A darkly enchanting series from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a teenage witch who battles dark forces in her small town, perfect for fans of the Beautiful Creatures and Hex Hall series.
A boy cursed with visions that lead to madness. A girl granted the powers to save him.
As soon as Nadia arrives in Captive's Sound, she knows something is seriously wrong. The town is shrouded in dark magic, more powerful and complex than she has ever seen. Mateo has lived in Captive's Sound his entire life, trying to dodge the local legend that his family is "cursed" with insanity. When the mysterious girl he has been dreaming of every night appears (Nadia), he fears the curse may be true. But danger is coming, and Nadia and Mateo must work together to stop this unknown force before it destroys everything in its path.
School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up—In the small New England town of Captive's Sound, magic has deep, evil roots. Nadia, whose family has recently moved there after her mother left them, discovers this very quickly for she is a witch. Her mother departed before her training could be completed, and now it is up to her and her new friends, Mateo, a tortured boy whose family is cursed with telling the future, and Verlaine, a girl with a mysterious past, to figure out how to stop the magic from destroying their home. But doing so means battling a witch whose own roots in the town go further and deeper than they could have ever imagined. While Gray relies heavily on common tropes in paranormal romance, her story manages to rise above others in the genre with an intriguing history of witches and witchcraft. Though the plot stops and starts, the characters are sympathetic. The ending promises more battles to come, and fans will clamor to know what happens.—Necia Blundy, formerly at Marlborough Public Library, MA
Publishers Weekly
High school senior Nadia Caldani is both the new girl in Captive’s Sound and a powerful novice witch. Her father moved what’s left of their family from Chicago to the depressed Rhode Island beach town after Nadia’s mother, who is also a witch, deserted them. A near-tragic car accident sets in motion Nadia’s relationship with the handsome but cursed Mateo Perez, and also alerts her witch sense that something strange lurks underneath Captive’s Sound. Enter Verlaine, another outsider who quickly becomes Nadia’s best friend, and Elizabeth Pike, an outwardly perfect girl who has her eye on Mateo. While Gray (the Evernight series) relies on a few too many paranormal clichés (two car-accident rescues, an overly broody star-crossed romance), she does a fine job of developing the good and evil witches around which her plot is built. The author’s intricate portrayal of witchcraft—including its theories, rules, spells, and history—raises this novel a notch above others in the genre, and Nadia is an appealing heroine as she juggles personal pain and looming supernatural disaster. Ages 13–up. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary. (Mar.)
Kiersten White
SPELLCASTER is a whip–smart read, sinister and delightful at once.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"…this is a compelling plot that mines the lore and history surrounding witchcraft to pit good against evil in a literally earth–shaking battle."
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
…this is a compelling plot that mines the lore and history surrounding witchcraft to pit good against evil in a literally earth–shaking battle.
Kirkus Reviews
Three wounded but valiant protagonists confront a monstrous evil with human roots in this promising series opener. Nadia's mother's abrupt departure left her family bereft and her training in the Craft unfinished. In Captive's Sound, the New England village where Nadia moves with her dad and little brother to make a fresh start, evil has had 400 years to grow. Too late to avert the car crash that coincides with their arrival in town, Nadia's rescued by Mateo, the mysterious local boy whose prophetic dreams foretold the crash. His dreams arise from the ancient family curse that prompted his mother's suicide. Breaking a central rule of the Craft, Nadia confides in Verlaine, the odd social outcast who caught her working magic; a tentative friendship develops. With Mateo's family history well-known, his only friends were Elizabeth, a beautiful, longtime ally, and Gage, a new boy in town. Now a supernatural bond strengthens Nadia and Mateo's mutual attraction. Determined to lift the curse, Nadia's horrified by what she discovers—her antagonist could easily defeat a fully trained witch. Rooted in unswerving devotion, this evil was chosen. Yet knowing it didn't have to be this way only makes it scarier. Gray switches the third-person narrative viewpoint among four compelling characters, keeping readers glued to the page. This riveting tale will keep readers up late and clamoring for the next installment. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)
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