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A review by ashley_mrose530
Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This one was cute. I can see why everyone likes Lukens now.
This was my second book by Lukens. I really didn't like the first one I tried because I felt like the plot, if there was one, was all over the place, but this one was much more cohesive and easier to follow.
At its heart, this is a story about a boy who is just trying to find where he fits in. Rook is someone who has always been around magic but has never been able to use it himself and in this world, if you can't access magic, you aren't supposed to know anything about its inner workings. But Rook lived as the exception until his grandma died and he lost that connection to something he loved. So he ventures out to get a job with a very powerful sorcerer who turns out to love breaking rules so she decides to take him on as her apprentice and teach him magic.
This story has a lot of found family goodness as Rook navigates this world that he's not supposed to be a part of and finds people who may or may not be happy with that fact. I always love me a good found family trope and I ate this one up.
I also loved watching Rook and Sun grow closer. Sun is the grumpy to Rook's sunshine and is very antisocial and anti-touch. They also have anxiety and claustrophobia and it was wonderful to watch Rook comfort them in those moments and learn what Sun's boundaries were. He was always making space for Sun to feel comfortable and welcomed and it was so heartwarming to see.
The main issue I have with this book is the pacing, I think. It was really slow in the beginning. I was almost bored with it at first and then it started picking up about half way through and everything was go, go, go from there. It just felt a little off-balance for me.
I also wish there was a little more depth to the characters and even the plot. The characters had small conflicts but there wasn't really many flaws shown, especially for Rook, and that meant there wasn't room for his growth. And the plot seemed very surface-level even though it tried to go deeper with justhints of corruption within the Consortium and how they run things. I feel like the book, since it was obvious that the author wanted to keep it lighthearted, could have gone without those hints and it wouldn't have had me wanting them to overthrow the whole government at the end.
Overall, this was a cute book and I think I'll continue to give Lukens a chance.
This was my second book by Lukens. I really didn't like the first one I tried because I felt like the plot, if there was one, was all over the place, but this one was much more cohesive and easier to follow.
At its heart, this is a story about a boy who is just trying to find where he fits in. Rook is someone who has always been around magic but has never been able to use it himself and in this world, if you can't access magic, you aren't supposed to know anything about its inner workings. But Rook lived as the exception until his grandma died and he lost that connection to something he loved. So he ventures out to get a job with a very powerful sorcerer who turns out to love breaking rules so she decides to take him on as her apprentice and teach him magic.
This story has a lot of found family goodness as Rook navigates this world that he's not supposed to be a part of and finds people who may or may not be happy with that fact. I always love me a good found family trope and I ate this one up.
I also loved watching Rook and Sun grow closer. Sun is the grumpy to Rook's sunshine and is very antisocial and anti-touch. They also have anxiety and claustrophobia and it was wonderful to watch Rook comfort them in those moments and learn what Sun's boundaries were. He was always making space for Sun to feel comfortable and welcomed and it was so heartwarming to see.
The main issue I have with this book is the pacing, I think. It was really slow in the beginning. I was almost bored with it at first and then it started picking up about half way through and everything was go, go, go from there. It just felt a little off-balance for me.
I also wish there was a little more depth to the characters and even the plot. The characters had small conflicts but there wasn't really many flaws shown, especially for Rook, and that meant there wasn't room for his growth. And the plot seemed very surface-level even though it tried to go deeper with just
Overall, this was a cute book and I think I'll continue to give Lukens a chance.