This book follows Hunter and Mercy who are twin witches who live in the town of Goodeville. The sisters have to learn what it means to be Gatekeepers like their ancestors were before them.

Hunter and Mercy's mother is the first victim of many murders, the sister agrees on avenging their mother's death. The girls will quickly find out that they will need more than their magic to win against the ancient mythological monsters who have disturbed their peaceful town.

My review:
This book was just meh. Nothing special. The only things I enjoyed were the witchy parts. but other than that it was a pretty flat story and for the younger crowd. I didn't really like the characters. I much more enjoyed the House of night books from the mother-daughter duo. I really wanted to like this one but it's a no-go for me it didn't live up to the expectations I like the cover it's pretty. The dialogue was a little strange with the back and forth and reactions were awkward.

Thank you Netgalley, St.Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy.

This was my first book by the Cast duo and I absolutely loved it. Witchy YA, count me in. Loved everything about this book and that they kept it open for a possible sequel. I enjoyed the characters but I wish they would have gone deeper with the characters relationships. I really enjoyed Xena. I thought she was hilarious! Would recommend this to other readers and will be reading more from PC and Kristin Cast!

I loved the plot in this story, especially the alternative ending to the Salem witch trials. However, there was no real character growth and it made the story fall flat for me. The same tension between the twins in the beginning is the same tension that the story ends with. I don’t agree with previous reviewers that the antagonist was revealed too soon, because it was interesting to see the situation from his perspective. It made you hate him a little less and gave his monstrousness more context. I did not like the ending. I felt like we could have left off with the twins in a better place and let readers know there will be a sequel without making it so blatant. We could have ended with an image of the tree rotting, instead of conflict between the twins.

I have mixed feelings s about this book. I liked it... but didn’t.
I love magic and I thought the world that was created using magic, our history of witches, and Wiccan ties was very creative. I thought the town was also really well built and the writing used to describe the scene and event was superb.
I didn’t like the main characters. I kept a wanting to connect or find something to like about these twin witches but I found them pretentious and whiny. I feel that the mark was missed on a multi-layered character Thats needed to carry a series. The best character was definitely Zena.
In regards to the plot I felt that it dragged on a bit and never got to the point. When the book finally got somewhere it ended which left me feeling dissapointed as a reader. This was an almost hit for a YA fantasy but missed the mark in plot events, and character development for me.

Spells Trouble opens with typical teenage antics, a group of friends is partying by a lake...for me, that immediately turned me off. I don't usually pick up books with all the high school drama. Obviously, I went into this book knowing it was geared toward YA, but it felt very young teen. Don't get me wrong, that's just fine if that's what you expect going in, but sadly, I didn't. I was hoping for a more witchy, more mature YA novel and this just wasn't it.

The twins, Hunter and Mercy, have lost their mother on their birthday and in steps the family's cat, who's now a human...okay, witches, but what? Even the cat/woman is very...immature. The story as a whole could have been so great and was definitely intriguing if you can get past some of the annoyances, but I think with more fleshed out characters and less teenage drama, I would've definitely given more stars.


I'm sure this book will appeal to a lot of readers, I just wasn't one of them. Thank you to Wednesday Books for the ARC to read and honestly review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hunter and Mercy Goode are not your everyday witches. They are gatekeepers to five gates that lead to different underworlds. A Norse underworld, a Greek underworld, a Egyptian underworld, a Japanese underworld and a Hindu underworld; all marked by trees that relate to each culture. When the gates become sick with rot and murders begin in their town, can Mercy and Hunter find the courage and strength to mend the gates or will all manners of creatures break through and tear the mortal world to shreds?

Guys, I really want to give moments of this book a 7 star rating, and other parts a one to two star. Overall, it gets three from me but also comes heavily recommended. I grew up reading P.C. and Kristin's House of Night series. I really enjoyed the circle/elemental casting as well as the new take on vampires. Now that I am older(and hopefully wiser) revisiting the House of Night is cringeworthy. So when this little morsel started off MUCH like the House of Night I began wondering if these authors were one trick ponies. Man, did I ever eat crow! The mythological moments in this book are exceptional, and the characters from the gates are epically written. What falls short to me are the Goode twins....mostly Mercy.

For being a twin, Mercy sure doesn't know anything about not being selfish. I would delve deeper into this, but it would involve heavy spoilers and I'm not about that. Hunter is great and made me want to leap through the pages to give her a big hug. Their friends are excellent and their cat Xena is to die for.

Overall, this book has great qualities but I wish we had gotten more with our monsters as they were the true stars of this story for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone 16+ as there is graphic sexual content that is absolutely NOT suitable for younger readers. I look forward to a sequel and am hardcore Team Hunter!

I went into this book with a level of expectation and I have to say it did not disappoint that.

I read the HoN series years ago with a friend so I already knew this author and the writing style. I went in expecting to live this book as much as I loved those.

Though I am now older and my tastes in reading have evolved this was a gateway to what made me love books in the very beginning. Magic, mystery, paranormal creatures, and love.

Thank you for reigniting my passion for paranormal fantasy.

As a past fan of the Casts' previous series, House of Night, I was really looking forward to something new and different from them. I felt like I got more of the same teenage drama that I got in House of Night, and it was just kind of lost on me as a 30something.

E-book/NA Fantasy: The plot of this book is all over the place, but I guess that's how a teenager's mind works.
I see the book as a parallel to the witches in the Wizard of Oz. One ended up good, popular, and perfect and the other goes to the dark side.

There's so many continuity problems with the story like the girls underage and driving without getting caught, and they live in a small town. Then I was fooled because both twins signed paperwork without reading it. Since they're underage, it just is not something that would ever happen in the rwal world. And no funeral home is ever going to do anything until they get paid.

As far as the sisters, they really don't grieve too well. I think part of the problem is the book has so much going on and not enough pages. I normally like Holly Black's stories, and the ending was great, I just had to go through so much teen drama. There was teen drama at the beginning of the book and I thought it was to show the girls innocence. Then after the mother is killed, I thought there would be a coming of age, but it was more pettyness. The cat was more mature.

I have to say I was a fan of the first few House of Night novels by P.C and Kristin Cast. (although I just recently reread them and was like "Huh"). This one was a little off for me. I'm not sure what is was exactly. I think there was just too much brooding from the teen characters. This one missed the mark for me.

I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately it hasn’t quite lived up to my expectations.

My main problem is the dialogue. It sounds like what an older adult might think teens sound like, but it’s pretty far removed from the reality. If I’m reading a YA book I want to voice to sound like a teen, not an adult writing a teen. This was been pretty distracting as I read the book. I kept finding myself rolling my eyes at some of the word choices.

I have temporarily set down the book for now. If I do decide to finish it, I will update with my final thoughts.

Thank you so much for providing with a review copy.

I had high hopes going into this read. Unfortunately I just couldn't really get into it. I couldn't connect or convince myself to care for a single character. The synopsis sounded really intriguing and witchy but the characters were so bratty and immature and their dialogue was irritating.

2.5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I am not the biggest fan of the books. I will start by saying I loved all the witch stuff that was present. That is the main reason I finished reading it. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy the writing. It felt too young while the story itself felt too old. I just did not enjoy the way it all flowed together. The characters were all right, if not predictable. I also detested the way one of the male characters was a jerk just for the sake of more drama, that part could've been excluded because it added nothing to the actual book. Overall this read fell flat and just wasn't for me.

I'm sorry to say this was not a book that I connected with. I try to read some YA on a pretty regular basis seeing as how I work as a librarian for a school district, but this just didn't work. I'm not sure if it was because it was two authors working together but it didn't have a good flow.

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is amazing. 4/5 stars. I enjoyed the storyline and the fact that these witches were more natural, earth/kitchen witches that actually had limitations to their magic. One thing I would change about the book is the at it is written in 3rd person and I personally would’ve preferred 1st person POV that switched back and forth between the twins. I love that the book incorporates multiple mythologies in it which also leaves it open for further book and/or spin-offs. It was a quick and easy read but very enjoyable.

I'm going to be honest, this was not my favorite book to read. I was really excited because I remember really enjoying the House of Night series when I was younger, and I do think the overall concept is really interesting. There are some good points to this book though, so I'll start by sharing what I liked and then get into what made this book not for me.

What I Liked: As I mentioned, the overall concept is really intriguing. This is a book about witch sisters who face a sudden, unexpected loss and have to deal with protecting their town while in the middle of grieving. I also liked that this book seemed to take a little bit from a few different mythologies and blended them together in a really unique way, so that was cool. In general I tend to love books about sisters, and I liked that Hunter and Mercy are twins but with different personalities and very distinct voices, so I think that was handled well. Finally, I think the element of this book that I found the strongest was the friendships incorporated throughout the story. Most people are suckers for good romance, but me, I'm a sucker for quality friendship in books. I love that these are girls who know they are witches and they have best friends who know (at least some) about their magic and constantly stick with them. Their best friends, Emily and Jax, are consistently there for them and they all offer support to one another in a really great way.

That being said, there was a lot with this book that fell flat for me. I had a really hard time connecting with any of the characters. They all came across a little overdramatic at times, and they often felt like an adult's imagined version of a teenager rather than real, relatable teenagers. I didn't hate Hunter and Mercy as characters, but I didn't particularly like them either. They argued a lot, and while I think conflict between sisters works well, it just seemed very forced. Also, Mercy kept using British words and phrases throughout the book with no explanation as to why, because she's not British (this is clearly stated by another character). The girls also have what is basically a cat nanny. Somewhat cool idea, they learn their cat familiar, Xena, can turn into a human. The problem that Xena doesn't offer anything that moves the plot along. She's mostly just tells the characters things they could easily find out on their own or encourages them to do what they were already doing, and her real purpose is so that there's a believable reason for the girls to stay in their own home when their mother dies. Because characters are the most important part of a book for me, the fact that I didn't connect with any of them here was a big contributor to me not loving it.

In addition to the characters, I think the plot had so much potential, but was a little all over the place in its execution. The magic was somewhat interesting but at times felt a little glossed over or convenient. To some extent this leaves room for more exploration in book 2, but it didn't work for me. I also think the element of danger could have felt a little more imminent. It's hard to say, because the style of writing made the book feel closer to middle grade, in which case the intensity of the danger may be appropriate. However, this book also had a lot of swearing, slurs, and an explicit sex scene that I was not expecting nor did I appreciate. So I don't think I'd recommend it to younger readers, but at times it may feel a bit juvenile for older YA readers. Again, the potential is really strong, and if the concept is intriguing enough to let you forgive some of the weaknesses, why not pick it up for a read? I was written well enough that I was able to finish it rather than stopping part way through, although I probably am not going to pick up the second book. 2.5/5 stars

Two Stars

Twin witches, Hunter and Mercy, have finally come of age to choose the god/goddess they will serve for the rest of their lives. On the eve of their 16th birthday, things take a turn for the worst. The girls must stick together to keep life as we know it, from crumbling down around us.

I want to start off by saying, I don't think this book was written for readers like me. I knew going into this book, that it was written by two authors... However, I've never read a book that felt like it was written by two authors until this one. The story was jumbled and just didn't feel like a full book. I have never read anything by either of these authors. I'm not sure if this was just scraps from their previous works thrown together or what, but I had a hard time getting through it.

I feel like too much time was spent on some aspects of the book, and others were just blown right past. I'm not talking minor things, I'm talking major plot points and character developments. There were more times than I can count, where I went back and re-read a section because I don't know how we got from A to B.

Another major issue I had was the simple lack of research done on pretty much everything. The knowledge on wicca seemed half-assed, and neither of the author's seem to understand how teenagers talk/act either. In my personal opinion, if you're going to write a story, you have to do your research. Not sure when the ages of the author's are, but they seem pretty out of touch with young people.

Overall, I gave this book two stars, because even though I didn't like it I'm sure a younger middle-grade reader would enjoy it. Normally I love anything with witchcraft and fantasy themes, but this one just didn't cut it for me. I hope the right readers find this book, because I know some young female reader would love to see two heroines like Hunter and Mercy kick butt with their mystical powers.

I loved the House or Night books and I was excited to read this new series by them. Unfortunately this reminded of everything I hated about HoN. The characters are overly dramatic and the interactions read like an old lady writing a teenage character. They're just too much.

Then the mother dies. Losing my own mother at a young age, I have some experience here. The way grief is portrayed felt wrong to me. Especially when they tried to "cure" her of her grief. That's not how grief works and it's not a healthy way of thinking. You don't just get over losing someone close to you, even if you are in the middle of something. It belittled her very real feelings and her right to grieve as she needed.

If you haven't gone through losing a parent, maybe give it a shot. I don't recommend this one though.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. These opinions are entirely my own.

This was disappointing. I was hoping for a witchy book and I got a lot of silly teen angst that was hard to read without cringing. I’m definitely not the market for the book, and I didn’t finish. Thanks for the chance, though!

I loved the backstory of this book--the Salem Witch trials. I wish, though, that the meat of the novel read a little bit older. It read very young, almost middle grade, in both conversation and character/character development. I didn't dislike it, but I think given the way this book has been marketed and shelved a reader expects it to be older. I thought that even though they read a bit younger, the world-building and characters were well done. It is a very quick, fun read. So, I highly recommend this if you're normally a reader of older YA and just looking for something fun, or if you're newer to YA and looking for somewhere fun and entertaining to start!
Thank you to NetGalley for letting me review this ARC. All opinions are my own.