Members with This Book
Most Helpful Reviews
see all reviews
Liked It “After her stepdad almost gets her killed Emma finally accepts her aunt's offer to move to New York with her and be enrolled into a fancy school along with her younger and cute cousin she invents a whole more-posh background so she won't feel completely different. |
Didn’t Like It “This would be awesome as a Lifetime original movie.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
see all reviews-
“This was just okay. It's supposed to be about a young witch but there's hardly any magic in it. The love interest sure was dreamy though... :)”
Meli wrote this review 12 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It was good but the ending was forced.”
Sneha D wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“My rating: 3.5 of 5 ”
Aleksandra N wrote this review Saturday, March 31, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Three and a half stars: A novel with a curse, star crossed lovers and more.
rainydayramblings wrote this review Saturday, March 24, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Emma survived a rough couple of years. She lost her twin brother and mother in two years time. She was left living with her drunken stepfather, who nearly killed her in a car accident while driving drunk. Thankfully, her Aunt Christine, who is a recent widow with no children, takes her in and turns Emma's life around. Emma moves to New York and is enrolled in a prestigious, private school for her junior year. Emma dreads being the new girl in a small, wealthy school. At least, she has her plucky fourteen year old cousin, Ashley. On her first day, she immediately draws the attention of the resident mean girl and the pretty boy, who thinks his ass is made of gold. Her rebuffs don't allow her to slip under the radar. Thankfully, she does make some new friends. She settles into her English class, and in strolls a handsome, tousled bad boy with glittering green eyes. Brendan. Emma is immediately drawn to this boy, but after their initial meeting he ignores her. That doesn't stop her from drooling. A few weeks into the school year, some inexplicable things start happening. Street lights go dark when she runs by and she feel as if something dark is following her. Then bad dreams start haunting her, visions of dying over and over but as someone else. She finds the same crest that is on her charm necklace in Brendan's locker. Why is she drawn to this boy? Is something after her? Is it possible to have past lives?
What I Liked:
*I was pleasantly surprised by this book once it began to unfold. This story moves a bit beyond the typical high school romance. It starts with an instant attraction between Emma and Brendan, but then it cools off when Brendan disengages and becomes aloof. Now, I know some reviewers have complained about this seemingly being an insta love type relationship, but I didn't see it that way. First, they are attracted but then Brendan withdraws, and you are left guessing, along with Emma, as to his true intentions. Once the author reveals the twist and you see why they are drawn together, well things heat up and start to sizzle. Truly, this really isn't an insta love, love at first sight type of romance, there is much more to it than that, and I can't say much without involving spoilers. Let's just say it involves some magic, old legends, curses and a great love. I honestly enjoyed the relationship between the two.
*I liked both Emma and Brendan. Emma has dealt with a great deal of sorrow in her life, but she doesn't let it consume her. She moves forward. I liked that she was a bit insecure and felt awkward around Brendan. She is also a bit sassy, which makes some of her lines fun and memorable. I admired that she was courageous and willing to take a stand against the bullies, even risking a physical attack when she defends her cousin. Brendan on the other hand, is a bit of a mystery at first, he is a handsome (a hot mess) like-able bad boy. As the story progresses, his layers peel back and he has a lot of depth, he then becomes very swoon worthy.
*I enjoyed the various twists and turns, as well as the surprising inclusion of some super natural elements. A book that starts out as your typical teenage romance filled with high school drama, evolves into something far different than I expected.
And The Not So Much:
*This book is slow going in the beginning. The first third of the book reads like a traditional YA high school romance, girl meets smoking hot guy, sparks fly, boy ignores girl leaving her second guessing, enter mean girl and mean guy, more drama and then once the book hits the two thirds mark, the story picks up when some big stuff is revealed, and it transforms.
*One of the characters, Angelique, remains much of a mystery. She and Emma become friends. Angelique is all about shock, as she is the school's resident witch. This character is so fun, but she is not developed. She just flits in and out. Finally, at the conclusion of the book, there was a short excerpt from Angelique's point of view, and wow! It was very revealing, to say the least. It made me wonder why this side of her wasn't shown in the main story.
*Another character that I wanted to see more of and learn more about was Cisco, he immediately becomes Emma's friend and confidant. Then during the latter half of the book, he just fades out and is hardly present. I really enjoyed him and I wished that he had stayed in the picture.
*Sigh....this book includes a very nasty mean girl and boy. Why do we have to have so many of these characters? I absolutely detest the entire bullying/ mean kid theme. At least in this book, our main characters, Brendan and Emma stand up to the bullies.
*Toward the end of the book there is a big reveal regarding Emma's heritage and her abilities, I won't say anymore to alleviate spoilers, but this exposure did not flow well in the story, is just felt like something that was thrown in, and it wasn't thoroughly explained or explored. I am guessing this will be a theme in the sequel.
*Emma's twin brother, Nathan, is already deceased when the novel opens. However, he is still an integral part of the story. I would like to have had more insight on him; what was he like? Tell me more about the bond between he and Emma, etc.
Spellbound was a surprisingly fun read. This book takes a seemingly typical teenage attraction and turns it upside down, with some mystery and a pair of star crossed lovers. Brendan and Emma are both great characters and together they have electric chemistry. Beware of the mean girl theme, but luckily this is a book where the protagonists rise above it. If you are looking for something that steps outside the typical YA storyline, plus it lacks a love triangle and cliffhanger, big bonus points there, give Spellbound a try. Look for the sequel, Spellcaster, March 27, 2012.
Favorite Quotations:
"I knew that juniors did not hang out with the lower classes. It was like hanging out with a bunch of vegetarians and wearing a bacon necklace."
"The slick smile was back on his face as James Blond spoke directly to my shirt's third button."
"I'd always heard the phrase "mentally undressing someone with your eyes" but never had I actually seen it in action. This dude's eyes could perform a freakin' CAT scan, they were so thorough."
"She was a little waterfall, overflowing with good cheer."
"The rest of the weekend seemed like a never-ending ocean of time"
"The pathway was velvet dark, the only illumination coming from Queens, across the river."
"That's because girls are evil," I muttered. "High school girls are demons, seriously."
"I had all the warning signs---and yet I'd run into danger's welcoming arms and given it a kiss."
”
“Good book. Very doomed romance. Cute story, Brendan and Emma were cute together. Although there was a lot of nibbling on Brendan's part (we got it, he likes to chew on his girlfriends ear). ”
AmK wrote this review Wednesday, March 7, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“After her stepdad almost gets her killed Emma finally accepts her aunt's offer to move to New York with her and be enrolled into a fancy school along with her younger and cute cousin she invents a whole more-posh background so she won't feel completely different.
Alaiel Kreuz wrote this review Wednesday, February 1, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
But in place like Vincent Academy she is bound to find friends and foes. And she certainly does.
First we have Cisco who is gay, popular and friendly. He soon becomes one of her best friends.
Then we have Emma's lab partner Angelique who turns out to be a witch. She soon to becomes a marvelous friend and a fountain of information. They two will make the dialogues fun and snarky.
Her cousin Ashley who, despite being a little superficial, is sweet and naive. But Emma watches over her and protects her from creeps like Anthony. Why does she need protection from him? Well, he is the big bad wolf... and a very bad one.
And then we have Kristin, the popular girl that tries to make Emma's life a nightmare.
Finally there's Brendan, the rich-gorgeous-hot bad guy that makes Emma blush and feel... different. Like she can trust him, like he is important somehow.
True to be told he is important and their future is so tangled that, if they want to stay alive they will have to find a way to fight an old curse that keeps them reincarnating only to suffer again.
And in between they will find a few dramas to solve and some misunderstandings to talk about while deciding if the warnings from Emma's dead twin brother are so important that they have to stay away from each other.
Personal opinion:
The first thing that I liked about this book was the cover. Yep, as soon as I spotted it in NetGalley I requested it and then, despite not having the time to read it yet, bought it too. Now that I've finished it I can say that I liked it a lot.
The plot is maybe a little bit obvious sometimes but Cara Lynn managed to make very believable characters with personalities that made them interesting and originals.
And I found Emma's loyalty to her little cousin very refreshing. No spoilers, you know me, but I enjoyed that part a lot^^
The love between Brandan and Emma was maybe a little too fast and a little too quick but hey, that kind of relationships really happen in real life too so is not that weird.
What I'm really curious about is the second book, Spellcaster. Why? Well, I thought Spellbound was an only book and it did had a proper finish so it was a surprise when I found out about it but since I liked this book Spellcaster will sure have a spot in my pile very soon.”“This would be awesome as a Lifetime original movie.”
Liz wrote this review Tuesday, January 10, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Honestly, I really was not expecting much from Spellbound. I imagined it would be a simple teenage romance novel, complete with instalove and completely disgusting couple scenes. Thus, I was incredibly surprised to find that I was wrong (rare though that occurrence may be) and that Spellbound definitely stands above the average teen fare.
Christina F wrote this review Friday, December 16, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
While the whole plot of Spellbound does involve what I have termed instalove, it is much better done than in a lot of YA. I don't want to spoiler anything, so I can't be too detailed as to why it makes sense in this case. Generally, though, despite the great attraction the two main characters feel to one another, they do try to fight it, in ways that are rather familiar to anyone who has gone through high school. So, while their romance is unrealistic, that's because this is fantasy and, accepting the fantastical plot, I think it has been well done.
What really made Spellbound an utter pleasure for me to read, though, was not the romance or the sexily disheveled hero of the piece. Shultz clearly loves pop culture and references it constantly. At pretty much every reference, I really just wanted to give her a high five for her sense of humor and her good choices. While I did not love everything she referenced, I think the references were well-woven and fit with the personality of the narrator.
I definitely ended up being quite impressed with this novel. Spellbound is ultimately just a flight of fancy, not a great literary work, but I highly recommend it to anyone looking for fun, romance and magic. There is also a pretty dang convincing horror scene in there, too. Recommended to people who liked The Eternal Ones (or who liked the idea and thought it could have been waaaay better).”
“Spellbound was a beautiful tale of tragic love and selfishness, redemption and selflessness all in one. This is probably the 4th young adult story I have read, this month alone, that deals with love through lifetimes, soul mates, and reincarnation. Despite the fact that I have read so many with similar themes, this story had a very fresh take on things. It was a fast paced read that I finished in a few hours (I devour well written fiction - sometimes too quickly for my own good).
Christine Butler wrote this review Friday, December 9, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Spellbound was yet another fantastic YA paranormal romance that I highly recommend to readers of the genre. I already added the follow up to Spellbound to my TBR list for 2012. I can't wait to see what Shultz does with the next story. ”
