Spells Trouble

Sisters of Salem #1

by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast

Double double, twins spell trouble…

Hunter and Mercy Goode are twin witches, direct descendants of the founder of their town of Goodeville. As their ancestors have done before them, it is now time for the twins to learn what it means to be Gatekeepers–the protectors of the Gates to different underworlds, ancient portals between their world and realms where mythology rules and nightmares come to life.

When their mother becomes the first victim in a string of murders, the devastated sisters vow to avenge her death. But it will take more than magic to rein in the ancient mythological monsters who’ve infected their peaceful town.

Now Hunter and Mercy must come together and accept their destiny or risk being separated for good.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Witches, Paranormal, Magic, Audiobook, Fiction

309 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2021

About the author

PC was born in the Midwest, and grew up being shuttled back-and-forth between Illinois and Oklahoma, which is where she fell in love with Quarter Horses and mythology (at about the same time). After high school, she joined the United States Air Force and began public speaking and writing. After her tour in the USAF, she taught high school for 15 years before retiring to write full time. PC is a #1 New York Times and #1 USA Today Best-Selling author and a member of the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame. Her novels have been awarded the prestigious: Oklahoma Book Award, YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Prism, Holt Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, Booksellers’ Best, and the Laurel Wreath. PC is an experienced teacher and talented speaker. Ms. Cast lives in Oregon near her fabulous daughter, her adorable pack of dogs, her crazy Maine Coon, and a bunch of horses. House of Night Other World, book 4, FOUND, releases July 7th, 2020. More info to come soon about the HoN TV series!

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite creators of House of Night series are back with a mind bending installment, an epic twin witch sisterhood saga, a wild, thrilling, action packed ride!

Fast pacing, gripping with detailed, layered characterization! I loved Hunter and Mercy so much! Polar opposite sisters! Energetic, rebellious, straightforward, badass Mercy, introvert, emotional, queer, secret romance novel writer Hunter are so different from each other but their opposite traits never affect their deep bound, devotion and friendship! They truly love each other! They respect each other! They complete each other! They are such a great, unique, loyal team!

The story starts the era during Salem witch trials. We’re quickly introduced to Sarah Goode who is targeted as a witch, captured in a cell waiting for her execution but she finds her way to escape from the prison accompanied by her little daughter.

After whirlwind, exciting prologue, the story moves forward to the present time to introduce us the direct descendants of Sarah Goode: Twin sisters Hunter and Mercy Goode prepare themselves for their sixteenth birthday which also means their initiation ceremony!

The childhood era of their lives are over. They will be tasked with their new missions just like their gatekeeper descendants have been doing for centuries to protect the gates of underworlds.

Of course their task needs a compelling and definitely demanding learning process which will be more challenging than they expected. And from the beginning your spin gets tingled during your read because you just directly feel the darkness watch each step the girls take. The darkness becomes their shadow and you may sense it at the each chapter.

Something truly unexpected change both of the girls’ life and like falling dominoes, the incident sets so many other terrifying events into motion which forced twins to make grim decisions, changing their life paths.

But tests they have to pass will force them to test their loyalties to each other, too. They are struggling with grief and burning with fury to avenge. Will they team up to fight against the struggles or will they separate to fight their own battles?

Read and see! It’s fabulous, heart pounding, extremely riveting start to a new installment which deserved my entire five blazing, for the love of divine sisterhood and fantasy world stars!

So many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press / Wednesday Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts. I loved it so much!

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This pains me as I love books about witches. The synopsis is so promising. I thought I was going to love this book. Instead, what I loved was the prologue. I would give the prologue 5 stars if I could. I thought it was brilliant. I wanted more of it. I wanted to know what happened to Sarah Goode and her daughter. I was instantly drawn in and captivated by her plight. But the book was not about Sarah Goode but her descendants - Hunter and Mercy Goode.

Hunter and Mercy are twin witches who are learning what it means to be a gatekeeper to different underworlds and portals. Still with me? When their mother is murdered, it is only the beginning. But unlike the beginning of this book, their story did not shine. While I loved the writing in the prologue, I was not a fan of it here. This just did not work for me. It held my interest enough to keep me reading, but unfortunately it was not the book for me. I kept wondering the entire book, how could this book have such a strong prologue to then lose its way?

I highlighted many sections but here is one where I just thought seriously:

"Yes, your mother. We loved her. She was a, uh, a woman."

Now, keep in mind, I am not giving the scene or backstory on who said this but even as a teen, if someone would have said this to me, I might have said "Are you kidding me?"

Sadly, a book I had high hopes for but just did not work for me. Others are really enjoying this book and I encourage you to read those reviews as well.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press - Wednesday Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

[Kristin Cast · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so much fun to write the points of view of both Hunter and the antagonist. Some of the books I've written have taken a lot out of me and have been tough to finish, but Spells Trouble was different. Being in this world with Hunter and Mercy really healed me and brought me joy when I needed it most. I hope Spells Trouble brings you a little peace, too. Happy reading!

[Patty (IheartYA311) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spells Trouble by PC Cast and Kristen Cast
⭐⭐/5
Unfortunately this book was as flat as old soda. It read like a middle grade book (or a corny, silly, satirical movie) and then *bam* you get hit with a sex scene that doesn't help the progression of the plot at all. There were a lot of uneccessery details. The dialogue was bland and tedious. The writing style was boring and subpar. I definitely expected better from such experienced authors. I'm giving 2 stars instead of 1 due to the originality of the idea; it had potential but needed to be developed and written better.

Thank you to NetGalley for granting a copy to review.

[MissBecka Gee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is kind of stale for me.
I'm about 40% into it and don't really wanna force the rest.
I have so many really exciting books waiting for me that I would rather read.
I may go back to it eventually, but for now I feel like it would only make things worse to continue.
Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for my DRC.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spells Trouble by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast is supposed to be the first book of a new young adult paranormal fantasy series featuring a set of sixteen year old twin witches. However, I’m using the word supposed there due to the fact that one of my biggest problems with this one is it didn’t seem to know what it really wanted to be.

The series is about Hunter and Mercy Goode who are twin witches that are just celebrating their sixteenth birthday. These girls come from a long line of witches and their mother is about to have them perform the ceremony for them to become protectors of the Gates to different underworlds. These ancient portals between their world other realms house all kinds of evil and when their mother becomes the first victim of the gates breaking down the girls must protect their world.

Now, having read other books from these authors I have had my ups and downs with their series but my usual complaint was that the books would drag on and just be too lengthy for my taste. Seeing this new first book of the series was only around 300 pages I thought it should move faster so I took a chance. Well it did move at a better speed and the fantasy had huge potential but it still was a miss for me.

Spells Trouble to me would often feel like more of a middle grade book than young adult but then you have instances where it felt like it went too far for even YA…most notably a sex scene tossed in. There were also too many times I thought let’s just get back to the magic and the bones of the story which at times had huge potential but it just didn’t feel like everything meshed together very well. Being a shorter read as I said it took three days for me to drag myself to the finish and for me being someone who when totally invested could read two books of this length in a not so busy day felt like a year. So unfortunately this won’t be one series I won’t be coming back to which is a shame as it could have been a lot of fun.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/

[Cortney - Bookworm & Vine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited to receive an advance copy of Spells Trouble... not only was it a YA trilogy about witches, but it was two authors I've heard great things about for years but had yet to try.

*cue the violins* but I was in for a lot of disappointment

The writing felt really lazy to me. Whether they just phoned it in this time, or this is their typical way of writing, I don't know, but I'm probably not going to find out. There were glimmers of a good story in there, but I was honestly not impressed. There were times I felt like I was in the middle of a series, there were times that I felt like I was reading middle grade, there were times I just skimmed because I wanted to be done with it. I'll say it again because I think it bears repeating, the bones were there for a good story, maybe even a great one, but it was just not executed/edited/or written to shine.

I don't know what else to say. If you really want a great YA witchy trilogy, check out the Cahill Witch Chronicles

[KsiążkowyFrik Aleksandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5🌺

[Madison Vessels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book and its characters are absolutely stunning!
The back story of this book is a subject that has always fascinated me. The Salem Witch Trials. After she and her daughter escaped, Sarah Good set up her new life in Illinois.
Present day, the Good twins Mercy and Hunter, are about to have their 16th birthdays. The twins are complete opposites but are also extremely close. They are also absolutely witches. I was worried at first when it jumped that it would be a book where they didnt know their lineage and had to discover their powers but instead, they were witches descended from witches and they were about to come into their full powers after they chose their god or goddess.
It starts off with the twins losing their mother on their big night, midnight on their birthday. Their cat then turns human and becomes their guardians so at least they dont have to leave town.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the differences between the twins and their interactions with their friends and others in the town. I also loved the darker side of the books. There are a ton of murders that happen and the twins are racing to stop them.

The ending was something I was slightly expecting. .not the exact end but rather, an obvious set up for another book. I love that it continues and that I get to read more.

[Elizabeth Aguilar · Rating 1 out of 5]

RTC

There's *technically* stakes but it doesn't feel like it. Flat. Shallow characterization. Pacing felt weird-- especially considering how much at the beginning took place in a beach party...

[Meaghan - H&WR · Rating 1 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

EXPECTED MAY 25TH, 2021

1 STAR

What should be a celebration turns rapidly into a tragedy for Hunter and Mercy Goode.

The night of their sixteenth birthday, they pledge themselves to their patron gods, preparing to become full witches in their own right. But even as they reach this monumental milestone, something goes horribly awry, killing their mother and weakening the gates of Goodeville in the process. Now, overrun by grief and fear, without their beloved mother’s guidance, the twins must discover the source of the evil seeping into their town if they hope to protect their loved ones who remain.

That’s easier said than done, though, and along the way, Hunter and Mercy must come to understand one another, too.


Conceptually, this could have been exciting. In practice, though, Spells Trouble is an exercise in futility.

Frankly, the only reason I didn’t DNF this book was my own stubborn nature, and the faint hope that maybe it would improve by the end. Obviously, seeing as I gave it only a single star, it very much did not, and this is due to its constant failure to accomplish anything of note. You would think that portals to various underworlds would elicit a great sense of urgency, even with grief weighing on the twins. Yet the pacing and tone is all over the place, sometimes leaning almost towards a younger YA voice and focusing on blips of character bonding that don’t advance the plot, and sometimes launching into a full on sex scene between sixteen year old kids that also does very little for the plot.

(I would have had less of an issue with the sex scene if it wasn’t so…detailed? I get that teens sometimes have sex, and I think it’s reasonable for YA authors to include that. But when your sex scene is written with such an emphasis on the sexy? In YA? Yeah, that’s pretty uncomfortable.)

Really, most of the issues stem from this failure to advance the plot. Over the course of the entire book, the Goode twins alternate between mourning their mother and fumbling through possible ways to protect the trees that serve as underworld gates, only to end the book knowing they failed after all their hard work. What, then, was the point of all those attempts? What was the point of all that tense research and the drawing of boundaries between characters?

It ultimately feels like a waste of 320 pages to place our characters essentially where they started, except more distrustful of one another than before.


But Spells Trouble doesn’t just flounder in its plot. It’s careless in its representation and approaches.

This section of my review could easily go on forever, but I’ll try to keep it concise. The short version? Certain fragments of representation were handed out as if to score brownie points. Certain personality traits were slapped onto characters to make them less dull, only to make them feel even flatter. It’s overall a train wreck, dripping with a carelessness that has me rolling my eyes so hard I can see the back of my skull.

The personality trait issue is the far less serious of the two I’ve mentioned, and takes a little less time to cover. For some reason, the authors make sure to highlight that Hunter is an aspiring author, only to give that hobby minimal depth beyond a single notebook and her inability to put the words on the page. It barely shapes her character otherwise.

Meanwhile, Mercy sometimes uses British slang for absolutely no reason at all. She doesn’t have anyone in her life from England, and hasn’t spent any time there at all. It’s entirely inexplicable, and while I’m sure there are kids out there who play around with slang and accents for minimal reason, it only serves here to make Mercy irritating, as well as a collection of eccentricities pasted on top of an otherwise boring character. Complexity and nuance who?

But easily most frustrating are matters of attempted representation. The most obvious issue is the way Hunter is treated. She is a lesbian, but the matter only surfaces when discussing childhood bullying she faced (complete with gratuitous slurs!), or when she feels isolated and not like other folks in Goodeville. Here I was, all excited about a book that might have a sapphic witch, and all I got was this lousy case of dogpiling and misery.

And while we’re at it, let’s talk about how the authors handle race and culture, because they’re terrible at it. Turns out, the underworld gates in Spells Trouble are linked to mythologies across the world, including underworlds from Japanese, Hindu, and Egyptian mythology. And these gates? They were founded by a white woman, who conveniently found the solution to holding mythological underworlds at bay when the indigenous populations could not.

(It’s no surprise that this indigenous population is said to be gone now, and that SURPRISE, one of the supporting characters is half Native American! Not that you would know unless it was mentioned, since there are absolutely zero indicators otherwise. And naming which group of indigenous people he’s part of? Gee whiz, that must have been too much work.)

Overall, it makes Spells Trouble clumsy, frustrating, and disrespectful, even if that wasn’t the authors’ intent. After all, you can intend to do right by someone or something and still cause harm instead. Or, as it often feels in this case, you can try to score your brownie points but just not really, truly care.


In full honesty, I cannot recommend this book.

I regret not DNFing it, to be frank. And I can’t even come up with a sort of reader who might enjoy it. When I finished reading, I felt like I’d wasted the last three hours of my life. You probably know as well as I do that’s never a good feeling.

Save your three-odd hours for another book, one that’s actually enjoyable. Or go for a walk. Maybe play a video game. Simply anything else is probably more rewarding than Spells Trouble.


CW: animal death, underage drinking, violence, gore (including eye gore), graphic injury, loss of a loved one, homophobia (including slurs), sex scene, drug use

[Sara L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plot
Mercy and Hunter Goode are witches but not just any witches, they're twin witches. It's their birthday and as all their ancestors previously did, they need to be Gatekeepers which are the protectors of some gates to other worlds. It's now time to celebrate their birthday with their mom and they go through a ritual they always do but this time something happens. When they lose their mom, the twins (still grieving), decide to take up the case for themselves and help solve the string of murders that have been happening all around town as well as their moms. But to solve this case it will take more than magic. It will take courage, love, and what we come to learn as acceptance.
The twins dive straight into the case and start doing research when they learn about Mythological ancient monsters. And turns out a creature has been roaming their town disguised as a person, whom they know very well as the Sheriff.
Now Hunter and Mercy fight together with friends and enemies to bring back their peaceful town.


Hunter
She's my favorite character by far! I connected with her so much and loved that she was gay. I also loved how she tries so much to be strong for her sister and even if she doesn't show it a lot, is grieving! ❤️❤️



Mercy
I dislike her very much. Mercy is not very good to her sister. As much as she loves her sister Hunter is usually the one always looking out for her, Mercy does nothing in return! She didn't even acknowledge that Hunter was probably grieving in her own way, she let Hunter take away all the pain for her but she did nothing to help her in return! Instead, she goes ahead and tells her how her god is causing all this trouble and reflects all that negativity on Hunter's sexuality!!! The ending of this book made me dislike Mercy even more. She's just so selfish and self-indulgent!



Jax
I love how he was so supportive of Hunter and cared for so much! I truly believe that in all this chaos and all the things that are going on he was more of a friend than her own sister ever was. We just need more strong friendships with no romance, you know? And he really made that happen! But I still can't shake the feeling that he might like her? Maybe it's all the your-best-friend-loves-you trope's I've read so much about in almost every book (the hunger games, city of bones, e.t.c)



Emily
She was an awesome friend and I loved how she took care of her family and loved them so very much but was also there for her friends. Even when she was also going through the death of her own father she really did it come out as a strong loving character :)


Overall
I had a really high expectations going into this because I love witches and Salem, and if you're going to name a book series The Sisters of Salem you better make sure that book is good! Thankfully this book was really fun and enjoyable and I loved it. Even though my expectations were off the roof this was a really enjoyable read. I loved the LGBTQ aspect of this book and how it all came together with the grief and mystery. This book was really one of wide genres and I loved that it also contained Greek / Roman mythology and connected to the witches to it! So I really loved the overall World building and the characters (not Mercy) I also really enjoyed that this book showed me side of the villain as well, even as I was disgusted by what he was doing I really enjoyed him. Let's be honest, who doesn't love a bad guy with a sad backstory?

A special thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for sending me an arc for an honest review!!

~Till Next Time!
📚 Ꮢҽαԃ σ⨍⨍ ɾҽαԃҽɾട! 📚

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a sucker for mythology. When I heard about this book - a mixture of multiple mythologies - I knew I had to read it. And honestly, it was fun.

Twins Hunter and Mercy Goode come from a long line of witches who have been tasked with protecting the Gates to other worlds and underworlds. On the birthday where they were begin their training, their mother was murdered by some ancient being that came through one of the gates. This event is just the beginning as more and more strange happenings start occurring. But one thing is for certain, the trees are sick and it's up to the twins to figure out what's going on.

Let's talk characters. I liked that it was easy to tell the twins apart from each other. They both had such distinct personalities that I never confused the two. I also really liked their support system from their guardian cat to their best friends. They had people who believed in them and more importantly, just straight believed them. But I will admit that there were times their characteristics became repetitive. We kept being told how different they were over and over instead of really delving into their mannerisms. Any emotion out of the norm needed to be magically fixed instead of actually dealt with which I thought did a disservice.

This is a book about sisterhood, friendship and loss but most of it was just barely talked about. There were so many plot points that I just wanted more from and that I felt were honestly explored. This book could have been a little longer to add more depth and it would have benefited greatly. I am really excited to see what comes next though as this book opened up so many interesting worlds that I hope we get to explore them.

[Grapie Deltaco · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

In a promising plot description following twin sisters, Mercy and Hunter Goode, as they fight as powerful descendents from a long line of witches against unknown forces in their small town that took the life of their mother, this was an incredibly disappointing story.

The prologue felt to be the most grounded and well-written section of the entire story and should have been the central focus.

This is a Teen/Young Adult labeled book with a middle grade writing style and dialogue approach with an all too explicit sex scene that lasts pages between literal children. I don't know what the author wants this book to be and neither do they, apparently.

The slang and language used by the 16 year olds are outdated and filled with the most awkward hashtags and "yaaaassss, bestie" moments that made me cringe. The use of the word "bestie" both in narration and dialogue was overwhelming.

There was no emotion from the twins despite the story being told from their alternating perspectives. They never grieve the death of their mother and just say they're affected by her murder briefly before snapping back and moving on. There's no life in the characters or writing and I'm concerned with the frequent Indigenous references to these white characters' witchcraft practices.

I do not practice witchcraft, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of its depiction in this story.

Overall, this was an incredibly uncomfortable read for all the wrong reasons.

[Alex Nonymous · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Spells Trouble in exchange for an honest review.

My favourite niche trend in YA right now is sapphic witch stories so when I heard that Spells Trouble follows 2 witches (one of whom is queer!) I was really excited but unfortunately, I was ultimately let down. This is neither author's first book which meant I was really surprised by how exposition-y this was. The first few chapters are a lot of heavy-handed dialogue where characters remind themselves of the plot, their relationships, and goals and while that phases out as the plot progresses, it sets up a very younger-middle-grade story telling style. Unfortunately, this book also includes swears, slurs, and sex scenes so it's definitely not good for that audience either. There are elements of goodness here, but it exists in this weird in-between of maturity that really doesn't lend itself to any solid audience.

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy his book very much. It wasn't written badly or anything, but it's very much a female YA offering. If that's your kind of thing, I'm sure you'll really enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Nikita Afsar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

2.75/3 stars?

I loved P.C Cast and Kristin Cast's House of Night series when I was younger and I love witches and witchy books. So when I saw this book on Goodreads with that pretty cover, I immediately wanted to read it.

Unfortunately, I didn't end up loving this book as much as I thought I would.
The concept of this book sounded pretty good, the execution is what kinda ruined it for me.

First of all, the characters annoyed me sooo much. I didn't feel connected to any of them except for Xena. Whenever I think of Hunter and Mercy, our main characters, I feel indifferent. I just don't care about them.

The writing was pretty juvenile which I expected from a book by this author duo based on my experience reading House of Night, but I still expected the dialogue to be....better? It felt like there was no improvement in the writing between House of Night and this one and just FYI, Marked came out in 2007.

Now, the premise sounded good. I loved the idea of a family of witches who are the Gatekeepers tasked to protect the Gates to different underworlds inspired by many different mythologies. Again, I love that and hopefully we'll see more of that in the sequel because I wanted to see more of that in the book. Because even after all that happens in this book, I was still kinda bored and there was no sense of urgency to me. I can't really think of one moment where I felt like the characters were truly in danger.

Now I'm still continuing with this series because 1: I am a completionist and 2: there was a character introduced in this book that really intrigued me and I have a feeling we'll see more of him in book 2.

[Fanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Portals to various underworlds. Teen twin witches pledge themselves to their patron gods. Uncovering the evil while grieving the loss of their mother. Everything about this sounds good, but almost nothing reads good. With a pacing and tone that disrupts whatever essence the story was attempting to establish, the characterisation almost fails to construct a personality that can take forward the plot or motivate readers to cheer for.

The magic system or fantastical world-building, which can be expected to somewhat strengthen the tale, also disappoints when the doors to different underworlds are actually windows into Greek, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, and Egyptian mythologies. Not only does the entire idea of a few white women protecting the world from cultural underworlds, especially those stemming from the east, seems absurdly saviour-ish, but it also indirectly comments on indigenous population in an underwhelming, even disappointing manner. Basically, for the readers, the problems prevailed instead of being resolved in this paranormal fantasy.

↣ digital copy received via the netgalley ↢

[Dr. Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Spells Trouble is a story of twin sisters who are also witches. In this urban fantasy, the Goode family are the protectors of a grove of trees in Goodeville, IL and each tree is a portal to an underworld. When the sisters' mother is murdered and other townspeople show up murdered, the girls know there's a monster on the loose. They must stop it and save the grove before the solstice.

My excitement for this has dulled a little bit and after reading some other reviews, people have brought up some very good points about the problematic elements of this book. That being said I still did like this book, but I'll discuss more of that below.

I found the storyline of tracking down the creature very interesting and I liked going on this journey with Mercy and Hunter. I definitely preferred Hunter to Mercy, but there wasn't anything I hated about Mercy besides her insistence that their problem were to blame on Hunter pledging to a god instead of a goddess. That part was very annoying and enraging. I really enjoyed both of the sisters powers, especially Hunters as a cosmic witch. One of her main tools is tarot and that was so cool! I don't know a lot about tarot, but I love when it's used in books!

I am predisposed to enjoy witch stories, especially if there are queer MCs. The same goes for mythology. I love mythology, it's one of my favorite things to research and learn more about. The five gates in Goodeville connect to the Egyptian, Norse, Greek, Hindu and Japanese (Shinto) underworlds. I thought this was really cool, but it is very much "white savior-y" to stick two white girls in charge of protecting them when three of these gates belong to BIPOC cultures. It wasn't quite as bad as what happened in Tiger's Curse, but alas it's still a bit of an icky situation. I believe Kristin is biracial, but I don't know her specific identity to say anything more than this really.

There's also part of this where Hunter is putting a spell together and one of the ingredients was "Apache Tears", I can't recall exactly what this was, but as someone else pointed out, this is also pretty uncomfy and borders on cultural appropriation. Not to mention, besides a very brief mention, there are no indigenous characters in this book. Which was quite surprising as Marked and the series have quite a few including the MC who is half Native (I believe Cherokee to be specific, but I don't remember for sure).

Overall, I did enjoy this one though it does have some problematic elements.

Rep: white lesbian cis female MC, white cishet female MC, various cishet side characters.

CWs: Death of parent, death, murder, sexual content, grief, bullying, slut shaming, toxic relationship (romantic), blood, gore, lesbophobia/lesbomisia, cursing. Moderate: cannibalism, homophobia/homomisia. Minor: alcohol consumption, alcoholism.

[Anik - MamaBearsBookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just meh. Nothing special. The only things I enjoyed were the witchy parts. but other than that it was a pretty flat story and for the younger crowd. I didn't really like the characters. I much more enjoyed the House of night books from the mother-daughter duo. I really wanted to like this one but it's a no-go for me it didn't live up to the expectations I like the cover it's pretty. The dialogue was a little strange with the back and forth and reactions were awkward.

Thank you Netgalley, St.Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy.

[Lindsi (Do You Dog-ear?) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

Spells Trouble was just a tad too unbelievable for me. I don't want to have to suspend my disbelief that much for a story to work. I'm all for authors writing progressive female characters, but the twin's mother was annoyingly sweet and supportive. Her comments were a little too endearing and nonjudgmental, which I found off-putting. She felt more like an eccentric aunt than the girl's mother. It didn't help that they called her Abigail instead of Mom, which we get no explanation for. Right of the bat she's talking to Mercy about safe sex, condoms (making sure they make it onto her new boyfriend's penis), her clitoris (and how she's been blessed with multiple orgasms), and even discussing the ring size (Mercy's boyfriend gave her his ring) and insinuating that it means her boyfriend has a large dick. None of this felt like appropriate "Mom talk," because of how their mother chose to address these topics. She made it creepy and gross, not educational and informative.

I enjoyed the prologue, but everything that happened in the present felt over-the-top and forced. It was like jamming two puzzle pieces together because you're convinced they fit, only to realize your mistake later on. This book had a lot of pieces that felt forced together, which really hurt the story's believability. There was also a lot of telling and very little showing.

The chapter with Dearborn? WHAT? That whole debacle was very poorly explained, and then his behavior later on was incredibly offensive (it honestly felt like he was a completely different person). He should not have been talking to the girls about their dead mother (it's in the synopsis, lower your pitchforks) so casually. Where was his sensitivity to their loss? The other officer just kept apologizing for his behavior, but it wasn't even remotely acceptable. I don't care if he's been through an "ordeal," he can't be callous and insensitive. He also can't discuss another investigation with two teenage girls. It was just too unrealistic for me to continue reading this one. Stopped around 24%. (★★☆☆☆)

Narration: I started listening to an ARC of the audiobook and seriously considered switching to my physical ARC after a few chapters. The voice really didn't work for me, and I thought it made the characters sound ditzy and immature. Even their mother's voice had a childlike quality to it, which made it hard for me to take anyone seriously.

Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin' | Amazon | Pinterest

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jakie to było niesamowite uczucie - cofnąć się myślami do czasów, kiedy zaczęłam kochać książki.

Dokładnie to czułam czytając ten tytuł.

Akurat moja przygoda z uwielbieniem dla książek zaczęła się od "Domu Nocy", który napisały te autorki. Tamte książki całe były przesiąknięte magią - i w tej czułam to samo. Jedna wielka magia.

Oczywiście - powiedzmy sobie szczerze - nie jest to lektura wysokich lotów. Ale tutaj wcale na coś takiego się nie liczy. To ma być książka, która da wam odpocząć, która będzie lekka i przyjemna.

Spełnia swoje zadanie w 200%.

Na początku czułam mały chaos, jakby same autorki nie były pewne początku, ale w pewnym momencie dało się wyczuć 'ok, to już, już się zaczęło'.

Więc jak możecie wywnioskować po wszystkim co Wam tutaj napisałam - jestem zakochana w tym tytule. Bardzo bym chciała, żeby wydarzyło się coś dalej lub żeby dało się czytać ten tytuł w nieskończoność.

Powróciła do mnie na nowo ogromna chęć do czytania i w ogóle na nowo uwielbienie dla lektury.
Mam nadzieję, że nie zniknie tak szybko jak się pojawiło! ❤️

[Kristin Sledge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hunter and Mercy Goode are not your everyday witches. They are gatekeepers to five gates that lead to different underworlds. A Norse underworld, a Greek underworld, a Egyptian underworld, a Japanese underworld and a Hindu underworld; all marked by trees that relate to each culture. When the gates become sick with rot and murders begin in their town, can Mercy and Hunter find the courage and strength to mend the gates or will all manners of creatures break through and tear the mortal world to shreds?

Guys, I really want to give moments of this book a 7 star rating, and other parts a one to two star. Overall, it gets three from me but also comes heavily recommended. I grew up reading P.C. and Kristin's House of Night series. I really enjoyed the circle/elemental casting as well as the new take on vampires. Now that I am older(and hopefully wiser) revisiting the House of Night is cringeworthy. So when this little morsel started off MUCH like the House of Night I began wondering if these authors were one trick ponies. Man, did I ever eat crow! The mythological moments in this book are exceptional, and the characters from the gates are epically written. What falls short to me are the Goode twins....mostly Mercy.

For being a twin, Mercy sure doesn't know anything about not being selfish. I would delve deeper into this, but it would involve heavy spoilers and I'm not about that. Hunter is great and made me want to leap through the pages to give her a big hug. Their friends are excellent and their cat Xena is to die for.

Overall, this book has great qualities but I wish we had gotten more with our monsters as they were the true stars of this story for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone 16+ as there is graphic sexual content that is absolutely NOT suitable for younger readers. I look forward to a sequel and am hardcore Team Hunter!

[Daria (sweetdreamsinbookland) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5/5⭐
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPf258BBO...

Książka "Wiedźmi czar" opowiada historię dwóch nastolatek, które są czarownicami. W dzień szesnastych urodzin bliźniaczek dzieje się coś strasznego - drzewa, które są bramami do światów zmarłych zostają otwarte, a do krainy żywych dostaje się tajemniczy potwór.
Zamordowane zostają trzy osoby, a dziewczyny muszą znaleźć sprawcę, wysłać go do zaświatów i ponownie zamknąć bramy.
Ale czy nastoletnie czarownice są w stanie tego dokonać?

Czy ten opis nie brzmi intrygująco?
Niestety książka okazała się inna niż się spodziewałam.
Czytało mi się ją dość ciężko i zmieniło się to dopiero na ostatnich stu stronach.
Największym plusem tej historii jest magia. W książce przedstawione zostały różnego typu rytuały, inicjacje, rodzaje wiedźm i zaklęcia, choć te ostatnie ukazane zostały za pomocą infantylnych wierszyków rodem z przedszkola.
Dodatkowo bardzo podobało mi się nawiązanie do mitologii - szczególnie greckiej i nordyckiej. Świetnym pomysłem były też bramy do zaświatów, które symbolizowały dawne wierzenia różnych narodowości - drzewo greckie, nordyckie, indyjskie, japońskie i egipskie.
Bardzo ciekawym pomysłem było również wykorzystanie kota jako opiekuna.
Niestety nie za bardzo polubiłam się z głównymi bohaterkami. Mercy i Hunter bardzo się od siebie różnią. Pierwsza z nich jest bardzo lubiana. Druga natomiast jest cicha i zamknięta w sobie. Na początku siostry ogromnie się wspierały, jednak z czasem zauważyłam, że ich relacja robiła się coraz bardziej toksyczna. Nastolatki często się kłóciły, a momentami nawet na sobie mściły za głupoty.
Ponadto strasznie denerwującą postacią był chłopak Mercy - Kirk.
Na początku książki przedstawiona została historia przodkini dziewczyn, która jednak niestety nie została zbytnio użyta w dalszej części historii. Akcja zaczyna się już na początku - bramy zostają otwarte, giną ludzie, jednak bohaterki chyba zbytnio się tym nie przejmują i wolą sp��dzić czas po swojemu. Rozumiem, że miały też inne sprawy, ale kiedy do swiata, w którym mieszkasz chcą przejść potwory, to chyba wypada się tym zająć od razu i poświęcić temu każdą możliwą chwilę.
Do tego książka była pełna irracjonalnych i dziwnych sytuacji i dość słabego (według mnie) poczucia humoru.

Niestety książka mnie zawiodła, jednak może to wynikać z mojego wieku - chyba zwyczajnie jestem na nią za stara. Dla mnie jest to zmarnowany potencjał, ale może młodsze osoby są w stanie polubić się z historią nastolatek. 

[Mia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

My favourite part of Spells Trouble was the premise. I liked the idea of twin sisters being responsible for protecting their town. Even though Mercy and Hunter of course have different personalities, I found their voices to be way too similar.
Overall too much exposition in beginning, and although I enjoyed the plot, the execution was insufficient. I am a little curious abut what happens next, if want young adult fantasy that is quick and easy read, read this book.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[wik · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Spells Trouble" jest to książka skupiająca się na historii sióstr bliźniaczek: Mercy i Hunter. Pomimo tego, że starają się zachować pozory i prowadzić tryb życia zwyczajnych nastolatek to nie są w stanie uniknąć faktu, że są potomkiniami potężnej czarownicy, która założyła miasteczko Goodeville i otoczyła je swoją ochroną. Ich życia były wyjątkowo udane i jedyne co się w nich działo to typowe nastoletnie dramaty, które obserwujemy codziennie w telewizji. Niestety, wszystko zmienia się w dniu ich szesnastych urodzin kiedy ochronne drzewa tracą swoją moc i stawiają bliźniaczki w nieprzyjemnej roli ratowania miasteczka oraz zmuszają do wielu poświęceń.
Muszę przyznać, że książka jest zupełnie czymś innym niż się spodziewałam. Po przeczytaniu opisu byłam niezwykle zainteresowana. Muszę przyznać, że rzeczywiście pomysł na historię był ciekawy i jeszcze się z takim nie spotkałam. Akcja działa się swoim tempem, ale nie uważam tego za wadę. Książkę czytało mi się dość trudno z racji na dość infantylny styl autorek. Oprócz języka, który niestety kompletnie mi nie podpadł miałam wrażenie, że starają się przekazać zbyt dużo w ledwo rozwiniętym świecie.
Książka z naprawdę dużym potencjałem, ale niestety kompletnie nie dla mnie. Myślę, że o wiele bardziej spodobałaby mi się gdybym sama miała te wyżej wspomniane szesnaście lat.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a goner for me at 16% but I held on until the end to make sure I could write a comprehensive review with aaaaaaall the warnings. This witchy YA fantasy is a contemporary tale following twin sisters who must help close the gates to the underworld(s) after a disaster ushers in their 16th birthday.

Even before I took offense at the whole story, I have to say this one has a weird take on teenagers. The dialogue is clunky, and the drama definitely invokes a 2000s teen tv drama, but not in a fun, nostalgic type way. Literally, one twin's boyfriend is a quarterback named Kirk who wears Abercrombie & Fitch cologne (check that overly specific preppy white boy product placement).  It ends up coming off shallow, and though I love to mock my students for their dating foibles, they are complex, wonderful humans, and this book flattens all that.

Now, let's get serious. The Goode family traces their roots back to Salem. In the relating of the family lore, the book kept digging itself into a deeper hole. First, matriarch Sarah Goode flees the witch trials out west. I was already on high alert for "westward expansion" aka Colonialist Bullshit to enter the picture. And boy, did it. Sarah finds her way to an unoccupied area that the characters note Indigenous populations were "super smart" too avoid because it holds 5 entrances to the underworld. But guess what?? Sarah is SO smart and cool that she is able to shut the gates and build a utopia or whatever, and even the Indigenous peoples decide it's safe to live there now. There's an attempt by the authors/characters to recognize Native wise women later in the book, but it reads like token representation when the white main cast still runs around at the center of everything, and the story is ultimately about their heroics and cleverness, etc. Plus, it's a bad look when they actually high-five each other for having the most basic thought about it. Let's assume you're already appalled. But we've got to keep digging that hole because the 5 gates to the underworld represent different pantheons: Norse, Greek, Egyptian, Japanese, and Hindu. So I guess now this is the part where we appropriate from living religions to make our magic seem fun and cool and global? Aka colonialism part II.

Yeah, so... would not recommend.

[Ashley W · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Plot
I wanted to like this book. After the prologue -which I loved!- I was hooked. It quickly went downhill. There was really just a modge podge of 'magick' and mythology with no real direction, so it comes off as bland and reaching just to progress the story. Then there is the rather gratuitous sex scene that comes off as cringe-worthy for a YA book. It read like a how-to, which I do not appreciate. Had this been an adult/erotica book, it totally would have made sense. In this context/age group, hard pass.

Characters
Okay, we get is. Mercy and Hunter are different. It was plenty obvious, but it felt like parts were written just to, once again, remind the reader how different they were. And their CONSTANT use of the word 'witchy' was so redundant that I rolled my eyes every time they used it.
Bast had the potential to be so awesome, you know, as a goddess, but she was kept as 'Xena,' which annoyed me to no end. Like, hey, this is supposed to be a goddess, like the kind you worship, and you keep referring to her as a character from a bad 90s show.
Kirk was horrible and a total douche, which really made him the most real character in the book. I loved to hate him because, as much as his jerk-ness was over done, he served as a cautionary tale for girls.

Disappointed.

[Jay.Rae.Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

First off I have read many P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast books and enjoyed them all. This one… not so much.

The pacing of this book was extremely slow. A decent bit happened in the first chapter and then I felt like nothing happened from that point on. I wish the magic was more prominent in this book. As it was the magic was a very small element. This was more of a teen family drama. It also deals with depression and loss which would have been fine if there was more going on as well.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. Every time I put this book down, I was dreading picking it back up again.

[Justine Buhl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting so much from this book because of how much I loved the House of Night series. I was disapointed. The characters were flat and unreliable. The plot wasn't interesting and was dragging for most of the book...