'Spells and Sorcery' Didn't Cast a Spell on Me

Spells and Sorcery

Author: S Usher Evans

Goodreads / Amazon

You have magic.

One sentence, three words, four syllables. Enough to change my life forever. And I'm not talking about the whole spells and sorcery thing.

Lexie Carrigan thought the weirdest thing about her was she preferred watching documentaries and reading the newspaper to reality TV and Twitter. But on the eve of her fifteenth birthday, her aunt and sisters drop a bomb--she's magical.

Now the girl who never made waves is blowing up her nightstand and trying to keep from wreaking havoc on her school. When a kind stranger shows up with all the answers, Lexie hopes he'll be able to help her control her newfound powers. But Gavon may not be as kind as he seems, and soon Lexie finds out that being magical is the least weird thing about her.

Spells and Sorcery is the first YA fantasy from S. Usher Evans, author of the Razia series, the Madion War Trilogy and Empath.

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I actually haven't read anything by this author before. I had heard a lot about her books, though. So I was excited to read this.

I got this as an eARC from the publisher. 

This was an interesting story. I didn't know a whole lot about the plot at first. And the plot wasn't that interesting, but things DID get very interesting towards the end. 

Likes:

• Typically, you don't get a lot of history on the magic. The only fiction I can think of that has details on magical history is the Harry Potter series. And Harry Potter is the exception to the rule in almost every way. There is a lot of magical history in this book. I really liked it. Books about magic seem to gloss over the origins and history of magic. But these things exist. It's as if you write a dystopian novel with no clue how the dystopia formed. That sort of thing. I'm happy this book does have a magical history. But it's kinda ironic that it came in the form of a book. Book within a book, you know?
• The ending is pretty interesting. We have an interesting clan v clan thing going on. I'm not exactly sure of the details. (I read the ending as I was beginning to doze off...) But I did kinda guess the plot twist. I am interested in seeing what happens next. Will he come for her? Or no? Hm...

Dislikes:

• Lexie made me mad. She was so whiny. I got tired of her fast. She kept pushing Gavon. If I was Gavon, I'd drop it like it's hot. She was such a brat. She kept complaining and forcing people to do things. I have no clue how any of her family put up with her. Plus, she seemed fine at first. What changed?
• The plot wasn't extravagant. That could be on purpose. But with magic books, I expect a lot of pew pew WHOOSH EXPLOSIONS sort of thing. I didn't mind the little sparring, but it didn't feel like enough. I know Harry Potter (Which is also about a person finding out 'yer a wizard) isn't all fight scenes AT FIRST. But the training exercises get boring unless you ramp up the stakes. Which this book didn't have a lot of.

Verdict:

Magical history is a plus, but, otherwise, it's okay