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A review by shockinglyshayreads
Spells Trouble by Kristin Cast, P.C. Cast
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I felt the story was progressing pretty well the first 200 pages. The backstory was set really well with the prologue and the characters were great in the first few chapters. The first big event that occurred in the beginning as a little jarring and too superhero. Killing off their mother that early I felt was too much. I understand they were supposed to figure this out on their own but I think if the story was an extra 100 pages and left Abigail alive for another 30-50 pages would have done well. I loved the small little map of the town. I also really enjoyed that they tried to represent the major underworlds. I thought that was a very cool attempt at including diversity somewhere. The description of everything really was decent. The writing itself though sometimes was sudden. I felt like there were shifts that felt like one author stopped and another picked up.
The characters were ok. Mercy and Hunter felt like quintessential twins, almost exact opposite personalities while looking identical. They tried to through in some small town bullying but it just didn't read right. It felt like an attempt at making Hunter feel like she had a quirk. Mercy being a bubbly preppy green witch just felt so out of place. That honestly could have just been that I'm used to witches always being seen as an outcast because of the orphan/uncontrolled powers trope though. Kirk was a douchebag. He was written SO FLAT. It's like they tried to give him depth and then decided it wasn't worth in the end. Jax seems like he's pining after a lesbian and I'm not here for it. In my opinion, Emily seems to have the most depth and she's just a supporting character. She was definitely at the top as my favorite. Lastly, there is Xena. I loved her magic and how she was written and everything about her.
The characters were ok. Mercy and Hunter felt like quintessential twins, almost exact opposite personalities while looking identical. They tried to through in some small town bullying but it just didn't read right. It felt like an attempt at making Hunter feel like she had a quirk. Mercy being a bubbly preppy green witch just felt so out of place. That honestly could have just been that I'm used to witches always being seen as an outcast because of the orphan/uncontrolled powers trope though. Kirk was a douchebag. He was written SO FLAT. It's like they tried to give him depth and then decided it wasn't worth in the end. Jax seems like he's pining after a lesbian and I'm not here for it. In my opinion, Emily seems to have the most depth and she's just a supporting character. She was definitely at the top as my favorite. Lastly, there is Xena. I loved her magic and how she was written and everything about her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent