Cara Lynn Shultz

Years ago, closer to when it was released, I was entertained by the first book in this duology, however, readers change, and recently when I revisted Spellbound, it was no longer a good fit for me, and unfortunately, I liked this sequel even less. These books would probably be best enjoyed by someone in a Twilight kind of mood, and that just isn’t me at the moment.

This felt too lengthy. Focusing solely on someone’s desire for power and revenge on Emma and Brendan became tiresome, and so much of the book is spent talking about what was going to be done or recapping stuff the reader already knew or telling us something happened rather than taking us there to see it unfold. It really wasn’t until past the half way point where it felt like there was enough going on. This could have used a secondary story to pick up some of the slack pacing, like maybe Emma pursuing a passion for something that conflicts with being a newfound witch and/or being with Brendan.

Brendan’s behaviour, the hair-trigger temper, the desire to solve every dispute with his fists, that just isn’t appealing to me at this point, so I spent much of my time not particularly enjoying the guy the reader is supposed to swoon over. I’m also not a fan of how pretty much every girl who crosses his path (except Angelique which is maybe why she’s the one character I still mostly like) is willing to throw their dignity out the window and even commit crimes to get with this guy even though he’s only ever treated one girl with any semblance of decency. There was intriguing potential in having Brendan’s past treatment of girls come back to haunt him, except Emma lets him off the hook super easily about it and the blowback is more on Emma than on him anyway, so it wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been had he bore the brunt of it.

There’s more witchiness in this book than in the first, and that contributes some of the most interesting, morally grey moments that take place at school, however, I tend to prefer it when a character struggles to get a handle on their power more than Emma does here, and I didn’t love when characters do discover she’s a witch, they swallow the news with relative ease. I can’t help feeling like the revelation that witches exist would involve more denial, shock, and need for proof, and probably even cause some to keep their distance for a time, but here nobody skips a beat, even someone threatened by magic goes right back to their old misdeeds, needing to be reminded that oh, yeah, this person could hurt you.

The one thing I truly did like here is that Emma isn’t the damsel in distress who Brendan’s constantly saving, it’s on her to step up and be her own hero.… (altro)

A re-read, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much the second time around, just wanting different things from a story right this minute than I did then, though it still mostly entertained.

A change for me from the first time I read this is that while I do love romance I don’t love it as much these days when a book solely revolves around the romance, I tend to want a fuller depiction of the heroine’s life than that now. You never really see Emma passionately engaged in anything outside of Brendan, he’s constantly on her mind when she’s talking to her cousin and her friend, he’s on her mind when she’s jogging, he’s on her mind in class, even trying to solve the mystery of her pendant is in part rooted in her fascination with Brendan. I am fine with romance taking center stage, I just crave a little something else to occupy the heroine in addition to that, maybe Emma putting together a running team for her school or something, any goal or interest that could make for a slightly more well-rounded character than just being consumed with her love life.

Even with basketball and a DJ side gig, I didn’t feel like Brendan was all that well-defined beyond Emma either.

I did like Emma and Brendan’s chemistry, however, had they worked harder to resist each other I probably would have been more invested, they have this legit reason to keep their distance yet the story didn’t really go with the juicy tension of forcing them apart. It seemed sort of a waste of potential drama to create a life and death obstacle for this couple that doesn’t ultimately put much of a strain on them being together..

The first time I read this I didn’t notice how heavily it echoes Twilight although it goes its own way enough with zero vampires, Central Park playing a key role, the villain having a more direct connection to Emma, and the witchy vibes. There were however not enough witchy vibes for my liking. Emma’s friend Angelique was one of the more unique characters here so I would have loved to see her feature more prominently (further exploring witchcraft is another thing the story maybe could have done to have more going on for Emma aside from romance) but the final passage in Spellbound suggests that its sequel Spellcaster may delve into that area more, so that’s an intriguing possibility.… (altro)

So, I know I'm way behind the crowd in just reading this book, but I absolutely loved it anyway! I didn't have a chance to read the first book in the series, but that wasn't a problem at all since they referred to the events from before often enough that I was able to follow along.

Soul mates Emma and Brendan have already fought a curse to be together, but they don't really get a chance to rest on their laurels before their next crisis happens. This time they are fighting an unknown but very powerful dark witch who is literally out for Emma's blood.

I was drawn into this story very quickly, and didn't want to stop reading it once I started. The love story was written perfectly and the action just didn't stop!

I'm really glad I finally read this book and give it an enthusiastic 5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.… (altro)