HALLOWEEN REVIEW: Spellcaster by Claudia Gray

October 31, 2013


When Nadia’s family moves to Captive’s Sound, she instantly realises there’s more to it than meets the eye. Descended from witches, Nadia senses a dark and powerful magic at work in her new town. Mateo has lived in Captive’s Sound his entire life, trying to dodge the local legend that his family is cursed - and that curse will cause him to believe he’s seeing the future … until it drives him mad. When the strange dreams Mateo has been having of rescuing a beautiful girl—Nadia—from a car accident come true, he knows he’s doomed.

Despite the forces pulling them apart, Nadia and Mateo must work together to break the chains of his family’s terrible curse, and to prevent a disaster that threatens the lives of everyone around them.

Shimmering with magic and mystery, New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray’s new novel is sure to draw fans of the Hex Hall and Caster Chronicles series, and fans of the hit CW TV show The Secret Circle.

Contrary to the majority of people, I found Spellcaster really enjoyable and somewhat refreshing. I came in with low expectations and unlike many I hadn't read the Evernight series. But I was pleasantly surprised with how hooked and interested I was. I can't remember reading a 'witch' based book before so I was really intrigued by the tale of witchcraft Claudia Gray had created. It had me hooked and I gobbled it right up! It was perfect for this time of the year and definitely got me into the Halloween spirit, it may even have freaked me out a little at times.

Told in third person, Spellcaster is the story of a young witch named Nadia who moves to Captive's Sound only to realize there is a dark magic destroying it. Nadia is heartbroken after her mother and only witchcraft mentor left her, leaving her powers almost useless without the proper training. Her move to Captive's Sound doesn't exactly go to plan when she ends up in a sinkhole in the ground, near death, until rescued by Mateo, a boy with a secret of his own.

I found Nadia and Mateo quite easy to like. Nadia was responsible, caring and intelligent. She acted as a mother to her younger brother whilst taking care of her father. At the same time she could also be funny and she dealt with a lot of pressure. I also liked Mateo and I didn't find him particularly swoony, but the two most definitely improved one another. I may have even shipped them. God I'm shipping everyone these days! Spellcatser also had cool secondary characters and I really liked Verlaine. Each character contributed to the story even if it was little in part and I founded it really cool how Mateo's curse and Nadia's witchery could possibly relate to each other.

One thing I've found myself saying when recommending this is how great I found the plot. It is a strong, clever and fast moving storyline filled with twists and turns. I never experienced a sluggish moment and I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. The plot was captivating but also fun. It was a definite strong point of the novel. The 'witch' aspects of the story were exciting and although I haven't read many witch books to compare it to, I fell like it would be a great starter. I honestly don't know what I would do in the characters shoes other than crap myself because sometimes even I was freaked out!

It's also a great read because despite it being 389 pages, it took me less than 24 hours to read. This down to the fact that like I mentioned, it's fast paced and always entertaining. I know that the 3 or 3.5 star ratings can be intimidating but I actually really loved this book! It's one I will be recommending a lot. Further more I wanted to point out how much I love the cover! I feel that it represents the story really well and the second novel, Steadfast (out 2014) also has a gorgeous cover. 


Happy Halloween everyone, I do hope you've been given a fair share of both tricks and treats. 
What are you dressing up as this year?



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7 comments

  1. Nice Blog!! Great Post !! Like your Blog and your ideas and i think its benificial for us and i keep to visit your blog regularly because i got lot of information through you blog

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  2. Happy Halloween Sunny!!, This Halloween, I'm going as Anna from Anna dressed in Blood. I am going to put Spellcaster on my Halloween tbr to look at later. Great review Sunny! Enjoy this spooky day :)

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  3. I'm dressing up as a Pirate. Arg!

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  4. The first thing that caught my eye was that cover. WOW!
    It's quite beautiful. As was your review.
    I love a great plot, so this will definitely be on my tbr list!
    Marian ^_^ x
    the-flying-key.blogspot.com

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  5. I think I might read this one as I've read Evernight by her so maybe I like it as well. I haven't really read a book about witches either unless you count Harry Potter!

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  6. Happy Halloween Sunny! I didn't have any kids knock on my door but I saw a group walking down the road lol. The cover for Steadfast is beautiful! I'm glad the plot was really fast moving and strong.

    Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

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  7. Happy Halloween Sunny! I haven't had much time to pop by and comment of recent, but I'm going to try and make more time for your beautiful blog!

    Brilliant review – you've really made want to read this book! I've actually seen quite a few positive reviews of it... and THAT COVER. It would be a crime for a book with a cover like that not to be enjoyable! :)

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