I really enjoyed this one! I had expected to, but after a string of disappointing reads, I was a bit worried. Clearly there was no reason to be, because this book was tons of fun!

My favorite thing about this was definitely the found family. Even if you ignore everyone but Antonia and Rook, it was adorable. Watching these two interact had me grinning from ear to ear. And the dynamic only got better when you added Fable and Sun in. Admittedly, I was shipping Fable and Antonia. I wouldn't complain if we returned to this world and got a romance between them... Anyways, I loved all of the characters and their interactions!

I also really liked the writing style. That's not something I say very often, but I thought the style worked great for Spell Bound. It was down to earth, and the humorous bits were legitimately humorous. I looked crazy a few times when this made me cackle in the middle of class.

I'm not sure if we're getting a Book 2 for this, but I would love to have one! I feel like there's so much more to address in this world, and these characters deserve more page time. I'd recommend this!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Representation: 5
Emotion: 4
Characters: 5
Plot: 4
Pacing: 4
Romance: 5

Actual Rating: 4.5

I'd recommend this book for people who are more focused on romance than action. There is some action and some tense scenes later in the book, but the first half focuses more on building Rook and Sun's (they/them) relationship. The first half also feels very episodic, with mini curse-breaking adventures, where the second half has more of an actual antagonist.

One character I feel like should have been mentioned Somewhere in the beginning. They were introduced three-quarters of the way in but somehow became part of the "found family" atmosphere at the end. There were certainly opportunities to introduce them earlier, so I'm not sure why Lukens didn't.

Another note: I don't think Young Adult books need to avoid swearing, but the F-word is said 34 times, and that seems excessive for the intended age group.

Review:
Spell Bound is my first of Lukens books and I am hooked. They have a very unique voice and a way of drawing me in that is fun and interesting. The main characters, Rook and Sun, are so different and still well paired together and their respective sorcerers are well rounded and dynamic. The magic system in this world is unique and I can see the care that was put into making it not only make sense but be interesting.

Rook and Sun are apprentices for frenemy sorcerers and they start off in an antaganistic way and I loved seeing them decide to be friends and then get throw together because of the rules of magic law in this world. Sun as a cat - well I didn't know I needed that but it was fantastic. One of my favorite parts of this book was the buildup. I didn't feel like it was rushed or forced. It felt natural and Lukens does a good job of showing this isn't all happening in one or two weeks. I appreciated the ending, but felt that was the one section of the story that was rushed and not entirely cohesive. That being said, I'm glad it ended the way it did so I'm not too upset by it all.

Synopsis:
Two rival apprentice sorcerers must team up to save their teachers and protect their own magic in this lively young adult romantic adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of In Deeper Waters and So This Is Ever After.

Edison Rooker isn’t sure what to expect when he enters the office of Antonia Hex, the powerful sorceress who runs a call center for magical emergencies. He doesn’t have much experience with hexes or curses. Heck, he doesn’t even have magic. But he does have a plan—to regain the access to the magical world he lost when his grandmother passed.

Antonia is…intimidating, but she gives him a job and a new name—Rook—both of which he’s happy to accept. Now all Rook has to do is keep his Spell Binder, an illegal magical detection device, hidden from the Magical Consortium. And contend with Sun, the grumpy and annoyingly cute apprentice to Antonia’s rival colleague, Fable. But dealing with competition isn’t so bad; as Sun seems to pop up more and more, Rook minds less and less.

But when the Consortium gets wind of Rook’s Spell Binder, they come for Antonia. All alone, Rook runs to the only other magical person he knows: Sun. Except Fable has also been attacked, and now Rook and Sun have no choice but to work together to get their mentors back…or face losing their magic forever.

F.T. Lukens really turns the magic up a notch with their third book Spell Bound, both literally and figuratively. Not only is this book full of sorcery, curses, and jinxes; it also captured my heart with it's loveable queer cast, and a story that I enjoyed even more than their other works (In Deeper Waters and So This Is Ever After, respectively).

In Spell Bound, we follow a golden retriever in human form by the name of Rook, who is on a quest to fill his life with magic again after his sorceress grandmother's passing. He doesn't possess an ounce of magic, which means he is relegated to spend his days in sectors of the city with other non-magical folk - much to his misery. With his newly minted diploma in tow, he goes to the one magical place that might accept him: the office of sorceress Antonia Hex, infamous in the magical world but maybe the one person who'd stoop to offer him a job.

Things quickly take a turn when Antonia's rival, Fable, and their crabby apprentice, Sun, start to pop up more and complicate Antonia's business. Eternally grumpy and always dressed like a void, Sun makes Rook's life a whole lot more interesting, as he is determined to get their tough exterior to crack with his goofy smiles and unceasing cheerfulness.

I absolutely adore Sun and Antonia, I enjoyed the setting (completely different than Lukens's other books), and I was constantly smiling due to the antics these characters got up to. This is a perfect example of the grumpy/sunshine trope without ever feeling angsty. Not only is the love interest non-binary, but a few other characters are, too. It was lovely and definitely my favorite Lukens thus far.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

This was really interesting. Fantasy is not my go to, but when I saw this, I was like "oh this actually sounds good." The GRUMPY/SUNSHINE, FRENEMIES to LOVERS, the FOUND FAMILY, like this is what I have always wanted in a book.
I absolutely adored Rook. He is like a little cinnamon roll and I just wanna give him a hug and be his friend. He is a literal icon.
Sun I also really like. They're a grumpy emo like teen, and I'm living for it. And I love how much he changes throughout the book. Being a grumpy, not wanting to be friends, turning into a lot more vulnerable & open. They are like the curtains are finally opened after being shut for so long.

Also, Antonia & Fable were ICONIC, like they were always trying to one up each other, which normally I do not like, but it worked so well. Especially Antonia being the baddest b---h anyone can ever ask for.

The only thing preventing me from giving this a 5 star would honestly be the plot. It's not necessarily bad, it just felt like it was not timed correct. Like the first 2/3 of the book was kinda slow, and then the last 1/3 was way too fast & rushed.

Without spoiling it, I wish the main conflict came earlier than when it came. It would just make this so much better, but it does not takeaway the fact that this book is amazing. Rook & Sun are adorable. Antonia & Fable are literal Queens.


Thank you NetGalley for letting me have an eARC copy of this for an honest review.

FT Lukens continues to be one of my favorite new authors in the Queer YA realm. This is their best book yet! Not only is Spell Bound just a feel good story, but it's genuinely magical. I wish I knew the secret of imbuing books with magic like Lukens is capable of, because this book is full of magic, laughs, and adorable features that even the most serious of readers will smile over.

Rook and Sun are both apprentices to some well known sorcerers in this universe and when their teachers disappear they have to rely on each other to solve the mystery around their disappearances. This book will grab you in chapter 1 and won't let take those hooks out until you finish the book and discover all the magical secrets. Throw in some healthy dashes of friendship, found family, and romance and you have this masterpiece.

I am SMITTEN with this story and you can best believe that I will be purchasing this story as soon as it becomes available. I found myself smiling at my kindle over and over and I know many other readers will feel the same way.

This book was cute and fun. It was an enjoyable light-hearted read. At times the lack of vocabulary took me out of the book. There were quite a few repeat words and too short of sentences. However, I would recommend this book as almost cozy fantasy. The characters were at least somewhat well rounded and had depth.

Ever since I read In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens they have been an auto-buy author for me. This book did not disappoint.

I was truly captivated from the very first chapter and I needed to know what was going to happen next.

I highly recommend this book.

And with that F.T. Lukens is officially an auto-buy author for me. I just absolutely loved everything about this. I knew going into this book that we'd have teenage sorcerer apprentices who are rivals but then catch feelings and have to save their mentors from an overpowered government body, but what I wasn't ready for was a story of fighting for your place in a community even when so many people, particularly the ones who make the rules, say you don't belong. Of feeling, knowing inherently that you belong even when they look at you say you don't fit all the qualifications it takes to be there. Of someone else finally looking at you and saying "You were right, you belong, and I've known all along." I'm going to put specifics behind a spoiler warning, but just to be clear, I am specifically talking about the queer community and gatekeepers within that community.

<spoiler>Specifically, Rook's conviction of belonging in the magical community, even when everyone says he doesn't, makes me think of gatekeepers of queer identities, and how they will push these arbitrary rules of "You can't identify as xyz if you don't completely fit into these parameters that we've decided on." The moment when Sun told Rook that they'd seen magic in him since the beginning particularly got to me. Seeing that validation is so beautiful. This may be less direct, but it also reminded me of something I have told others and I know others have said as well, which is if you look at queer couples and queer people and you wish you had that, wish you were that, wish you were trans, or anything like that, then I'd do some deep introspection because that is often a hint that you are and you do belong with us. Rook's inherent feeling of "this is where I belong" really reminded me of that feeling of wishing to be a part of the queer community, and then it turns out he did, because so often that is the case.</spoiler>

Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about this book. It was a sweet queer love story, but also had a super interesting magic system, and also was deeply against totalitarian government bodies, all of which completely worked for me. Thus far, I've deeply enjoyed everything I've read by Lukens, and I would really love to read all of their works.

I went into this expecting something similar to In Deeper Waters and was extremely surprised to find that Spell Bound was that but more. I loved how each of the characters had their own arch, how even when I thought Antonia was going to turn out to be the villain she turned around, and I loved the overall message of the book. I'm sure other people picked up on the overarching message of gate keeping and the feeling of needing to belong and I feel like that hit deeply within me. I will say, I also appreciate the buildup of Rook and Sun's relationship. I feel like it felt genuine when they did get together and it felt like the perfect cheesy moment amongst all of the intensity. Also, I will admit, this was a one sitting book for me and I went back to re-read parts of it already. I already have the book pre-ordered (and have for a while) and I definitely do not regret that one bit.

This was an adorable book, super cute. This is an adorable romcom esk fantasy book. But I do have some gripes with it.

I think the romance was developed a bit too fast, at an unrealistic place and some aspects of the magic world weren't explained to the extent that I would have wanted but I think the characters are beautifully written and I love it.
There are some things I would say could have been better but overall it's a cute read.

I recommend this to anyone wanting to read a cute light hatred romance with some aspects of fantasy.

F.T. Lukens has slowly but surely become one of my favorite authors. Each book of theirs has gotten better and better. After So This is Ever After I didn’t think they could write another story that could top that. I am flabbergasted and bamboozled that Spell Bound blew me away. I knew I’d enjoy the story but had no idea it would top So This is Ever After for me.

Lukens has a such a way with characters and I eat it up. All the characters in this were incredible. The dynamics between everyone was so wholesome. I love found family, it is one of my favorite tropes and this story smothered me in it. The dynamic between Antonia and Rook had me emotional more than once. Rook is her child and I won’t hear otherwise. The ending scenes with them had me staring at a wall with sad music blasting. Rook truly deserves the universe in my opinion. (Antonia as well).

Sun is probably one of my favorite characters I’ve read this year. I have loved how everything about them was detailed as ‘that’s just how they are’. Sun is reluctant with touch and doesn’t really care for it especially with strangers. And I’ve noticed that sometimes in fiction when authors have characters that are reluctant or have phobias about something the author will give a tragic backstory about why that character doesn’t like something. That is completely valid and trauma does shape how we do things. My problem is when that overshadows the fact that sometimes someone just simply doesn’t like something. With Sun that was the case. There was no tragic backstory, they simply didn’t like to be touched. Rook immediately respected that and that also had me clapping my hands like a seal. Boundaries being respected quickly does something to my soul. Sun was just simply the best. They were mean without vicious and cold without being heartless. Everything my young self aspired to be.

Overall, this book changed me. I was in a bit of a slump and this took me right out of it. I believe it was the singing mice that cured me. I’m already tempted to reread and it’s not even been two weeks since I’ve read it. Lukens has no flops only bangers.

F.T. Lukens never misses. Spellbound is the perfect blend of contemporary and fantastical with lots of adventure, mayhem, friendship, and romance. I am always on the lookout for YA novels that feature queer teens navigating a story that will entertain and engage my students, and I’m excited to read Spell Bound with them!

F.T Luken has created another well written book with a lovable main character. This book however just wasn’t to my particular tastes. I have ADORED her books set in a fantasy world but this one while extremely well written Just wasn’t for me. But if you like urban fantasy and sticking it to government agencies this book would be up your alley, rating it a 4 cause it’s good it’s just not for me.

As a huge fan of FT Lukens I was thrilled to receive an ARC from NetGalley!

This book totally brought the same vibes that were in Lukens's The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic. As much as I have loved the newer stand alone fantasies, that series really has my heart, so to get a new book that had the same feel was amazing.

I loved both of the main characters and could easily relate to them in many different ways. (Sun was my favorite of the two.) Even the side charters, or at least those characters that took up a little less page time, were well-developed and added to the overall story. The plot flowed smoothly and the writing style hooked me immediately.

Honestly, this was a great book and it 100% lived up to my expectations. If you're a fan of F. T. Lukens or you're just looking for a good, YA urban fantasy with some queer rep, this may very well be the book for you.

(4.5 stars rounded up)

I read an eARC of Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens.

This is a story told in two first-person perspectives with Edison (named Rook by his teacher/employer Antonia Hex) as the main character, and Sun (the grumpy, non-binary, wears all black and hates the heat) as his love interest and random chapters told from their point of view. The story starts with Rook going to look for work in Antonia’s office, despite not having any magic, and that being the reason he was taken away from the magical world after his grandmother died, and he had no one to take him in. Now he wants a way back into the magical world, and while at first, it looks like he might be turned away, Antonia’s horrible treatment of electronics gets him hired as an office worker.

Later Sun shows up with a box of hexed objects when their master Fable and Antonia are off to help someone with a cursed object. They are less than impressed with Rook’s sunny disposition, especially with the fact that Rook has been given a name by Antonia when Antonia has been forbidden to have an apprentice after her last one went all evil, all-powerful sorceress.

Still, as time goes on, Antonia learns from Rook that he wanted to do more than work with her, as he has an illegal machine that can find ley lines, something the consortium (the people that look after, and make laws for the magical community) would not approve of, and officially decides to try and teach him magic despite him being unable to feel or see ley lines. Also, she starts taking him on jobs, and he and Sun get to meet and be cute together.

Overall, that’s a good way to describe the book: cute. The two are an obvious sunshine and grumpy pairing. Sun basically made the book bearable for me.

Honestly, I kept waiting for the real story to start that’s written in the official description, but it doesn’t start until halfway or a little more through the book because of how much setup the book did. I think all the setup was needed, but I felt the rest was rushed, and mostly filled with the characters making bad decisions. I think I’ve been reading too many books with well-throughout activism, because that ending was rough and to a degree left me wanting more from the internal conflict.

Overall, the book is worth it for the cute romance, but the plot is a bit of a mess.

Sadly found this novel pretty lackluster. I was somewhat intrigued by the magical world here, but all the characters were pretty generic and lacked any unique or distinguishing features. While I appreciated graphing these known archetypes onto queer characters, it wasn't very special. The plot takes a really long time to kick in and the world building isn't strong enough to carry that first half while things are slow. At times it felt written for an even younger audience, but snuck a bit of swearing in. There are also similar jokes repeated over and over again which grew to be pretty annoying. I was compelled by the plot enough to finish but things worked out quite easily and made the ending kind of fall flat.

1 Sentence Summary: Rook just wants to be close to magic again after his grandmother’s death, and is nonmagical office staff for sorceress Antonia Hex; Sun is the magical apprentice of Antonia’s rival curse-breaker, Fable; and when something terrible happens and Antonia and Fable get captured, Rook and Sun must team up despite their differences to save their mentors.

My Thoughts: This was amazing! Spellbound is definitely F.T. Lukens’s best book yet. The world-building and magic system was really interesting, and the development of Rook & Sun’s relationship was really well done. Also, the emotion was really strong with the themes of loneliness and found family. It felt like someone was stabbing my heart (but in a good way).

I do think that it could’ve been developed more, but I still enjoyed it a great deal and will be recommending it. If you’re looking for something more lighthearted, fun, and super cute & sweet, then this book would be perfect. It’s got so much charm that you can look past the clichés. (And it also features some adorable cat shenanigans!)

Make sure to get your hands on a copy when it comes out in April!!

Recommend to: People who enjoy magic, curses, rivals-to-lovers, adorable romances, breaking the rules, and found family.

(Warnings: swearing)

“You could see me?” // “Since the beginning.”

F.T. Lukens’ books are such a delightful combination of interesting magical worlds, cute banter, sweet chemistry, low-angst conflict, and queer love within a queernorm setting, and SPELL BOUND is no different. It's a YA fantasy romance between a chaotic sunshine boy and his rule-following grump love interest, both of whom are apprentices to sorcerers in the curse-breaking business. There’s a fun annoyance-to-lovers journey, magical hijinks, a prolonged cat transformation, casual nonbinary rep, the tender beginnings of first love, and the takedown of a corrupt magical bureaucracy. Rook and Sun have such respect and care for each other, even when they are at odds; I love how they attend to one another’s boundaries and needs and wounds. It’s also a really beautiful story about emerging from a period of deep loneliness to find a family where you belong, and fighting for your place in a world that has rejected you. So much to love! Thanks to Simon Teen for the review copy; this book is out 4/4.

Content warnings: death of a parent figure, grief, anxiety, violence/capture, imprisonment

This was my first introduction to F. T. Lukens and it left me wanting to check out his other books. The world building is great, there’s a slow-burn romance element that is so cute it’s unbearable.

Rook is an orphan, a genius who was shunned from his community after his grandmother passed and he was deemed non-magical. He was determined to fit in, to be accepted by his community and was willing to break the rules to do so. He finds himself at the door of one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world where he meets his grumpy counterpart, Sun. I love the urban fantasy element and how magic is incorporated throughout their city and their everyday life. I also appreciated the discourse surrounding corrupt government entities who lie and withhold the truth from their citizens to fill their pockets.

(Pub Date: 04/04/23)
Thank you to Netgalley and Sim & Schuster for the eArc!