SPELLBINDING by Maya Gold

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The blurb:

There's more than one way to be powerful . . .

It is during a routine school project that Abby Silva--sixteen and nearly friendless--makes a startling discovery: She is descended from women who were accused of witchcraft back in 1600s Salem. And when Abby visits nearby Salem, strange, inexplicable events start to unfold. Objects move when she wills them to. Candles burst into sudden flame. And an ancient spellbook somehow winds up in her possession.

Trying to harness her newfound power, Abby concocts a love potion to win over her longtime crush--and exact revenge upon his cruel, bullying girlfriend. But old magic is not to be trifled with. Soon, Abby is thrust headlong into a world of hexes, secrets, and danger. And then there's Rem Anders, the beautiful, mysterious Salem boy who seems to know more about Abby than he first lets on.

A reckoning is coming, and Abby will have to make sense of her history--and her heart--before she can face the powerful truth.


The afterglow:

I enjoyed reading this so much. It's exactly the sort of book I would have picked up off the shelf of my middle school library and devoured in a day. This book is well-paced and very much devour-able. 

In preparing this review, I discovered Maya Gold is not your standard debut author cutting her teeth on a YA paranormal romance. She's written two handfuls of novels already for the younger YA crowd, and yes I plan to read all of them! Her skill in weaving a story is evident in the pages of SPELLBINDING. 

I finished reading this a few hours ago, so I still have that happy little buzz from reading a magical story with a great ending. Here's what I loved about SPELLBINDING:

• It is so refreshing to read a book that ends well and doesn't hint at some massive franchise to come! Spellbinding appears to be a standalone novel. Huge props to the author, Maya Gold, for fitting an entire character arc and romantic arc (love triangle, even) into one book. That's no easy task, and she did it beautifully. (If there are more books to come, I welcome them. It's just nice to read a book without a cliffhanger for once.) :)
• The main character is introverted, something we don't see so often anymore in YA (I recently read an article about this, using Disney princesses as an example.) Yay for personality diversity! (This doesn't mean she is shy necessarily, just that she doesn't crave popularity. Even though Abby is sweet on the popular guy in school, she's not seeking hordes of friends and admirers, and is more content with one or two close friends.)
• Neither guy in the love triangle is a grade-A jerk. They are both (Travis and Remy) sweet guys (though one runs hot and cold for paranormal reasons) with individual personalities and flaws. In the end we feel one is better for our heroine than the other, but nobody is disqualified on the basis of being a horrible human being. I love this because it's truer to real life, and it requires the heroine to make an actual CHOICE, rather than having that choice made for her by one of her romantic leads doing something unforgivable. 
• Good old fashioned MAGIC! Ever since I was tiny, I have been head-over-heels in love with magic. All kinds, but there's a soft spot in my heart for the spell-casting kind. The classic trope of girl-discovers-she-has-inherited-magic just hit the spot for me. I noticed many reviewers knocked off a few stars for this, calling it "unoriginal," but for me it was a plus. Note: the story is original; it's the trope that's a classic. Fans of the TV show CHARMED will love it.
• Solid setting and sense of place. The first thing Maya Gold did in her acknowledgements in the back was to thank her travel companions. It wasn't surprising at all to me that she'd visited Salem or talked with the locals about "local flavor." I felt I was in Salem, anchored solidly in Abby's world by details like local museums, libraries, parks, bridges, town history etc. Descriptions of these places weren't distracting or overly florid, either, as I've seen in a lot of books about real places. Maya Gold does Salem proud.
• The ending. The lessons learned. The completion of the character arc. Abby begins insecure, miserable, yearning for some identity, purpose, and for close relationships after her best friend moved away. She ends secure in who she is, understanding where her power comes from, and having several close and healthy relationships (family, friends, and boyfriend). 

People are calling this young YA, but all that means to me is that it's not edgy. I would read this with my niece... when she's 12 or 13. 

My one hang-up was actually the cover. I'm a huge marketing buff, and when I realized Abby's eye-color, elemental power, and prom dress all had something in common, I had to wonder why the cover artist didn't use that color at all! It's still a beautiful cover, but seems like quite a missed opportunity. Also, the model's hair is too tame to be Abby's wild tresses. :) 

Cover gripe aside, I loved this book. I look forward to more from Maya Gold, and plan to read her backlist. Fans of Ally Carter-sized romances will also enjoy Maya Gold's work.

SHIFTING by Bethany Wiggins *swoonworthy boy alert*

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*happy sigh* 

That's actually what I wrote to the author in the ending margin of the ARC that will be finding its way back to her through many eager hands after mine. 

Here's the blurb: 

After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal. Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step. Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect-it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter. But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear-and Maggie is their next target.

Full of romance, mysticism, and intrigue, this dark take on Navajo legend will haunt readers to the final page.

 The Afterglow:

It continues to amaze me how some authors can craft a tale that makes readers suspect but not quite know. The balance of mystery and logical hints leading up to a revelation is an art I've not grasped as a writer, so I marvel when it's done... well, artfully.

Bethany Wiggins is artful in her modern rendering of this old Navajo legend. I first heard of Skinwalkers when I worked in a desert wilderness therapy program in my early twenties, but none of the more experienced guides would tell me the story behind it - just that it was so scary, I'd wet my wiggy (sleeping bag) if they told me. Needless to say, when I found out Bethany was publishing a YA novel drawing from this legend, I got excited! Finally, I'd get a glimpse of the legend. Bonus: it would be wrapped up in a YA romance.

I am beyond pleased with the results.

Yes, Skinwalkers are wicked scary (I did not wet my wiggy after reading this book). But fortunately, the first half of the book focuses on the main character's paranormal ability and how her strangeness affects her as a trying-to-be-normal high school senior.

From the beginning, I felt both sorry for and proud of the protagonist Maggie Mae. Sorry, because the adults around her spoke about her as if she wasn't even in the room, an occupational hazard of being a foster child, I guess. Proud, because she didn't let people pity her. She saw that she was being ostracized, and embraced the loner flag, always rising above the teasing, bullying, and trickstering of her peers.

There's a HUGE character growth arc in this story. Maggie Mae begins with very real, devastating problems on a contemporary fiction level (bullying, not fitting in, being dirt poor and only having one pair of jeans), and in the end she is dealing with very real, devastating problems on a fantastic, good-vs.-evil level (creatures attacking her whenever she's alone in the dark, people finding out her deepest secret: that she's a shapeshifter).

And from the 17-year-old girl in the beginning to the 18-year-old woman at the end, the growth is striking and satisfying. The change is slow and subtle, but profound, like the romance between her and a certain track star. (Mmm, Bridger.)

I loved that not one element can be said to be the whole story. It's a romance, but it's not just a romance. It's fantasy, but it's not only the fantasy that drives the story. First and foremost, it's about Maggie Mae the character. She's a strong enough protagonist to make any story interesting. It just so happens that she's also a foster child/shapeshifter/girl with trust issues/hunted creature/bully target.

Warning: I cried at least twice in the first half of this story alone. I had trouble putting it down to do things like sleep and (ahem) use the bathroom. And I got weird looks from my husband for laughing randomly.

There were many sighs throughout. But in the end, there was only one:

*happy sigh*

I hope you find this book on your shelf in the near future. (And I hope, hope, hope there's a sequel in the works because I just got a taste of this incredible world and would love to see more.)

p.s. There's an inspiring interview with this debut author at Operation Awesome, plus a review by Michelle McLean.