Cara Lynn Shultz
Release Date: 03/27/12
Synopsis from goodreads.com:
Finding your eternal soulmate - easy.
Stopping a true-love-hungry evil - not so much…
After breaking a centuries-old romantic curse, Emma Connor is (almost) glad to get back to normal problems. Although...it's not easy dealing with the jealous cliques and gossip that rule her exclusive Upper East Side prep, even for a sixteen-year-old newbie witch. Having the most-wanted boy in school as her eternal soul mate sure helps ease the pain-especially since wealthy, rocker-hot Brendan Salinger is very good at staying irresistibly close....
But something dark and hungry is using Emma and Brendan's deepest fears to reveal damaging secrets and destroy their trust in each other. And Emma's crash course in über-spells may not be enough to keep them safe…or to stop an inhuman force bent on making their unsuspected power its own.
WARNING! Review contains spoilers for Spellbound! If you haven't read Spellbound yet, read it before looking at this review.
My thoughts on the book:
Wow. I thought that surely Shultz outdid herself with Spellbound, but I was wrong. Spellcaster is fantastic! It picks up where Spellbound left off, with Emma and Brendan dealing with the fallout from Anthony's attack. Anthony is still MIA, and the police believe that his father is hiding him somewhere in Europe. However, no one is sure where Anthony really is. Also, someone is out to get Emma and Brendan... again. These poor kids can't get a moment's peace. Spellcaster is an extremely suspenseful read. Emma and Brendan have to battle new and old enemies, and the novel is packed full of action, romance, adventure, and mystery. This is one book you do not want to miss.
Spellcaster has everything I loved about Spellbound, but the pacing is faster. Spellbound started off kind of slow at first, but Spellcaster jumps right into the action. We find out pretty quickly that something is after Emma, but we don't know what it is. Even after we find out who is behind her attacks, there is still a mystery surrounding who is helping Emma's attacker. While I had a good idea who was helping Emma's attacker, I wasn't 100% sure until it was revealed. Shultz leaves hints along the way, but she does a good job at keeping you guessing.
Emma's character has grown so much since Spellbound, and she grows even more in Spellcaster. She still has her sarcastic sense of humor, but she is much more mature. She has a lot of difficult decisions to make in this novel, and some of her decisions really surprised me... in a good way. When I finished this book, I was very proud of the character she's become. Emma is a strong heroine who fights for those she loves without sacrificing who she is. She won't let anyone push her around, and I really admire that about her.
Brendan is just as sweet as ever, and if you didn't completely fall in love with him during Spellbound, you definitely will in this book. He goes to great lengths to ensure Emma's happiness, and it's obvious that he's become her best friend as well as her soul mate. They make a great team, and their interactions show that they are growing as characters together. They have a healthy and respectful relationship. I wish more YA books had characters like these two.
A cool thing Shultz did in this book was tell a couple of chapters from Angelique's perspective. This really allows the us to get to know our favorite goth girl a bit better. Angelique has some new powers that she's learning to deal with, and her POV made the story more complex. We also find out what her problem is with Brendan and how she's working to overcome their differences. Angelique was one of my favorite characters in Spellcaster.
There is a lot more magic in Spellcaster than there was in Spellbound, and I really enjoyed that. Emma is learning how to be a witch, and while she has some problems focusing her emotions, her powers always seem to work when she needs them most. We also get to meet Angelique's cousin, Miranda, and she's an interesting addition to the book.
The plot, as I stated, is a page turner. It's quick moving, and the pacing is perfect. The ending wraps everything up nicely, but there is room for a sequel. I hope this series is at least a trilogy because I love the world that Shultz has created. Spellcaster will entrance you and keep you under its spell until the last page.
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