Spell Bound - F.T. Lukens - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: F.T. Lukens

NARRATORS: Kevin R. Free and Neo Cihi

GENRE: YA Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: April 4, 2023

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A YA Fantasy about two apprentices of rival sorcerers who are forced to team up. Loved the characters, the storyline, and the ending. Great inclusivity and worldbuilding. The YA elements are handled mostly well, except for the F-bombs. Definitely recommended to fans of the genre.

Plot Preview:

Rook enters the office of Antonia Hex, the most powerful sorcerer in Spire City and owner of a business specialising in breaking curses and hexes and spells, with just one intention in mind: to ask for a job. The last thing he expects is for her to actually accept his request and appoint him as office staff. Of course, he can't reveal to her that he has a secret reason for wanting to be in her employ: he wants to gain access to her spell books for a covert device that he is building.

Sun works as an apprentice to Antonia’s rival Fable. Both Fable and Sun are as meticulous about following rules as Antonia is about rebelling against hackneyed regulations. As the two pairs keep bumping into each other while handling cases, sparks (be they of magic or temper or attraction) fly! Soon, things go out of control, and Rook and Sun are forced to take some tough decisions.

The story comes to us in the alternating first-person perspectives of the two apprentices Rook and Sun.

Many of my friends know that I am not a big fan of YA novels. I am not against the genre, but most writers do not do justice to YA storylines. This is one rare exception. It is perfect for YAs and a good option for adults as well.

Bookish Yays:

🤩 Rook. Seventeen, and acting his age in almost every scene. A great combination of head and heart and humour.

🤩 Sun. Sixteen, and the opposite of Rook in almost every way. Also acts their age, but in the sincere and meticulous kind of way. Loved their bond with their family.

🤩 Antonia and Fable – the perfect rivals to each other and the perfect bosses to their young apprentices. Both these sorceresses were strong characters who made their adult mark felt even in a YA book.

🤩 The contrary personalities of both the pairs. Offers some fabulous moments of hilarity and confusion, and keeps things entertaining.

🤩 The fun elements in an otherwise serious story. Banter, repartee, ineptitude – the story offers plenty of chuckle-inducing scenes. I especially loved Rook’s typical Gen-Z teen response of “Cool!” no matter what the situation. 😅

🤩 The fact that the adults act like adults and the teens act like teens, but the teens also show maturity and the adults also display teenage tantrums. It was refreshing to see a YA book where teens actually behave their age and not like they know more than every adult.

🤩 The world building. Simple yet efficient. The story feels more like magical realism rather than fantasy because the world is almost like ours, except for the magic, which is delightful without being too obscure.

🤩 The romance. Grumpy vs sunshine in a cute teen-love packaging. Though present, it never overpowers the core plot. And despite instant attraction from one side, the story doesn’t turn into an insta-love story. Appreciate both these points even more as they are rare in YA writing.

🤩 The inclusivity. Not just the fact that the story has inclusive elements but also that it is inclusive without anything feeling forcibly shoved in and without any needless explanations or labels or defensiveness or aggressiveness. It’s a world where gender identities and pronoun preferences are not a question mark but a right.

Bookish Okays:

✨ The dual first-person narratives. As both the narrators are teens, it gets a bit confusing at times to remember who is speaking. However, the story does keep their personalities distinct, so the confusion never lasts too long.

✨ The YA factor. I won't ever be able to accept YA writing that relies excessively on long lists of body parts to express emotions. (The likes of My knees buckled, stomach gurgled, arms shook, eyes went wide,…) This seems to be a common feature of YA novels these days, but it just doesn’t work for me. That said, this was the only YA-related point that bugged me. This is a rare example of a YA book with sensible writing.

✨ The ending, or rather, the resolution scene. It was interesting, and I especially liked that it involved both the teens and both the adult sorceresses as well. But it felt a little rushed and flat, especially considering the magical potential.

Bookish Nays:

💫 Curse words. Never an inclusion I want to see in a YA book.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 10 hrs 25 min, is narrated by Kevin R. Free and Neo Cihi. The narrator who voiced Rook was outstanding. Rook has a vibrant personality with many emotional shades, and the narrators brings them out excellently. However, the narrator voicing Sun didn’t sound sixteen at all, giving the character a very mature-sounding voice. At times, it was tough to remember that Sun was a year younger than Rook, thanks to that voice. The tone was the only issue; the narration was fine otherwise. This would be a good option to avid listeners of audiobooks, but audio newbies might get confused with the alternate first-person narratives from two different characters, even with the dual narrators.

Overall, this YA Fantasy took me pleasantly by surprise. I had picked it up only because I had wanted to try something by this author, and of all his works, this blurb appealed the most to me. I am so happy that the book actually delivered even better than promised. It gets almost every important ingredient correct. While I am still not going to jump at YA novels, I wouldn’t mind reading more by this author.

Definitely recommended to those who enjoy light YA fantasy filled with loveable and relatable protagonists, a good balanced representation of both teen and adult characters, amazing inclusivity, and a satisfying ending.