You have magic.One sentence, three words, four syllables. Enough to change my life forever. And I’m not talking about the whole spells and sorcery thing.Lexie Carrigan thought the weirdest thing about her was she preferred watching documentaries and reading the newspaper to reality TV and Twitter. But on the eve of her fifteenth birthday, her aunt and sisters drop a bomb–she’s magical.Now the … bomb–she’s magical.
Now the girl who never made waves is blowing up her nightstand and trying to keep from wreaking havoc on her school. When a kind stranger shows up with all the answers, Lexie hopes he’ll be able to help her control her newfound powers. But Gavon may not be as kind as he seems, and soon Lexie finds out that being magical is the least weird thing about her.
Spells and Sorcery is the first YA fantasy from S. Usher Evans, author of the Razia series, the Madion War Trilogy and Empath.
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Spells and Sorcery by S. Usher Evans is a YA paranormal novel about a young girl who learns, rather suddenly that she is about to come into magic. All her life, she’s been the smart one, adept at handling book situations and coming out on top when it comes to her school work. Granted she’s struggling a bit with chemistry, but only because her sister convinced her to take it because it was so simple for her (the sister). Lexie is the youngest of three sisters. Now…one would think…well, why didn’t one of the others, or her Aunt who is raising her, have told her about her uniqueness before it surfaced? Simple answer? They couldn’t. But instead of being understanding and rationale about it Lexie makes a complete 180. Controlling magic isn’t exactly her forte in the beginning, but with the help of a mysterious man she begins to gain control of her magic. But what is this guy’s agenda? Is he doing it simply to help her? Or is there more than meets the eye?
Being an avid reader and lover of paranormal and YA fiction, when I saw this book and read the blurb I was eager to read this book. It was likened to Sabrina the teenage witch, and while I honestly don’t know a lot about her, I like witches so I thought that this book would be fun to read. I will admit that when I started reading this book I was drawn to Lexie. I could relate to her. She was a bit of a bookworm and didn’t have any friends really. I like that she was so focused on her school work and strived to be the best. I figured that once she came to terms with her magic that she would settle in, adjust, and continue doing what she needed to so that she could be the best. I will admit that the author kept me engaged in the story, but it was for multiple reasons. I kept waiting on her to can the attitude, and then I wanted to see when she’d finally get some sense and reveal what was going on to her family.
I do understand that this is a YA novel, but I have to admit that Lexie started to get on my nerves. It’s like when she gets her magic that a switch is flipped inside her and now she’s gone rogue! She’s told “don’t use your magic in school” and she does it anyway! When she makes mistakes or goes overboard she automatically expects someone else to step in and clean up her mess. I couldn’t help but become disappointed in her. I’ll also admit that I was shocked that she never once questioned who the mystery man, Gavin, is. I kept waiting on her to question his motives, but it never happens!
It’s not unusual for me to have a love/hate relationship towards a character, and this is a YA novel with a teenage main character. I just honestly wish that her Aunt was tougher on her in certain aspects. All in all, the book did keep me page-turning. The pieces begin to fall into place and things do become revealed so I’ll readily admit that this book is good. So, for that reason…I am rating this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.
The night before she turns 15, Lexie learns that she has magic. She learns her sister Marie is a healer and that her sister Nicole is a potion maker. Her aunt Jeanie, who has raised all 3 girls from the time Lexie was born, is also magical. While it’s hard to believe she is suddenly going to have magic at midnight, Marie flaunts her own magic right in front of her, but it’s still a hard pill to swallow.
As far as her sisters, Marie took the cake. She was absolutely flat out cold and mean to Lexie, more than your typical sibling issues (as someone with two older sisters, I couldn’t have put up with Marie *at all*). Nicole was a mother-hen to Lexie. Losing their mother so young often forces the oldest to take on that role. And while they did have Aunt Jeanie, parenting didn’t come easily to her.
So when Lexie learned she had magic, she had no one willing to teach her what to do, and a whole family telling her what not to do. So when she met Gavon, who was more than willing to share his knowledge, she latched on. In a way, he was the father she never had. I worried about the amount of time Lexie spent with Gavon. because she literally had no friends, which seemed really sad to me. With both her aunt and sisters keeping her in the dark and no friends to help her experiment and work through this new world, of course, she would latch onto Gavon.
I didn’t love all the secrets involved, especially the ones the family was keeping from Lexie. She’s very strong-willed, as teenagers are, and keeping her in the dark was probably the worst thing she could have done. She’s trying to learn to control her magic and she’s being told, just control it. I could completely empathize with her frustration with her sisters and aunt.
I had my eye on Spells and Sorcery for a while, and I was so pleased when I found this through the inter-library loaning system. I raced through the entire book in a day, and while some of the logistics were slow, once the pace started to pick up, it just kept on going, making it a fast and really easy read. The writing style is smooth and easy, I loved all of the characters, even the ones we were meant to hate. Definitely a great read for fans of YA and Fantasy.
This is a great read. Lexie finds out that she is Magical. Now the key is how to control her magic and learn how to use it. I got totally hooked from page one. This book really draws you in especially if your a lover of Magic and Fantasy lovers. I totally loved this read it has Epic Scenes that has you on the edge of your seat . A young woman coming into her powers. The Author did a fantastic job with the characters and the descriptions of the scenery and the surroundings. I highly recommend this read.
Shauna Joesten
“Lexie Carrigan thought the weirdest thing about her was she preferred watching documentaries and reading the newspaper to reality TV and Twitter.” Umm, that’s me! So unfair that my aunt and sisters didn’t give me the surprise 15th birthday news Lexie got. I want to be magical too! Humph. Well, the consolation is that, despite this horrible unfairness, S. Usher Evans’ Spells and Sorcery, first in the Lexie Carrigan Chronicles, is a darn lot of fun. Yes, it’s yet another coming of age / coming of power trope. Ho Humm. Well, not ho humm at all when done well, and this story with it’s mixing of teenage angst and magic discovery does it all perfectly. A great cast certainly helps. So does a neat plot, but the superb writing is key. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises – the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
Over all, I really enjoyed this story. It has a lot of dry “magic information” in it that a YA might get bored of. The storyline needed more… More meat, more friends, more more more. As you delve further into the book, you see that the Aunt is probably doing the best she can under the circumstances. It probably doesn’t seem that way but, I really think she was. It was awful that they just dropped the “you are now magical” bomb on Lexie and then it was like “yeah deal with it on your own”. I am not sure what to think about that but…even in storyland sometimes things just don’t make sense. I am looking forward to the next book in the series and can’t wait to see what happens next!
I was gifted an ARC in return of an honest review.
This is awesome! It was a quick easy read and it definitely kept my attention. I am excited that there are more books and I can keep reading about the sisters. I was a little frustrated with the lack of communication between the characters, but that plays to the plot. I personally demand answers and dont back down so I was frustrated that Lexie didnt, but then it wouldn’t have played out the same. I feel like there is so much more to learn about their family and put the peices together, so I am glad this is a series.
The one where a modern studious, loner teen girl who was raised by her older sisters and very young aunt suddenly finds out she’s got magic.
Well that checked off a lot of boxes – despite the familiar beginning, this book did take off in its own direction. While Lexie makes quite a few Harry Potter quips, this is a very different book. I actually like the magic system better in this book, especially the limitations created. A couple things I really liked about this book included that there was no romance, no quirky sidekick, and it wasn’t yet another academy book.
It is the story of a young girl who has largely had to fend for herself most of her life as her sisters and aunt are also struggling just to get by. Her world is turned upside down on her 15th birthday and she is left floundering by her family (for reasons that only become clear much later.) As she is a strong student and comfortable in the world of academia, I do not find it unreasonable that she would latch on to the first person who approaches her offering tutelage. Naive and foolish, yes, but again, she is a 15 year old, who has been raised by 2 older sisters and an aunt who was still a student herself when she found herself a guardian.
This is book 1 of 4 and included a lot of world building and character building. Where Lexie really fits into this world is slowly revealed through the book as Lexie herself discovers it. Overall I thought it was well paced and an engaging writing style. This book contained a full story arc, but oh that ending – it feels like the real story is just beginning.
Lexie’s world is turned more upside down that it already was, having a dysfunctional family isn’t enough stress for a fifteen year old. Now add the fact that she is told on the eve of her birthday that shis has magic, causes her to overload. Between the stress of being a teenager, school, her dysfunctional family and now her newfound magic Lexie has to learn how to juggle it all. She also has to deal with betrayal, frustration and confront realities from her past. Her relationship with her two older sisters isn’t great, Marie seems to hate her and Nicole can’t help her. Her aunt Jeanie is barely home to watch over them so she turns to the only person who seems to understand her, Gavin. Danger is closer than she realizes and she has to rely on instincts and hope. I love how determined, anxious, driven, funny and sweet Lexie is in this story. She is so smart and brave for her age. I loved her story and can’t wait to read more.