I was excited for this one as I love the House of Night series. I liked the characters but it felt like it was missing something. I will happily read the next in the series and hopefully it will get back the House of Night spark I am missing. It is only the beginning of the new series and it definitely has potential! I originally read the book and got selected to review the audio version as well. Cassandra Campbell is one of the best narrators I’ve ever heard and she makes everything a little more entertaining just by her voice!

Spells Trouble (Sisters of Salem) by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Teens & YA
Publication Date: May 25, 2021

Spells Trouble is the first book in the Sisters of Salem trilogy by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast.

I was so excited when I read the description of this book! Because I grew up in Massachusetts, the history of Salem is in my blood, so I HAD to read this book. I loved the idea that this book was about the descendants of Sarah Goode!

I really enjoyed the premise of the book. I thought it had a lot of potential. I thought most of the book was very interesting, at times fascinating. Unfortunately, the ending fell flat. I felt like the book was building up to something and once we got there it was kinda like eh. There were also a few unanswered questions that maybe will be answered in future books.

I did enjoy the characters. I thought they were well developed. My favorite characters was Xena because she is amazing!

I thought the narration by Cassandra Campbell was incredible! She did a great job bringing each character to life.

I look forward to reading the next book because I would love to see how things turn out for the sisters.

I'm so grateful to P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

The cover of Spells Trouble really got me and I was totally in from the prologue. I kinda felt a bit of Practical Magic with a single mom and twins. I loved the family togetherness, the witchiness and a crazy familiar cat. The twins were well developed and interesting, it was easy to see them as two separate people. The town history and the death of their mother set for great story, I honestly really enjoyed the heartache. The witchy adventure to save the city and the sexual identify part of the book. What I struggled with was the Greek mythology running through the book. It felt so disconnected from the Salem vibes. I love the idea of the gates, but the “monsters” was just off to me. I think I would have given four stars if that was different. I am excited to continue on with the series and see what happens with Hunter.

2.5 ☆ I received this as an audio copy - to be honest while there we bits and pieces I liked, there was really something lacking in this book and I can't put my finger on it. It was an easy listen, the narrator was fine. Maybe it seemed on the young teen side while also trying to be an old teen novel. I'll probably still give the 2nd one a try. ♡

I loved the premise of this book. I love witch stories, and this one had a lot of potential.

But this book is missing something.
The characters feel flat and underdeveloped, and the conflicts and solutions were just too tidy.
It feel like the characters and story were made to fit a plot, and the fit didn't really work well.

Another thing that was annoying is the twins refereeing to their mother by her first name instead of mom. This went back and forth, Abigail/mom. And didn't really make sense in the context used.

The use of a lesbian character also felt like it was there just so this character would have a reason to be angry at others for bullying her. Didn't she have a spell to stop the bullying?
The boyfriend comes in as a caricature of a jock.

With all that said, this book might work for teens. But be aware it describes and makes reference to oral sex.

Sixteen year old twin witches must fight evil to save their town. The premise is good, but I felt that the story fell flat and did not live up to the potential.

The above is what I posted on Goodreads. I don't like posting negative reviews, but I expected more from these authors.

I wish to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for the free e-audio ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

This audiobook is narrated by Casandra Clare, and I have listened to many books narrated by her. Usually, I enjoy her voice and her pronunciation is well done. Not so in this audio. She regularly - but not consistently - pronounced Goode - as in Sara Goode - as 'Goodee', which just isn't correct. IT was so annoying, I was set on edge from the beginning of this book.

Years back, I read books by the Casts, as many have, and I thought their writing and story telling was pretty good - I decided to take a chance on this one. I have read so much about the Salem Witch Trials, and so many fictional books based on the trials, there's not much new to add. I felt like that would be a problem for me with this book. But it's not my familiarity with the trials that is the problem - this just really isn't' a very good book. The story was very bland, very expected and that historical notes aren't based in history. All around, it is very disappointing. Add in Ms. Clare's mispronunciation of the names, and it was irritating to listen to.

Maybe someone completely unfamiliar with the Salem Witch Trial history would be entertained by this book, but I can think of several other books that are much more enjoyable.

I wanted to love this book, it had a good premise but was not executed well at all. The story fell flat and the dialogue was very tedious, felt childish, and flowed awkwardly. The main characters were not very , Mercy was selfish and Hunter was too selfless. Spells Trouble read more like a middle grade book than a YA. It wasn't bad was just...lacking.

If you are wanting a quick, easy YA book to read, you may want to check this book out.
The cover is beautiful and the audiobook was narrated well.

Thank you Netgalley, St Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for allowing me access to this advanced copy.

** 3.5 stars **

I will always have a soft spot for these authors. I found their books during a time when there just wasn't a lot in the YA genre (heck, there was no such thing as YA). As an adult, I still like to read there stuff every once in awhile to see if there is more to the nostalgia.

This book at its surface seems to be a story about two young witches that are cast into the roles that they not ready for, due to the violent death of their mother. They now must face the forces of evil and fight them, all while defending their helpless (yet seemingly clueless) town from being overrun by monsters of legends.

Why is all this happening and why in this small nowhere town? Well, to answer the first is the point of the book so I won't spoil that but to the second, this town is where 5 ley lines converge. These ley lines transverse our world and lead into 5 underworlds of myth and legend. The Goode family has stood as guardians over the gates for hundreds of years - maintaining them, caring, and sacrificing for them.

Now I want to take about my thoughts why I thought this book feel short. There are other reviews that will tell you more about the story, so I'll skip that. Let's start with the overall world of this story.
I felt like the monsters and goddesses/gods were an important components in this book but just a few breadcrumbs were given here or there in relation to information. As a reader, I greedily gobbled it up but was by no means satiated. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know how the witches picked their goddess; why they had to dedicate themselves to only one? These are not big concerns but throughout the story, I often found myself frustrated with my limited knowledge in this world.

I appreciated that the authors took the time to give the backstory into the Goode family tree (though I would have tried to save the other witches but that's just me). I think it was important to use that to build upon for the present witches as a bases for where they came from, what adversities they had to overcome. That is after all what a lot of the underlying story is about -- adversities, how we face them and overcome them.

I found it frustrating with some of the dangling threads in this story. When the twins had to deal with their mom, they were overcome with grief then she's forgotten. Nothing is said again about her body or anything. Poof!! When the next day a friend's parent dies, they act like they don't know how to handle that kind of grief. OMG, it just happened to YOU. It's all so weird.

Now I have read the physical copy and was able to hear this book narrated. I love being able to sit at work and do one of my favorite things "read" while I'm working. While I will say that Ms. Campbell want my favorite narrator to listen to and I think it may just be for this book, I did find it wasn't off putting.

A bigger theme with this book was the issue of being different - normal vs. witch, straight vs. lesbian, goddess vs. god, celestial vs green witch. Being different is always hard but as a teenager that is constantly being compared to a better carbon copy of yourself, it is harder. You either strive to fit in, all the while it chafes you like an ill-fitting suit as small pieces of yourself die each day; or you remain on the outside constantly among the shadows, always present but never seen. Not having anyone believe in you is even harder. You find yourself relying heavily on key relationship to ground yourself, to keep yourself from drowning in the darkness of it all.

Some may say the bigger picture of this story is of a young girl getting bullied for being different, for sexual preference, I think it was more than that. I think it was showing the nature of relationships and how important they are. How some people can be unknowingly selfish and be unable to see the toxicity of one relationship or the pureness of another. Others will gave all of themselves to a relationship, asking nothing but knowing that the person would be there for them, giving them strength. I guess you could say as an adult this book has me looking at my relationships and making sure I'm not blinding relying and not giving back. Whatever underlying theme you may see, I will bet you may see several as growing up is hard and bumpy. I do look forward to what happens next and to see if the storyline tighten up

** Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the Audio version and for the opportunity to review it **

Alright I have to be honest here. I adore P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast. I own and adore every single one of their books so I am probably a bit biased in my review. Alright that being said here we go.
I really enjoyed this! I don't want to say to much. The story was fun and dark in the way most of Cast books are. The magic wasn't exactly unique but I really enjoyed it. The twins were amazing and I really enjoyed reading about them. The whole thing was great and there wasn't some annoying budding romance getting in the way of the actual story and I loved that! I honestly loved this whole thing and can't wait for the next one!

Twin witches, Hunter and Mercy Goode are direct descendants of the founder of Goodeville. Their mother, Abigail is a well-known kitchen witch who is murdered during their birthday ritual to become Gatekeepers of the 5 realms. As the murders begin to pile up, the twins need to work together with the help of their friends and loveable cat Xena, to discover who is behind the killing and how to put a stop to them once and for all.

I was initially very excited for this because I absolutely love witchy books... and I thought it would be even better with twin witches! The book started off pretty strong with the prologue, and I thought it was going to be really interesting! Unfortunately, I was really disappointed with this one...It felt very young in its writing style, which I wasn't expecting. I didn't like either of these main characters, they were both so self-absorbed and annoying. I hated the dialogue between all of the characters, a lot of it was awkward and stilted... and it became repetitive and irritating very quickly. I did like Xena, but even she kind of annoyed me at times.

I ended up giving it 2 stars instead of one because I do think the story was unique, I just think it could have been executed SO MUCH better.

The narrator was okay, but there wasn't much differentiation between the two twins. The only reason you knew who was talking was because they constantly said each other's name every time they spoke to one another.

3.5 stars
This book had promise and an interesting premise, but I found it a little bit lackluster. I found myself tuning out a little bit here and there throughout the story. It just never really caught my attention and held it.
The characters were very ok. For the longest time I couldn't remember which twin was Hunter and which was Mercy. I much preferred Hunter to Mercy and I loved her friendship with Jax. I felt Hunter was more grounded and I related more to her being the introverted twin. I found Mercy kind of airheaded at times. I also thought that the fact that Hunter was a lesbian was kind of just in there to be in there since she thinks she's the only lesbian in Goodeville, unless this comes into play in later books.
The whole plotline of the descendants of Salem witches protecting the gates to the underworld in the town was intriguing and I wish they had been better explained because I was a little confused. I also liked the murder mystery aspect, but we found out who the killer was early on and watched as the twins struggled to find the killer's identity which isn't as fun.
This book really felt like a setup for book 2, as the ending was kind of anticlimactic and then we were left on a cliffhanger. While there were some promising things, I felt like it was missing some things too.

witches and a mystery??? Yes ma'am!
Wow! I enjoyed this one so much!
Twin sisters who are witches, both also as different as can be. It has an amazing cast of characters. An interesting plot. I was glued from page to page and did not want to stop reading and when I read a book like that it makes me super excited! Wonderful book!

I am a PC Cast fan so I was excited to pick this one up. I am a big mythology fan too do this was a no brainer for me! I thought the ideal of the different mythological gates was genius. Unfortunately I have to agree with the idea that there were some sections of the book that really dragged and and others that flew by for me. Im.not sure if that has to do with the fact that this was a co author creation on this or not? Im not sure.

I thought the character development was great but the flow of the plot was just not to my liking. Im sure I will be in the minority though because of the history of PC Cast.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

OMG! 5 Stars! 2021 Favorites List! YAY! I really loved this book and can not wait until the next book comes out! The story is so well written and such an awesome read that I was sad for the ending. I love the world and truly felt like I was right there. The book follows Hunter and Mercy Goode, twin sisters that live in a town created by their ancestors after escaping the Salem Witch Trials and are charged with protecting the five gates to other worlds. As their Mom, Abigail, is showing them how to care for the trees something is not right. No spoilers at all but I highly recommend this book! Thanks #netgalley for the advanced reader copy and I can't wait for release to buy my own physical copy for my forever shelf!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC 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!