【 THE SPELLS WE CAST 】

book #1 in the Spells We Cast series

Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Young Adult
Author: Jason June
Published: October 2023
Publisher: Melissa de la Cruz Studio
Pages: 360 (eBook)

I wanted to love this more than I did, but I just felt that this was ultimately a bit ‘meh’. It’s a very fun (and funny) concept, bringing together some classic fantasy tropes with cowboy vibes, and the queerness is delightfully through the roof.

But towards the end, I found myself tempted to skim more and more, just to get to the end and be done with it. While things start very strongly with the promise of magic and some sort of gauntlet-like challenge for the main character to pass/qualify and keep their magic if they enter the Guild, it really felt like the plot hardcore stalled beyond that point.

If you’re reading this book, you’re there for the characters. Nigel and Ori have a cute romance that slowly builds itself up to facing the truth of their feelings towards each other. But yeah, beyond the relationship between those two characters, there isn’t much new or exciting introduced beyond the first 20%.

It’s hard to put a finger on it exactly, because the book is very innocent and clearly intended as simply a lighthearted bit of entertainment, but I do feel that there was a missed opportunity for this to have been developed into something a bit more and become truly fabulous. So at the end, I’m feeling unsatisfied.

Title: The Spells We Cast
Series: The Spells We Cast
Author: Jason June
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Nigel Barrett has spent his whole life preparing for the Culling, a spell-casting competition that determines which of the world’s teenage magicians will be stripped of their powers to preserve magical balance. But nothing could have prepared him to face Ori Olson, a broody rival whose caustic wit cloaks a painful past. From the moment Nigel and Ori meet, sparks fly. Their powers are stronger, more thrilling, the closer they get—not that they can risk getting attached. Because as the field narrows and the Culling grows more dangerous, Nigel and Ori realize there’s more at stake than just their powers. The greatest threat to magic, their future, and all of humanity might be the connection growing between them. . . .