What The Spell? by Brittany Geragotellis (Young Adult, 7/10 )

Funky cover!

January 2013, Simon and Schuster 

336 pages, Paperback

Review copy 

Themes: magic, keeping secrets, trying to avoid detection, diverse opinions on using magic, messing around with spells, not knowing your own strength, becoming a diva, being too materialistic, not seeing the bigger picture, mistreating friends, picking the wrong side, being mean, frequent & moderate teen romance, occasional swearing (I think...I read this over a week ago!)

Summary from Simon and Schuster

Brooklyn is nearly sixteen-years-old and feels like she's invisible. She desperately wants to be pretty and popular, and to be adored by a cute guy. Luckily for her, she's a witch about to come of age ~ so she's only a few spells away from making it all happen.
 

On her milestone birthday, Brooklyn's conservative parents finally unbind her powers, and this newfound freedom leads to a spell-assisted dream makeover. Her crush, Asher, finally notices her, and so does the Queen Bee of the popular, cool clique. Even better, Brooklyn discovers her true power: the ability to magically match couples with a love spell.

But Brooklyn's quest for popularity is not without its price, and as the clique escalates their initiation tests, the more she relies on her powers to complete the tasks. Can Brooklyn keep her magic hidden from their scrutiny? Like her Salem ancestors, if caught, she could be vilified. But worst of all, Brooklyn runs the risk of losing what she really cares about ~ Asher ~ unless she can work a little magic of her own.

Nayuleska's thoughts

Now this sounded amazing from the blurb. How cool would it be to suddenly be able to do magic, to have spent ages waiting to use an ancient power that others used, albeit secretly? There's so much stuff Brooklyn could have done...and she acted like an air-head. She disregarded the sound advice from her guidance counsellor (who is a sweetheart and one of Brooklyn's true friends) and her parents. Okay, I understand teen rebellion can involve changing your body image, but I was rather annoyed at Brooklyn for being so shallow. There were times when she had depth of character, but she does get in over her head and being popular grows on her. She takes bigger & bigger risks - some which are most definitely going to haunt her not too distant future. 

Putting her character aside, some of her powers were tremendously awesome in execution and style. Brooklyn showed her true potential and it rocks! I was wowed by some scenes, and I can't wait to see what she'll do as her powers grow. That's what saved this book, that and the hope that Brooklyn will eventually see the error of her ways and try hard to make amends. I didn't necessarily agree with all of her parents' views, but some Brooklyn should have paid more attention to. She feels she finally has friends - what she doesn't realise is that her new self is pushing away her old, true friends. This was a mixed read, but yes I'll be looking out for the sequel to this 7/10 read.

 

You can find out more on Brittany's website. 

Suggested read 

For another awesome series with magic check out Spellbound by Cara Lynn Schultz