen girls must uncover the dark, occult secrets lurking in their Cape Cod town to solve a series of murders - and save themselves from the same fate - in this twisty, witchy thriller.

When Mazzy and her best friend Nora sneak down to the beach one moonlit night to cast a spell, they don't expect to find a dead body. But as the tide rolls in, it carries the remains of a woman who is missing her hands and teeth.

The girls know they should leave the investigation to the police, but they can't shake the weird, supernatural connection they feel with the dead woman. Using spellwork and divination, they set out to find answers of their own. But after they uncover a rash of local disappearances stretching back years - and both girls start having occult visions and hearing ghostly, whispering voices - Mazzy worries that she and Nora are in danger.

Then, Nora finds a second body. And the whispering voice is telling her where to find more. With everything spiraling, Mazzy needs to figure out who to trust and how to sever this supernatural connection - or she and Nora might be the next bodies to wash up on the beach."

See, step one, if you find a dead body missing it's hands and teeth perhaps don't try to reach out to it beyond the veil... It's a very bad idea.

This was a pretty good witchy young adult read. I thought some of the storyline was a little unbelievable, but it was a good read overall.

This was a book that genuinely spooked me on so many levels. I read a lot of horror and for the most part, I don't really feel spooked by what I read. And it doesn't stick with me the way that this one did. I legit felt so creeped out over the visions, over May being in Nora's head, the music....it was all so creepy and unsettling. I will say Nora drove me nuts for most of the book - her almost manic attitude with May in her head grated on my nerves because she seemed to have no sense of self-preservation. But once she was back to her normal self at the end, I really liked her friendship with Mazzy. I loved Eliot - he was such a great balance to Mazzy and Nora's distinct personalities and a voice of reason for a good part of the book.

I will say that I did not see *any* of the wrapup coming. I figured Ione was involved to some degree, but I didn't expect the ways she was. I certainly didn't expect the random guy leaving Polaroids to be another factor in the whole thing and I *definitely* didn't expect the cult to be all female and so unfamiliar - none of the members were people we recognized from earlier in the book, but that's what made it so great. Because the cult is supposed to be so difficult to find, it made sense that none of the members were characters we'd already been introduced to. All in all this was such an excellent book and beautifully written. Atmospheric, creepy, and really makes the reader feel they're in the thick of it with Mazzy, Nora, and Eliot. The last quarter of the book was like a white-knuckle ride that I couldn't put down at all. It's so well-done and such an excellent story using real magic in a contemporary setting - I'll definitely be reading more by Lesperance.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and I am really glad I did because I am not sure I would have discovered it otherwise. It is a very creepy, very well written YA horror novel about ghosts and witches in a New England beach town during the off-season when tourists have left and...something else...has set in.

The creepiest part, which was very well done, was the way the main character's best friend is written as she falls under the spell of the ghost that they are communicating with. I felt the main character's fear and frustration with how her friend is acting. I also liked that when some improbably over the top events happened, the main character also voiced that they didn't make sense tried to reason out what the point of them was. It made for a nice balance between having some jump scares but also trying to make the jump scares work within the narrative.

I found this book to be an enjoyable read. The story kept me engaged from start to finish and had some moments that really stood out. Overall, it offered an entertaining reading experience.

3.75 rounded up to a 4

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good witchy time with a murder mystery, spellcraft, friendships woven in magic, and suspense! Mazzy and Nora are two friends who find themselves in a conundrum when they find a body while on the beach and through their determination through spellcraft and divination help to solve the mystery.

It is a quick read that keeps you engaged from the beginning. I feel that it definitely shines more for its intended audience, which is YA, but anyone can read this and enjoy it, especially during the fall season. The twists were good, though slightly predictable. Definitely give it a try if it intrigues you!