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A review by apollo0325
Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is the second FT Lukens book I've attempted to read, and I think I finished this one because 1) audiobook and 2) I liked the overall cast.
First, Spell Bound's plothook doesn't happen until about 55-60% of the way through the book. As you move along up to that point, there are story beats that would lead to the plotpoint presented in the blurb of the book, but this book probably could have been 100 pages less than it is. A lot of it is world building, but it's extremely basic level world building: you've got magical people and normies. The normies can't and aren't allowed to do magic because of the Magic Police. Magic Police regulates and profits off of everyone's magical dealings, and while you get snippets of that about 25% of the way through the book, it didn't feel like we saw enough of the Magic Police's impact on other magical users aside from Antonia's and Fable's businesses. If we're going to dive into more world building that is integral to the plot, it would have been nice to see more of the impact of the Magic Police's abusing of power and greed. The "lesson" of the book gets lost in the sauce because for our two MCs, the only things they care about are each other and their mentors, which is fair! This isn't a criticism of characterization but more so a criticism of Lukens' lackluster worldbuilding and morality lessons that are just like... suddenly a thing. Antonia's speech in the trial was good evidence of that because it felt very left field. We didn't explore these themes of power imbalances, corporate/political greed, and rules that only benefit the wealthy throughout the book, so for that to be the final lesson in all of this was... uhhh not great lol
Second, Lukens' characters are always VERY palatable. There isn't really any grey morality or exploration of darker themes of characters, at least on paper where we actually see it and not just hear about it. You hear about Antonia being this powerful sorcress who wanted to rule the world but now she runs a lowstakes hex business. We don't see a demonstration of power until the end of the book, but even then, you're like oh she's powerful, that's cool. What happened to the power-hungry Antonia we keep hearing about? We know she has motivations beneath everything she does, but Antonia was still palatable. Rook and Sun and even their romance is palatable. Sun doesn't like Rook at first, but they talk about how attractive he is CONSTANTLY. There's no true tension between Sun and Rook and while not every romance needs tension, the sort of hate-to-love relationships kind of require that tension. You know as soon as Sun starts talking about how hot Rook is, they'll get together pretty easily. They were adorable, but you know how this is going to turn out. Those sorts of plots aren't necessarily explored to their full extent, and even their 'miscommunication' (or lack thereof) was resolved within 2-3 chapters. Lukens doesn't really take a risk with their characters. Even in In Deeper Waters (which I STILL haven't finished reading), their characters are palatable. There's no risk. There's nothing to really excite the reader or determine if the MC/characters are even worth rooting for. I'm not trying to be mean when I say it feels like queer media written for straight people. Sun can be a bit of a hardass, but they're palatable. Fable is a rule follower but palatable. Antonia, Rook, and Maevis are all palatable. Which by the way, Antonia and Maevis honestly are the same person. I thought they were the same person when Maevis was first introduced because their voices were identical.
Last, Lukens' books aren't BAD. In the spirit of me, a food analogy: Lukens' books are like McD's french fries. They're good because there's some fun characters and interesting world building, but they aren't an entire meal. Subsisting on ONLY fries is not nutrientially smart.
Lukens' books are important though. Baby gays will LOVE Lukens' books and see representation not only normalized but celebrated. Sun takes the time to correct Rook about their pronouns, and it was really nice to see a nonbinary MC at the forefront of the narrative. Sun's and Rook's relationship is NEVER once questioned by anyone in the entire story. There is no "but you're both gUyS?!!?!" or "YOU'RE GAAAAY?!?!?!" and I think that is important to have for queer kids, especially teens. This book may not have been for me, but this book is going to be there for a young queer teen who wants to see themselves in mainstream literature.
First, Spell Bound's plothook doesn't happen until about 55-60% of the way through the book. As you move along up to that point, there are story beats that would lead to the plotpoint presented in the blurb of the book, but this book probably could have been 100 pages less than it is. A lot of it is world building, but it's extremely basic level world building: you've got magical people and normies. The normies can't and aren't allowed to do magic because of the Magic Police. Magic Police regulates and profits off of everyone's magical dealings, and while you get snippets of that about 25% of the way through the book, it didn't feel like we saw enough of the Magic Police's impact on other magical users aside from Antonia's and Fable's businesses. If we're going to dive into more world building that is integral to the plot, it would have been nice to see more of the impact of the Magic Police's abusing of power and greed. The "lesson" of the book gets lost in the sauce because for our two MCs, the only things they care about are each other and their mentors, which is fair! This isn't a criticism of characterization but more so a criticism of Lukens' lackluster worldbuilding and morality lessons that are just like... suddenly a thing. Antonia's speech in the trial was good evidence of that because it felt very left field. We didn't explore these themes of power imbalances, corporate/political greed, and rules that only benefit the wealthy throughout the book, so for that to be the final lesson in all of this was... uhhh not great lol
Second, Lukens' characters are always VERY palatable. There isn't really any grey morality or exploration of darker themes of characters, at least on paper where we actually see it and not just hear about it. You hear about Antonia being this powerful sorcress who wanted to rule the world but now she runs a lowstakes hex business. We don't see a demonstration of power until the end of the book, but even then, you're like oh she's powerful, that's cool. What happened to the power-hungry Antonia we keep hearing about? We know she has motivations beneath everything she does, but Antonia was still palatable. Rook and Sun and even their romance is palatable. Sun doesn't like Rook at first, but they talk about how attractive he is CONSTANTLY. There's no true tension between Sun and Rook and while not every romance needs tension, the sort of hate-to-love relationships kind of require that tension. You know as soon as Sun starts talking about how hot Rook is, they'll get together pretty easily. They were adorable, but you know how this is going to turn out. Those sorts of plots aren't necessarily explored to their full extent, and even their 'miscommunication' (or lack thereof) was resolved within 2-3 chapters. Lukens doesn't really take a risk with their characters. Even in In Deeper Waters (which I STILL haven't finished reading), their characters are palatable. There's no risk. There's nothing to really excite the reader or determine if the MC/characters are even worth rooting for. I'm not trying to be mean when I say it feels like queer media written for straight people. Sun can be a bit of a hardass, but they're palatable. Fable is a rule follower but palatable. Antonia, Rook, and Maevis are all palatable. Which by the way, Antonia and Maevis honestly are the same person. I thought they were the same person when Maevis was first introduced because their voices were identical.
Last, Lukens' books aren't BAD. In the spirit of me, a food analogy: Lukens' books are like McD's french fries. They're good because there's some fun characters and interesting world building, but they aren't an entire meal. Subsisting on ONLY fries is not nutrientially smart.
Lukens' books are important though. Baby gays will LOVE Lukens' books and see representation not only normalized but celebrated. Sun takes the time to correct Rook about their pronouns, and it was really nice to see a nonbinary MC at the forefront of the narrative. Sun's and Rook's relationship is NEVER once questioned by anyone in the entire story. There is no "but you're both gUyS?!!?!" or "YOU'RE GAAAAY?!?!?!" and I think that is important to have for queer kids, especially teens. This book may not have been for me, but this book is going to be there for a young queer teen who wants to see themselves in mainstream literature.