Spells Trouble

Minus the weird parts (please do not put an image of a mother's breasts into my head), this book was just...one-dimensional. Flat. The characters had very little nuance, there was a lot of corny stuff, and the sex scene felt really, really out of place for the earlier tone of the novel. I hate to say it since this is rare, but I DNF at like 65%. I just couldn't. The whole time I just felt like this:

Hmmmm...I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this one. I love the idea of twin teenage witches taking on evil, etc. BUT this read more like a very young middle grade.

On that note...when the sexual intensity and ensuing scene showed up it felt rushed, wrong and unnecessary. Given the immature tone of all the characters that didn't fit well at all. It gave me a sour stomach and I just skipped that part all together.

The story itself overall wasn't terrible. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it. I only started this series as I received Book 3 from the publisher (not knowing it was book 3

 I had a friend who I lost touch with who first got me into these two authors. She and I went through the entire House of Night series in about two weeks. In reality, this book is so much better than I expected but I love anything to do with witches.  This book and its characters are absolutely stunning!
After she and her daughter escaped, Sarah Good set up her new life in Illinois.
Present-day, the Good twin's Mercy, and Hunter, are about to have their 16th birthdays. The twins are complete opposites but are also extremely close. They are also absolutely witches. I was worried at first when it jumped that it would be a book where they didn't know their lineage and had to discover their powers but instead, they were witches descended from witches and they were about to come into their full powers after they chose their god or goddess. can I just say that I find it funny that most of the books that have to do with witchcraft that it all happen on their 16th birthday and I find that amusing. 
It starts with the twins losing their mother on their big night, midnight on their birthday. Their cat then turns human and becomes their guardians so at least they don't have to leave town. Their cat as a human has to be one of my favorite characters as a whole and I hope she is in book two. 

Overall, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the differences between the twins and their interactions with their friends and others in the town. I also loved the darker side of the books. There are a ton of murders that happen and the twins are racing to stop them.

The ending was something I was slightly expecting. .not the exact end but rather, an obvious setup for another book. I love that it continues and that I get to read more. I have high hopes for book two but I will say that unlike other readers I do not find this to be lazy writing or slow-paced at all. I look forward to more. The only reason this is getting a four-star rating and not a five-star is because I hate cliffhangers and waiting. 

I listened to the audio version and found the narration by Cassandra Campbell very pleasant. I felt her distinction between characters was clear without being distracting.

I'd like to start by saying I am not the audience for this book as a mid 30s lady. Though I did enjoy the witchcraft element and the friendships of the supporting characters, there was just too much melodrama for my tastes. I felt there was a lot of promise, and I probably would have been more into it if I was a teen.

However, I was VERY surprised by the explicit sex scene considering the target audience, but I haven't read a ton of YA so I'm not sure if this happens a lot.

One thing I really struggled with was the nervous habit one of the main characters had of picking/chewing her nails/cuticles. By the end of the book I was dreading the description of it and found it very grating and uncomfortable (which I imagine was the intention).

***Thank you to Macmillan audio for providing me with a copy of the audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.

I don't really know what to make of Spells Trouble, which ended up reminding me a bit of Practical Magic meets Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Overall, I enjoyed the story; in particular the relationship between Hunter and Mercy, the book's protagonist twitches. Opposites in many ways and argumentative like sisters can be, but never rivals and always there for each other at a moment's notice. Of course, the book ends hinting that may not always be the case. Luckily, we need not concern ourselves with that now.

Regarding tone, Spells Trouble is a little all over the place. At times it reads very much like an angsty YA novel, at others more like a simple Middle Grade, and then it hits you with a couple of very detailed mature moments that I was not expecting and honestly took me out of the story for a moment.

While I did enjoy the story, I was also a bit disappointed because it had the potential to be great. Unfortunately, it ended up being just a 3.5 for me. It moves along nicely and is easy to follow, but it also has some cliches and uses of slurs that were completely unnecessary. And since I did listen to the audiobook, I can say that while nothing amazing, the narrator does a solid job of bringing the story and characters to life.

Will I continue with the series? I don't know. It's not a hard pass from me, and honestly, if I had read this when all the books in the series had already been released, I probably would have. But is it something worth continuing in a year or two? I guess we'll have to see how my TBR looks at that time.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.