Trial of Science and Magic

In our universe, science is the law and magic is nonsense. What if it were the other way around? What if witches were revered while scientists were hunted and destroyed? Josephine Angelini takes the world and changes everything you thought was true and right in Trial by Fire. 

Lily Proctor has always been sickly. Her body runs at temps that baffle doctors, and her frequent fevers take her to heat levels no body should be able to survive. But she still clings to life, or whatever semblance of life she can with a body that hates everything you do and has an allergic reaction to everything around you. But she has always had Tristan, the boy whose dating life is the stuff of legends, and her faithful sister. When she and Tristan decide to take their relationship past the friend stage and into uncharted territory, she finally feels happy about something in her life. But she should have known better. A guy like Tristan doesn't change overnight. And with his tongue down the throat of an obnoxious underclassman, Lily begs for a change. What she didn't expect was to be ripped out of her universe and planted in a parallel one where everything she knew is different. 

In this world, people keep calling her Lillian and are surprised to see her wandering around the city alone. Then she meets the real Lillian. Her other self, the one who lives in, and runs, this world, is a witch. The head witch of this city, in fact. And she is the one who brought Lily here. Lily wants nothing to do with this woman, or her plans for Lily, but when she escapes, she walks right into the hands of the one man who trusts Lillian least, Rowan. Rowan was Lillian's chief mechanic until he severed his tie to her, and now, faced with Lily, the pain of Lillian's betrayal is almost too much to take. But his partner, Tristan, can see the difference between Lily and Lillian. This world, however, is full of dangers, like the Woven, horrible magical mistakes that tear apart anyone who dares to live outside the wall. Like it or not, Rowan has to help protect Lily since she would never survive without help. As he does, he sees her for who she truly is: Lily. Not Lillian. And she might be the key to saving Rowan's world. 

I feel like I can't do this book justice with any kind of description because it is so different, interesting, and thought-provoking. The plot itself is fast-paced but detailed enough to keep you reading at a break-neck pace, and I couldn't get enough it. Lily's transformation throughout the story was my favorite part of the story. She went from a sick girl who barely eked out a life to an all-powerful witch who had the potential to surpass her own counter part. But she was flawed. She was more grounded than Lillian because her humble life in her own universe had left her without a lifetime of greed and hunger for power, but that hunger is still deep down inside her psyche. As she connects to Rowan and her power is amplified, she struggles to keep herself from devouring his energy and hurting him because it really is all she wants to do. For a girl who couldn't even have a sip of beer at a keg party without having a seizure, the power she has now is intoxicating. This is why I loved Lily so much. She was flawed. She was greedy and hungry for power, but she was also a good enough person to stop herself and to sacrifice herself to protect others. It made her the better version of herself even though she still possessed those flaws. She is a dynamic character, and Angelini left me still reeling even days after I finished the story! 

Angelini's skill in this book didn't end with character building. Her world-building was so in tune, it left me feeling like I knew this world of magic and witches. I could see the terrifying Woven over the wall, could imagine the terrifying way the people produce their food (might make you go vegetarian), and could see the desperation in people's faces as they fought for their beliefs... in science. Imagine a world powered by witches' magics where scientists are persecuted. The scientists don't want to rely on the witches for power, but are their solutions all that much better? "Elemental science" that creates a byproduct rife with danger and instability? If there was a magical solution to our own world's energy problem, how would that be received by the scientists who believe in nuclear power despite its terrifying byproducts? This book was full of these questions, and I really believe it would get any reader to contemplate the deep, dark questions of our own universe, and to accomplish that even with witches and magic, Angelini has got to be a mad scientist herself! Or a witch! Either way, she was pretty darned brilliant, and I am dying for the next book in the series!

Rise from the Ruin

Leigh Bardugo hit the fantasy genre with a mallet with her first book in the Grisha series, Shadow and Bone. The series never lost its momentum, and with this final book, Ruin and Rising, it ends with power and force and a conclusion that befits such a phenomenal series. 

The Darkling has won. Alina has two of the three amplifiers which make the Sun Summoner a Grisha like no other, but with the uncertainty and instability of the world at large, she is being hidden away underground where her ability has no hope of doing any good against the Darkling's forces. She can use the sun's force to fight his shadows and monsters, but not while she is trapped underground. It might keep her alive, but Alina is no longer satisfied with just remaining alive. She wants to get the world back from the Darkling and end the darkness he created forever. Especially when she is being kept underground by the power-hungry Apparat who likes having the Sun Summoner under his thumb. 

When Alina, Mal, and their loyal Grisha friends break free, the hunt for the final amplifier, the Firebird, proves to be more difficult than they ever could have imagined. With secrets behind the Darkling and his creation revealed, there is more to this hunt than Alina expected. She wants to save the world from the Fold and the darkness inside it, but what is she willing to sacrifice in order to do it? The conclusion will answer that question in a way you never saw coming...

I have loved this series from the first book, and it never once let me down. This is high fantasy in its ultimate incarnation, and you won't regret taking the time to read the Grisha trilogy. There are twists and turns and bumps and bruises along the way, but by the time you get to the end you will be so excited with the conclusion and so simultaneously sad to see the series end, you will want to reread it immediately. It might be expected to some, but I was whole-heartedly taken aback by the twist at the end, and I hope you will be too.

Alina is truly amazing in this series, but Mal is the true character you won't want to give up with the last page. There is something so loyal and amazing within him, even though we all struggled with him in the second book at times. You feel he is really human, not just a flat character on a page. Sometimes you love him and sometimes you are really angry with him. Even though I imagine many people struggled with Mal's character, it was that humanity that made me love him more. 

I loved this series so much, and I just can't wait to see what Bardugo does next. Can. Not. Wait!

Half Bad and Totally Awesome

In a new England where witches live silently amongst humans, there are two kinds of witches. Even amongst the small minority, there is prejudice. White and Black, the witches do not mix. Until, they do. In Sally Green's Half Bad, a young boy is the victim of his parentage, for White or for Black. 

Nathan's father was the evilest Black witch in the world. His mother was a White witch who committed suicide. Every year, Nathan goes for an assessment to see if he has officially coded to one side or the other, but on his seventeenth birthday, the results will no longer be inconclusive. All witches must receive three gifts from an immediate family member and drink the blood of a family witch in order to come into their gifts. For a White witch, not receiving their gifts merely means they lose their opportunity for their gift. For a Black witch, it is said they will die if they do not receive their gifts. Nathan's grandmother has tried to raise him in a White witch household, but his heritage cannot be denied. 

As a Half Code (Black and White), Nathan's final allegiance is still unsettled, but the council isn't about to let him roam about like a powder keg waiting to be lit. Decree after decree is handed down that specifically limit Nathan's comings and goings. Finally, just limiting his journeys from the house aren't enough, and he is captured and caged until his seventeenth birthday, which is years away. His captor doesn't necessarily agree with the decision, but Marcus, Nathan's father, killed her sister, so she isn't shy about her dislike of Black witches either. But nothing changes the fact that Nathan's birthday is fast approaching, and he has nobody to give him his gifts. Is he Black? Or is he White?

I know we have all lived through the Harry Potter era where witches are adorable like the Weasley clan. Sure you have a Malfoy or a LeStrange or a Voldemort in the mix, but for the most part, they are normal folks with some awesome abilities. These witches? A whole different world. I half expected a Potter-esque witch story going in, but I came out like I was ripped through the spin cycle. This is one seriously dark book! I mean, this kid is tortured. He is held in a cage and affixed with a collar full of poison. This is some pretty heavy, dark business here. 

And Nathan? I am choosing to think he wouldn't be as dark as he turns out. I feel he was made Black by the very same people who feared his Half Code. By imprisoning him and torturing him, they have created a dark individual. In fact, the brutality, the violence, the dark in this story reminded me of a somewhat tamed version of The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski. It is the single darkest book I have ever read (makes The Road look like Goodnight Moon), and Nathan just made me think of that little boy the entire time I read it. That doesn't mean this is THAT dark, but it certainly isn't any Harry Potter. Instead, this is a truly unique story that will catch the attention of your students. Especially those who have a dark side!

The implications towards prejudice and racism in this story are very thinly veiled. The decrees about Half Codes and Black witches reek of Jim Crow. You can see the allegory here, and it is incredibly interesting when juxtaposed with historical racism. I think any student will be able to make those connections without any guidance, which will give them an added layer to the story. I was really bowled over by this story, even though it was so disturbing, and I will certainly be finishing the series. 

How Near are Your Fears?

You read all these modern witch stories and it makes you miss the old-fashioned, witch hiding in plain sight from the superstitious villagers, type of witch story. There was something magical (pun intended) about those stories and that time that is pure fiction to us just because it is so far away from our current world. But Victoria Schwab brings us back there in The Near Witch, to a place with villagers with pitchforks and witches who can control the elements.


Lexi lives in the town of Near where the stories of the Near Witch, driven from town hundreds of years ago, are enough to give the town kids nightmares and make a good threat for their parents when kids get out of line. But Near is an isolated and superstitious town where strangers are neither frequent nor welcomed. When a strange young man appears in Near, his appearance coincides with the disappearance of a young kid each night from a closed up house with no evidence or signs of where they went.


Lexi finds the stranger, Cole (or at least that's what she names him), and can tell instantly that while there is something clearly mysterious about him, he is not the one who took the children. Unfortunately, the townsfolk don't agree and want to run him out of town. But Cole is the only one who has helped Lexi hunt for the culprit in the dead of night, and she is afraid that without him, she may not find the kidnapper. When the trail towards the kids gets more and more supernatural, Lexi knows she and Cole are the only ones open-minded enough to search for the truth... the real truth.


I really enjoyed the old-fashioned, on-the-moor feel to this book, but sometimes it seemed like the plot was a smidge too thin for my reading tastes. It was a relatively short book, so there needed to be a quick call to action, but things tarried a bit in the middle. The presence of Cole and the "sisters" in the town (basically witches) were a cool addition to the story and I enjoyed their characters. I also liked how Lexi was relentless in her pursuit of the culprit. She wasn't going to stay inside just because the men in town told her to do so, she was going to solve the mystery herself. She was plucky and I enjoyed that!


This is a good book for a middle school through high school student. The writing is quite lyrical, so it might be a little too sophisticated for a younger or weaker reader. Also, the lag time you occasionally encounter in the story might distract or cause them to lose interest. Still, I found it to be a lovely story and the writing felt magical... almost like a song across the moor grass.

It Put a Spell on Me

Hex Hall has grown up a lot over the past few years. We have seen a fun, sometimes goofy middle reader transform into a pretty serious story (not without funny, snarky moments of course!). We have watched Sophie Mercer grow up from a confused Prodigium to a demon ready to use her powers to prevent evil. And now we find ourselves at the final installment of Rachel Hawkins' trilogy, Spell Bound.


Sophie knows she is a demon, and her powers were supposed to be stripped (like her demon father's were), but she can feel them inside her. Somehow they weren't stripped, just buried deep inside where she can't tap into them. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it), her dead, now ghost, former rival Elodie is tied to her and can possess Sophie and use her own magic in desperate times. Sophie isn't thrilled by being possessed, but since Elodie has saved her life, she really can't complain. When Sophie wakes up after narrowly escaping the attack that may have killed her father and both boys she cares about, the last place she thought she would wake up is at the Brannick's house- the family who take Prodigium hunting to a whole new level. 


What Sophie learns about the Brannick's is something she can barely believe- not only are they no longer the crazy group of hunters they used to be (only 3 members left and two are barely teenagers), but Sophie's mother is one of them, making Sophie a bizarre demon/demon-hunter mixture. At the Brannick's, Sophie learns that the people who attacked and all but destroyed the Council are actually council members trying to rally the rest of the Prodigium into striking back with full force and they aren't afraid to create demon children in order to get what they want. They have control of Hex Hall and summon its former students to the school in order to complete their demonic experiments and raise an army no one could fight. Sophie is summoned to the island as well, but there is no way she intends to go down without a fight. She isn't going to let anyone hurt her friends, regardless of where their intentions came from. For Sophie, enemy and ally is no longer who she thought and the war just got scarier.


This was a bittersweet ending to a series I really enjoyed. I understand why Hawkins ended the story like she did, and honestly I wouldn't change a thing about the ending, but that doesn't mean I didn't find myself thinking, "Awww. C'mon! Did you HAVE to?!" Sophie is a great character because she is spunky and sassy and fun to travel along with, but in this story, the supporting characters I loved so much were lost in the efforts to wrap up the story. I think too much time was spent with the Brannick's and then Hawkins realized the story had to have an ending and shoved a huge amount of meat into the final half of the book. Regardless, though, I really thought this ending was very good and it made me appreciate the series as a whole. The series started as a pretty goofy middle reader, but by the end of this third book, it was nosing into the young adult realm, which is helpful for young readers. 


This is a great series for any middle reader or low-skilled young adult. I have given it to a number of nieces/cousins and they have enjoyed the story. I think it might be too young for a mature young adult, though, so be aware of the proper age group the series was intended for. Some of the demonic action in the end gets pretty hairy, but nothing is overly violent or too scary, so it remains appropriate for the same age group as the first book was. I have to say I am sad to see this series go! It was fun to look forward to these stories every year or so! Looking forward to something new out of Hawkins!

What's With All This Bloody Magic?!

Blood is considered powerful, the life source, embodiment of the human soul... magical even. So when a book emerges with blood as the source of magic, we are intrigued, but not terribly surprised by the connection. Tessa Gratton's novel Blood Magic delves into the world of magic, handed down through the generations, curses and all.

Silla is the girl everyone avoids. Especially now. Her parents are dead, her father was ruled to have killed her mother and then himself, and Silla is the one who found them. Then her brother found her, kneeling in their blood and in shock. Now she and her brother Reece live with their grandmother, but life is far from normal. In school, the more mild mannered kids just assume she has been driven crazy from her parents' deaths, but the more mean spirited kids assume she is just as dangerous and murderous as her father.

Nicholas was dragged to this small town from his life in Chicago by his evil stepmother Lilith (actually her name is Mary but he prefers the nickname of the woman who created all monsters- terribly fitting!). He is dreading his new life, but from the moment he sees Silla, he can't think of anything but being with her. When he finds out Silla and Reece have stumbled upon a family legacy- Magic- he begins to realize magic is entwined into his own life from the mother who tried to commit suicide then abandoned him as a child. When they find out Nicholas' mother and Silla's father knew one another, they know there is some connection, but they aren't sure what it is. What they aren't expecting is a centuries old witch who has cheating death and time and wants something Reece, Silla, and Nicholas have- their magic. Can they protect all they have left from their parents from the witch? Can they get to the bottom of who their parents really were?

With supernatural books in abundance these days, it is hard to find one that stands out from the pack. While I am not saying this is the best supernatural book ever written, it did indeed catch my attention. I really liked the characters and their weird intertwined relationships with one another. The combined story lines had me guessing as to the connection right up until the time Gratton delivered the real story. That guessing game is the root of the suspense we all want in this kind of story. While I had figured out a few things along the way, I wasn't expecting the final verdict. The characters were also very interesting in and of themselves. They had flaws, inner demons, and loss like no one their age should feel. At times I felt the loss of Silla's parents was handled very well, but Nicholas' mother's disappearance was glossed over. This was the one glaring flaw in my mind. At one point, Silla even mentions his mother and he says something along the lines of "forget her, she is gone, its over" even though she is alive and out there in the world. It seemed odd to me to pay such close attention to one family and gloss over the other family, especially since they were connected in the end.

This book would be appropriate for most junior to senior high school students. There is a lot of bloody gore throughout the story, but it isn't overdone in comparison to the darkness of the story. An aspect of the book that annoyed me a little was the sexual tension and relationship between Silla and Nicholas. Everything happens so fast, yet they cannot break themselves apart from one another. It seemed too forced, too fabricated. I suppose you could use the magic to explain it, but I felt it directly clashed with the time line of the story. There were also long drawn out make-out scenes that were unnecessary compared to the purpose of the story. They didn't go very far, but it left me thinking, "Enough already! Where is the evil witch so we can kick her butt?!" But overall, this was a pretty good story. It will appeal to those supernatural junkies who need magic and spells and hocus pocus in their lives!

Hex Hall Put a Spell on Me!

"Of course the only words I actually managed to yell at at the werewolf as he ran at me were, 'BAD DOG!'" You need a book that will actually make you laugh out loud? Look no further! Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins had me laughing all night! I couldn't put it down!

Sophie Mercer is a sarcastic young witch who has gotten herself into trouble, again. Unfortunately, this time caught the attention of the Council, a group of witches and warlocks who keep magical folks from exposing their world to humans. Now she must stay at Hecate Hall, nicknamed Hex Hall, until she is 18 and considered trustworthy with her magic. Unfortunately, with a human mother and a warlock father who left before she was born, Sophie doesn't know anything about the Prodigium, or magical world.

Even though Hex Hall is supposed to be protected, a girl was killed before Sophie arrived, and another girl is attacked just after school starts. Everyone is blaming Sophie's roommate Jenna, the only vamp on campus as part of the Council's attempt to integrate them with the rest of the Prodigium, but Sophie knows she is innocent. Even Sophie's crush, Archer, is convinced Jenna's guilty. But it quickly comes out that there is more to Sophie's family than just magic. Between her possibly murderous roommate, a father who is the reason most kids were sentenced to Hex Hall, an evil group of mean witches who has it in for Sophie, and all the dark witches dropping like flies (Sophie being a dark witch herself), Sophie has found Hex Hall to be worse than her past 19 schools. Now she has to find a way to exonerate Jenna!

This is a great story with fun, spunky characters who anything but the whiny females you can sometimes find in YA lit. They are sassy and don't take crap from anyone. Even the teachers have different dimensions; Lord Byron, the real Lord Byron, is a vampire who teaches poetry at Hex hall because when he was turned, he was too conspicuous, and when the Council released him, all he wanted to do was turn all of Europe into vampires!

This is fun, fast-paced read that is enticing to anyone. The reading level and content are appropriate for middle school to high school. As this is the first in a series, it is a perfect opportunity to suck a student into an exciting story and keep them reading. Give the story a shot, but don't be surprised when you find yourself giggling out loud as you read!

Bewitching? Or a Wizardly Flop?

Another wizard book fresh off the press! James Patterson's Witch and Wizard is yet another take on the "supernatural kids with powers" storyline. I know there are as many witch and wizard books out there as there are vampire books these days, but I am not going to lie- I LOVE witch and wizard books! Who doesn't want a power? Teleportation, telekinesis, reading minds, bursting into flames, controlling the weather... who doesn't want to have a power?!

Whit and Wisty are a brother and sister who find themselves under a new government that has it out for witchcraft and all those who practice. When the police and neighborhood thugs burst into their house one night and arrest them, strange things start happening. Wisty can disappear. Whit can create a storm like no other. Wisty can even burst into flames while never getting burned (but it sure scares those cops!). They are beginning to realize they are different, special even, and that their parents have been hiding something from them.

In a new world where all who are suspected of witchcraft are imprisoned before meeting an even worse fate, Whit and Wisty are saved by Whit's girlfriend- the very same girlfriend who disappeared months ago and is now a spirit roaming between worlds. They find out they are not the only kids the government has imprisoned and their parents are now on the Most Wanted list. Once they break free, they find other kids on the run- most don't have any special powers at all; they are just guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. These kids have created a little civilization of their own and are planning a jailbreak- one they need Whit and Wisty's help to pull off. But as they learn more about the new world, they find they might be the brother and sister from the prophecy who will be the ultimate challenge to the new regime.

This book has a great premise, a very interesting plot, and best of all- witches and wizards. But somehow, it fell a little flat for me. It is a quick read, not the best writing, the characters aren't really developed or overly interesting, and some of the plot twists are a little predictable. The thing that irritated me the most, though, was reading Wisty's dialogue. She speaks like a painfully whiny teenager. While I appreciate Patterson trying to make the story as realistic as possible, Wisty's dialogue was a bit overdone- possibly the result of a middle-aged man trying to write as a 15 year old girl? Unfortunately, the Young Adult genre has become such an amazing home for beautiful and exciting writing and mediocre just doesn't do it for me anymore. And that is just what this book is- mediocre, nothing special, just OK. Of course it is the start of a series with many more to come. While I will probably read the rest of the series, I have a feeling I will be disappointed with each installment unless Patterson decides to up the ante. The book isn't horrible, but there are just so many amazing books out there, it seems silly to seek this book out. Better to check out Eragon, Charlie Bones, Inkheart, Shiver, City of Bones, or any number of other great books about the supernatural or mythical world.

Beautiful Creatures are calling to you!

Try as I might, I couldn't get through this big girl in one night over the holiday break! But, oh! I did try! Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is a southern, Gothic tale of a small town who revels in their reenactments, supports voodoo and strong Baptist beliefs in the same breath, and knows there is something going on in the Ravenwood estate- especially when Macon Ravenwood's niece Lena Duchannes shows up to live there.

Ethan Wate is an average high school boy who plays on the basketball team, "belongs" without actually belonging, and goes through the motions of adolescence. Then again, maybe he isn't so average... his mother dies, his father becomes a shut-in, and his voodoo practicing nanny/housekeeper, Amma, keeps hiding charms around the house to protect him (some which contain creepy little chicken bones Ethan suspects were from dinner). When Lena comes to Gatlin High and the rest of the school immediately pegs her as Macon Ravenwood's creepy niece, Ethan feels oddly protective of her. This of course instantly makes him as much of a pariah as Lena is.

Quickly, however, it becomes clear to Ethan that despite their feelings for one another, Lena is hiding something from him. Upon meeting the infamous hermit, Macon Ravenwood, Ethan finds out what is really going on with Lena. However, the extent of her secret is still to be uncovered. Lena and Ethan must delve into the secret history of Gatlin in order to save Lena from a fate she is terrified to see.

This book is almost 600 pages, which can be daunting to say the least. While I felt it moved pretty swiftly, looking back I see the real meat of the story didn't evolve until 300 pages into the novel. Therefore, this may not be the best novel to get a reluctant kid to read. However, if you have the kind of kid who loves the supernatural books and can plod through such a tome, this is a really cool story. I love the Gothic, southern elements that creep into even the smallest elements of the story. For instance, Ethan has three kooky, elderly aunts he spends time with each and every week. He takes them to church, keeps them from killing each other, and even makes emergency vet runs when one clubs the other's dog thinking it was a rat. There is a southern hospitality about this book that is just charming.

There are other less appealing aspects of such a small-town culture, too, though. For instance, when odd things happen around Lena (glass explodes out of a window when a group of girls are tormenting her), the town mothers and DAR members rally together to kick her out of school, claiming she is an evil influence on their children. The town goes to great lengths to get rid of Lena, simply because she is related to Macon Ravenwood. Even teachers and the principal want her gone for no other reason than she "might" be responsible for the odd things that happen.

This is a really interesting book, and I loved it, but the size and belated action might make it difficult for some to get through. I would suggest giving it to a strong reader who can spend extended periods of time reading. Otherwise, you will keep plucking your way through this book and it will consume the entire year! I also think this is more of a "girl" book than a "guy" book. While there is some interesting supernatural content, there is a lot about the relationship between Lena and Ethan, as well as a great deal about love, friendships, etc. The action is more of an undertone to the mystery of the relationships in the story. Nonetheless, this was a great book that kept me up half the night until I just couldn't go on any longer! I passed out on top of the book dreaming about creepy Gothic graves and chicken bones (and possibly even drooling a little bit!). Great read!