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tartbarbie's review
4.0
It's Emily's birthday, she's going to turn the big sixteen on Halloween and little did she know that on her birthday she will become a witch. Just like her grandmother, Mom and aunt but the real question is what kind of witch she will become. At midnight on her birthday things start to change, she finds that a ghost lives in her house, that she now has a familiar a crow and she really is a witch. Even though she has a party to attend she now has the chance to help the ghost boy who's been living in her house since before TV cross over and she has to at least try.
I like Emily she accepts being a which fairly easy accepting when she sees and talks to ghosts and crows. I like her as a character after all she picked a crow based on his recommendation of himself. She was willing to skip her party to help her ghost friend. I'm curious to see more of Emily, alone with her new familiar Bob the crow as well as her new coven.
I read Halloween Magic & Mayhem in one sitting a cute story that shares Emily's awakening as a new witch. The characters are easy to connect with you can't help liking Emily. Who doesn't love a little mystery mixed with paranormal elements and smelly zombies. I really enjoyed the author's writing style it's easy to get lost in the story and hard to put down. i look forward to seeing how Emily evolves in future books as she starts to get the hang of being a witch.
I like Emily she accepts being a which fairly easy accepting when she sees and talks to ghosts and crows. I like her as a character after all she picked a crow based on his recommendation of himself. She was willing to skip her party to help her ghost friend. I'm curious to see more of Emily, alone with her new familiar Bob the crow as well as her new coven.
I read Halloween Magic & Mayhem in one sitting a cute story that shares Emily's awakening as a new witch. The characters are easy to connect with you can't help liking Emily. Who doesn't love a little mystery mixed with paranormal elements and smelly zombies. I really enjoyed the author's writing style it's easy to get lost in the story and hard to put down. i look forward to seeing how Emily evolves in future books as she starts to get the hang of being a witch.
maxines_obsessions's review
4.0
I don't normally like short stories. I've read a few and they didn't feel complete, more like a section of a story. This wasn't like that. It was simple, funny, a little silly and complete. It made me care about the characters. I adored Peter and even Emily after a bumpy start grew on me. I don't think I would have liked this as a full novel, Emily would drive me nuts and it would lose its quirky cool.
momwithareadingproblem's review
3.0
Halloween Magic & Mayhem by Stella Wilkinson was a cute, easy read about a girl becoming a witch. When the clock strikes midnight on Emily Rand’s 16th birthday, she discovers that her aunt was right. She’s a witch and there’s a ghost in her bedroom. So begins her hilarious first day.
So this book was just okay for me. Definitely not a favorite, but it did have it’s perks. Emily is a funny adolescent. She’s a self-centered, as most are, and totally clueless about her heritage. She makes many mistakes in this short novella but she was refreshing none-the-less.
Peter is her ghost. He’s been trapped in her house longer than he can remember and he asks for her help to cross over. He’s funny, a bit odd, and kinda has a Casper moment with Emily.
Besides Peter however the other characters were bland and 2-dimensional. There was no depth to them and they really didn’t add to the story. Even Emily’s crush is just labeled as hot and oh he smiled at her. Really?!
Overall the novella was cute, but again there wasn’t much depth, hardly any world-building, and besides Emily and Peter no one else stood out, except for maybe Bob her familiar. Honestly if this book wasn’t free on Kindle I probably wouldn’t have read it. If you enjoy clean, young adult, urban fantasy than you may like it. If you read it, let me know what you thought!
So this book was just okay for me. Definitely not a favorite, but it did have it’s perks. Emily is a funny adolescent. She’s a self-centered, as most are, and totally clueless about her heritage. She makes many mistakes in this short novella but she was refreshing none-the-less.
Peter is her ghost. He’s been trapped in her house longer than he can remember and he asks for her help to cross over. He’s funny, a bit odd, and kinda has a Casper moment with Emily.
Besides Peter however the other characters were bland and 2-dimensional. There was no depth to them and they really didn’t add to the story. Even Emily’s crush is just labeled as hot and oh he smiled at her. Really?!
Overall the novella was cute, but again there wasn’t much depth, hardly any world-building, and besides Emily and Peter no one else stood out, except for maybe Bob her familiar. Honestly if this book wasn’t free on Kindle I probably wouldn’t have read it. If you enjoy clean, young adult, urban fantasy than you may like it. If you read it, let me know what you thought!
jeanz's review
5.0
l really enjoyed this fun Halloween tale, I'll definitely be looking for the next installment in the Magic & Mayhem series. Really fun Ya suitable book.
INITIAL THOUGHTS
Being totally truthful I don't usually "celebrate" Halloween, but when I saw this novella I couldn't resist, I'd found a relatively easy way to join in the "Halloween Fun", I'd read and review the novella! There are two covers listed on Goodreads for this one, I have chosen the brightest more Halloween themed one....... So what am I expecting? A fun simple read that introduces me to a potentially great series to continue reading.
MY REVIEW
I downloaded this one free from Amazon UK with the intention of having a fun read for Halloween. I totally admit I do love most things pagan. I actually have a car sticker with the "Witches Rede" on it. Paganism is really fascinating.
As I said in "Initial Thoughts" there are two covers for this book, One is more serious, mystical looking featuring a female in a cloak under a full moon. The one I have chosen to feature with my review (pictured above) is brighter coloured and is more amusing and enjoyable to look at, especially at this special time of year.
Would the cover make me pick the book up from a book store shelf, yes, it's certainly a bright coloured appealing cover. The silhouette of a female that I's guess is Emily, a newly powered witch, with her broom stick. It is quite a dramatic effect on the cover, the orange tinted sky, the tree profile and the bright white of the full moon. I really like the cover and the fonts of the book title, series name and authors name too. I also love the little "logo" between the book name and authors name. It just adds to the "old fashioned" "carried down through the ages" feel that features within the book.
So the main female character in this book is Emily, a young girl who's sweet sixteen birthday is on Halloween. Emily lives with her dad, and stepmum, and her step brother Duncan. Emily kind of keeps herself to herself and doesn't really associate much with Duncan. Emily has her best friends Bryony and Kate and they are all super excited to be invited to Tamsin's Halloween Party. Emily is eager for the party as the boy she has a crush on,Sean Carrey, is going to the party and has already asked party organiser Tamsin if Emily will be there. Normally for her birthday, Emily would have dinner with her family but she manages to Coerce her dad into postponing the usual birthday celebration meal until the day after. The only relative on Emily's maternal side of the family is Aunt Iris. Aunt Iris is considered slightly eccentric as she is the owner of a Pagan ritual & supplies store. When Emily visits her aunt, she is told that she is a witch and will receive her powers on her sixteenth birthday. At first Emily believes that her aunt Iris is making a joke, but her mood soon becomes serious when her aunt hands her the wand and grimoire that her mother had left with Iris to pass onto Emily when she was ready to receive her own powers.
There are many different types of witches, kitchen, hedge, etc etc only time will tell what type of witche Emily is and what her powers will be. Aunt Iris advises Emily to be very careful and suggests she attends the coven meeting on Halloween. However that meeting clashes with the party Emily just has to attend.
The morning of Emily's sweet sixteenth, she wakes up and gets a shock when she discovers one of her "witchy gifts" is to be able to see ghosts. So witchy problem number one is, Can Emily help the ghost pass over? Then Emily meets her witches familiar also in a shocking yet comical way.
Further into the tale, Emily begins trying out spells etc, with disastrous results. Emily quickly realises she is somewhat out of her depth when she has managed to revive the ghost who is now as "real" as she is. Even more potentially ruinous is the fact she has re-animated the buried corpses of the local cemtery! Everything is turning more and more unpleasant and Emily's situation is dire. Help arrives in the form of Aunt Iris, but she alone isn't powerful enough to tidy up the mess that Emily has conjoured. It seems that Emily is destined to miss Tamsin's party and her budding romance with Sean Carrey.
I really enjoyed this book, it may be short but it is packed with action.
Did I enjoy the book? Yes it is well written, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.
Would I recommend the book? I would especially as a fun Halloween read.
Would I want to read more in this series? Yes!
Would I want to read other books by Stella Wilkinson? Yes, I will definitely be checking out other books by this author.
INITIAL THOUGHTS
Being totally truthful I don't usually "celebrate" Halloween, but when I saw this novella I couldn't resist, I'd found a relatively easy way to join in the "Halloween Fun", I'd read and review the novella! There are two covers listed on Goodreads for this one, I have chosen the brightest more Halloween themed one....... So what am I expecting? A fun simple read that introduces me to a potentially great series to continue reading.
MY REVIEW
I downloaded this one free from Amazon UK with the intention of having a fun read for Halloween. I totally admit I do love most things pagan. I actually have a car sticker with the "Witches Rede" on it. Paganism is really fascinating.
As I said in "Initial Thoughts" there are two covers for this book, One is more serious, mystical looking featuring a female in a cloak under a full moon. The one I have chosen to feature with my review (pictured above) is brighter coloured and is more amusing and enjoyable to look at, especially at this special time of year.
Would the cover make me pick the book up from a book store shelf, yes, it's certainly a bright coloured appealing cover. The silhouette of a female that I's guess is Emily, a newly powered witch, with her broom stick. It is quite a dramatic effect on the cover, the orange tinted sky, the tree profile and the bright white of the full moon. I really like the cover and the fonts of the book title, series name and authors name too. I also love the little "logo" between the book name and authors name. It just adds to the "old fashioned" "carried down through the ages" feel that features within the book.
So the main female character in this book is Emily, a young girl who's sweet sixteen birthday is on Halloween. Emily lives with her dad, and stepmum, and her step brother Duncan. Emily kind of keeps herself to herself and doesn't really associate much with Duncan. Emily has her best friends Bryony and Kate and they are all super excited to be invited to Tamsin's Halloween Party. Emily is eager for the party as the boy she has a crush on,Sean Carrey, is going to the party and has already asked party organiser Tamsin if Emily will be there. Normally for her birthday, Emily would have dinner with her family but she manages to Coerce her dad into postponing the usual birthday celebration meal until the day after. The only relative on Emily's maternal side of the family is Aunt Iris. Aunt Iris is considered slightly eccentric as she is the owner of a Pagan ritual & supplies store. When Emily visits her aunt, she is told that she is a witch and will receive her powers on her sixteenth birthday. At first Emily believes that her aunt Iris is making a joke, but her mood soon becomes serious when her aunt hands her the wand and grimoire that her mother had left with Iris to pass onto Emily when she was ready to receive her own powers.
There are many different types of witches, kitchen, hedge, etc etc only time will tell what type of witche Emily is and what her powers will be. Aunt Iris advises Emily to be very careful and suggests she attends the coven meeting on Halloween. However that meeting clashes with the party Emily just has to attend.
The morning of Emily's sweet sixteenth, she wakes up and gets a shock when she discovers one of her "witchy gifts" is to be able to see ghosts. So witchy problem number one is, Can Emily help the ghost pass over? Then Emily meets her witches familiar also in a shocking yet comical way.
Further into the tale, Emily begins trying out spells etc, with disastrous results. Emily quickly realises she is somewhat out of her depth when she has managed to revive the ghost who is now as "real" as she is. Even more potentially ruinous is the fact she has re-animated the buried corpses of the local cemtery! Everything is turning more and more unpleasant and Emily's situation is dire. Help arrives in the form of Aunt Iris, but she alone isn't powerful enough to tidy up the mess that Emily has conjoured. It seems that Emily is destined to miss Tamsin's party and her budding romance with Sean Carrey.
I really enjoyed this book, it may be short but it is packed with action.
Did I enjoy the book? Yes it is well written, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.
Would I recommend the book? I would especially as a fun Halloween read.
Would I want to read more in this series? Yes!
Would I want to read other books by Stella Wilkinson? Yes, I will definitely be checking out other books by this author.
dee_dee_reads's review
2.0
Ok. So I read this book as a part of a Halloween challenge. I liked the premise a lot.
However I had a problem with the way the story was written. Because of that I just couldn't get into it as much as I thought I would.
The narrative was very choppy and the main character seemed overly self-involved. There was little explanations given for why she didn't like her step-mother or step-brother other than the fact that they weren't related to her.
I appreciated the fact that we got to see her grow from the unconfident, self-obsessed teen into a more confident and aware person, so kudos for that.
However I had a problem with the way the story was written. Because of that I just couldn't get into it as much as I thought I would.
The narrative was very choppy and the main character seemed overly self-involved. There was little explanations given for why she didn't like her step-mother or step-brother other than the fact that they weren't related to her.
I appreciated the fact that we got to see her grow from the unconfident, self-obsessed teen into a more confident and aware person, so kudos for that.
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