Spellbinder

Spellbinder by C. C. Hunter is a young adult novel about young witches. Miranda Kane is seventeen and forced to compete in magical competitions by her mother. Her mother offers her an incentive to do well at this latest competition. The winner gets to go to Paris for the next competition. If Miranda comes in first, her mother will pay for her two best friends, Kylie (fae with chameleon shifting abilities) and Della (a vampire) to go to Paris with her. Miranda has a form of dyslexia which is why her spells go wonky (plus her mind tends to wander). Miranda is going to try hard to win this one. She wants to go to Paris to see Perry. Perry was her boyfriend who went to a special school in Paris. Miranda still cares for Perry and wants to see him. Miranda does well in the first two parts of the competition. The third one goes well until a fire ball goes awry. Turns out it was not Miranda’s fault (Miranda was shocked as well as her friends). Someone is trying to kill of the contestants. Miranda does win the competition and heads to Paris with bodyguards. Miranda and her friends try to figure out who is killing off the contestants before anyone else gets hurt (including themselves). Miranda will also discover a family secret that will change her life. I give Spellbinder 3 out of 5 stars. It is okay, but not great. It is evidently part of a series called Shadow Falls (did not notice this when I picked the book nor was it mentioned). There is some teenage romance mixed in the book as Miranda has two boys that she is attracted to and can imagine kissing (her mind tends to wander to the subject frequently). I did enjoy the plot twist with the family secret. I wish the book had contained more magic as well as more background information (for those that have not read the other book in the series). I think I would have understood the book better if I had read the previous books in the series. I received a complimentary copy of Spellbinder from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.

I received an ARC from the author/publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I fell in the love with Shadow Falls from the moment that I read Della's short story Turned at Dark. After reading all of the original Shadow Falls novels where Kylie is the main protagonist and the Shadow Falls: After Dark series where Della is the main protagonist that just continued to grow. Now with this novella we get a glimpse at the world the way Miranda sees it. We're also treated to an appearance by some of the usual (and unusual) suspects from Shadow Falls. Miranda proves that she's just as tough as Kylie and Della. I hope some of the revelations in this book make an appearance in Unspoken. This is another great book, by a great author about strong women! Highly recommended series!

I love the Shadow Falls series. It's an amazing series and is exactly right for teens. With Romance, adrenaline rushes, and more! It's not childish, but is not for adults either. It's absolutely perfect! Kylie, Miranda, Della, Lucas, Derek, Burnett, Holiday, and everyone else makes the book marvelous. It has real life girl problems, like Kylie Galen having to choose between Lucas or Derek. If you read this book, you'll be on a spell reading book, after book.. after book...