Thank you to NetGalley/Margaret K. McElderry Books for a copy of Spell Bound in exchange for an honest review.


"A Part of Your World"

I've been a fan of F.T. Lukens's work for a while now, but Spell Bound is my favorite to date. Not only that, but it's also their most solid showing yet. Writers using magic as metaphor for any manner of things isn't anything new, but this felt like a fresh take. 

Spell Bound has two POV characters, though I'd argue Rook is the mainer-main character. All this 17-year-old recent high school grad wants is to be part of the magical world The Magical Gatekeeper Man ripped him away from. Being a teenager and being put in the system is hard enough, but being cut off from the culture in which you were raised? Jerks.

So, of course, Rook seeks out magic wherever and however he can find it. Of course he does. Wouldn't you? 

Spell Bound asks important questions about what it means for someone or something to be illegal and why. Who benefits from laws? When do you benefit from blowing up society? And when is it better to toe the line? I'm not sure I totally agree with the resolution that F.T. Lukens lands on, but I get it. 


Swoon💞💞💞

Just ... give me all the nonbinary love interests, please, and thank you. Sun and Rook are the Grumpy/Sunshine Trope, with the occasional fliparoo (because people do people). But, Rook's overt physical attraction to Sun and his waxing poetic over them will do a lot of good things for the confidence of many people. 

Also, can I get some applause for how consent and boundaries are acknowledged for something so "small" as touches on the arm? We love to see it. 

Not only was I swooning over the romance in Spell Bound, but I adored the magic system in the book. Anything that blends technology and magic is right up my alley. 

Should you read it?

I think I've made that obvious, but if I haven't, YES!!! Especially if you're a fan of F.T. Lukens's other novels, you'll appreciate Spell Bound. If you're new to their work, this is a great place to start! It's fun stuff with a side of thought-provocation. 

Spell Bound is out on April 4, 2023. Pick up a copy at your local indie bookstore or library. 📚

As I read Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens, my first impression was that this is a sweet LGBTQ YA romance. When I read it, I found myself loving the way the characters were created. Rook and Sun are authentic and realistic teen characters. Neither is all powerful, they are both learning but each has skills that can help their mentors. I also appreciate the slow development of feelings between the two, as they learn about each other and grow to care. Each of them is unique. Antonia and Fable, their mentors, are equally interesting and engaging. 

Within the story, I also like how Rook develops his abilities, how he blends technology and magic to help him to learn. I like the way the world is built too, that the characters have to deal with a regulatory arm that is not especially flexible in their rules. Ultimately, I love that it is about friendship and found family, that Rook and Antonia become family to each other as Rook learns and grows. 

The story truly is a sweet LGBTQ YA romance with a ton of heart and characters that are both fun and authentic. If you have a teen reader, they might find this the perfect read. I loved it even as an adult.

This was such an exceedingly charming read. I have enjoyed the previous book I have read by Lukens and I love that Lukens writes these LGBTQ+ fantasies that take place in unique worlds and interrogate what it means to be magical and live in these spaces. This installment reminded me a lot of Carry On although the relationship between Rook and Sun felt more like a sweet friendship that blossomed into more as the book went on than any sort of enemies to lovers despite them apprenticing for rival sorcerers.

If I had any critique it would bet that I want to know even more about this magical universe and my kingdom for a book (prequel or otherwise) with Antonia and Fable. In fact I did think the book left a lot of threads hanging but ultimately I appreciate that it is mostly about Rook and Sun as they navigate this magical world while still maintaining their integrity and their friendship.

Rook and Sun both have different relationships with this magical world and my absolute favorite part of the story is the found family aspect and the end of the book gave me butterflies. An almost warm, cozy book that's also about interrogating rules and authority be it magic or otherwise.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this one! Rook and Sun had an incredible dynamic, the enby rep was incredible, and the magic system was really fascinating. Also, I just loved the writing. It was concise, quick, and witty.

The name "F.T. Lukens" is whispered in hushed voices in libraries. Librarians revere him with awe and wonder at the literary power Lukens's possess. This story is a testimony to said power. From the first page, readers are spellbound (see what I did there?) by Rook's endearing personality, and Sun's....shining personality. When it comes to a book by Lukens, readers are always in for a treat.

4.5 Stars.

We follow orphaned Rook who despite being confirmed as having no magic defies the odds by seeking employment by one of the world's most powerful sorceresses, Antonia Hex. For reasons Rook doesn't quite see yet Antonia takes him in on a trial bias. Rook, magicless or not, is determined to learn magic. With the help of his new mentor and new frienemy Sun, Rook is set to break the rules to join the community he's been cast out of since his grandmother's passing.

This book felt like being warped in a warm blanket but with some humor and sass. I love all the characters, the representation, and the bits of defiance sprinkled in the mix. There is something about underdogs and their glaring defiance against the unrelenting hierarchy that just it for me. It was such a cute and fun read with fantastic LGBTQIA representation. 10/10 would recommend to anyone who loved magic and fighting-the-odds storytelling.

I think I've found a new author to add to my 'instant buy' list. You know? That list where the second you see the familiar name you don't even bother to read the synopsis, you just grab the book and take it to check out? After reading three of F.T. Lukens' novels I am happy to add them to that list.

Spell Bound was absolutely perfect in every way! Fantastic world-building and magical system. An utterly adorable grumpy/sunshine relationship between Sun and Rook. Found family at its best. F.T. Lukens has created a wonderful world with Spell Bound, and I for one did not want to leave it and would love to read a sequel, a prequel, really just about anything set in this same world.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

SPELL BOUND is another charming fantasy romance from F.T. Lukens. As with their previous books, this one is full of comedy, sweet moments, an inventive universe, and a diverse array of identities. The characters are endearing and complicated, while the plot is simple fun. A breezy and entertaining read!

I just finished Spell Bound and I have such a large grin on my face.

If you've seen all the advance reader praise around this book and wondered if the hype is worth it, take my word, it is. This book was full of magic, banter, laughter and love and (pun intended) I was totally spell bound.

This book starts off slow. The main storyline follows Rook, a boy who loves magic and wishes to be a part of the world his grandmother introduced him to. He joins Antonia Hex, the most powerful sorcerer in the world at her company where they break jinxes, hexes and curses for all sorts of folk. However, Antonia has competition in her rival, Fable, another notable curse breaker and their cute but grumpy apprentice, Sun. When Fable and Antonia get into hot water with the Consortium, a government body overlooking the regulation of magic in Spire City, Sun and Rook need to get past their differences to work together to find their mentors and free them.

The book benefits a lot from the slow build up of characterisation and backstory. For plot focused readers who like to go straight into the action, this book probably won't be for you then, but for me, a reader who thinks characters and character building is the most important element in a book and everything else comes second, I absolutely devoured this layering, character development and subtle pining. No scenes felt too quick and the romance in the book felt utterly natural, focusing on the small little moments like small, shared smiles and holding hands for the first time. For readers who love magical realism with a bit of romance, this one is definitely for you.

I loved the dynamic between Rook and Sun. Their relationship was a frenemies to lovers sort with flirtatious banter sprinkled in. Rook was like the sunshine in the relationship whereas Sun was the grumpy one. The way the grumpy x sunshine trope played out was fun and added a playful element to the book. I loved every single interaction between these two and the chemistry was almost palpable on the page. Easily one of my favourite fictional pairings I've read this year, and maybe in general.

This book seemingly was more tailored to the younger end of the YA spectrum but nevertheless, that shouldn't put you off. This was fun, playful, witty and such an enjoyable read. I highly recommend this book to any fans of magical realism, romance and fantasy.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.4 STARS

Spell Bound is the newest book by F.T. Lukens about magical and non-magical teenagers set in an altered contemporary world. I'm a huge fan of the author and loved their other books, both set in fantasy worlds, so was very excited to read this one set in modern times! I also just love a good contemporary magic story, particularly with good characters and an engaging plot.

This book did not disappoint! I really enjoyed the characters, story, world, and romance. I liked the way that magic works in this universe and the representation with multiple non-binary characters. The romance between Rook and Sun was very cute and progressed in what felt like a natural way. I was waiting for a big "liar reveal" that didn't happen, thankfully, and I enjoyed that the characters actually talked to each other about the issues that they were having. Woohoo!!

Overall, I had a great time reading this book and was sad when I reached the end with no more to read! I recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, magic, and/or are just looking for a fun read. 4.5 stars from me rounded down to 4. Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this!

This was super fun! It gave me some A Marvellous Light vibes - with the non-magical magic worker, queer romance subplot, and danger from the magical government. I devoured it in one day.

So this book was fine. There were parts I found endearing, but for the most part it felt really unmemorable. The world building had some fun elements, but could have been delved into much more. There were a few things in the book, including the ending, that felt way too easy, which made it all feel so low stakes. Both MCs were cute, but neither had a lot of depth. I just didn't feel much about them or about the relationship between them. Some of the banter was enjoyable, but the vibe I got was more friends than romance. It's definitely aimed at a younger YA audience, which is fine, but I've read plenty of middle grade and even elementary books with more intricate relationships than this one. It all just felt very surface level here. And there's nothing wrong with a book being just fluffy and fun, I actually did enjoy So This Is Ever After by this author, because even thought it was silly and light, I still found it charming. It was a nice low stress read. This was also low stress, but it just didn't hold my interest in the same way. It's certainly possible younger readers might find this one more lovable than I did. I did love that one of the MCs and another main character are enby and it's just a completely normal thing and not a plot element in the story. The casual queerness throughout the book was great. The story itself just didn't do much for me.

I love F.T. Lukens, they have been an instant-buy for me since I read In Deeper Waters and Spell Bound definitely did not disappoint!

F.T. Lukens always writes such wonderful, unique, and different characters. Sun's voice is very different from Rook's. Sun is more reserved, they don't trust easily and they're a bit prickly, over the course of the story they figure out what their feelings are towards Rook and learn to open up. Rook is a bit more stream-of-consciousness style, which I usually don't like but the author does it so well and it's easy to get into his head and really feel what he's feeling. Then you have Fable and Antonia who are on opposite sides of the spectrum, Fable follows the rules and Antonia hates the rules. Antonia is such a badass, I'd love a whole book just about her past, especially if Fable also makes an appearance.

This book deals with one of my favorite tropes: found family! You can really feel how the bonds between Sun and Rook, Rook and Antonia, grow and change over the course of the novel and I just love it.

Spell Bound is an entertaining and quick read perfect for fans of The Owl House.

I was looking for a cozy and light-hearted fantasy book and Spell Bound delivered. This book follows a standard formula–an ordinary teen enters a magical world and finds himself at odds with the powers that be. With the help of a headstrong, unconventional mentor, a rule-following but loyal friend, and some handy gadgets, our hero vies to carve out a space to belong.

Full disclosure: I detest reading books told in an alternating POV style, especially in the first person. So yes, I audibly groaned when I opened up my copy to the first page and saw a character’s name next to the chapter heading. To my like-minded reader friends - you’ve been warned. In fairness, the characters’ narration patterns were distinct enough that I usually didn’t get them confused. I don’t think this format would have prevented me from reading the book if I had known going in (it’s so ubiquitous in YA, for reasons beyond my comprehension), but I think the storytelling could have been more engaging without the second POV.

That said, I was impressed with the world-building and the coherence of the magic system and rules, especially given the relatively short length of the book. I would definitely read follow-up books set in this world. Maybe I’m just a sucker for ley lines or magical machinery, though. Something about the heirloom spellbooks, ordinary office spaces, intuitive spellcasting, and infuriating bureaucracy felt very nostalgic to me, in the best way.

Still, a few aspects of the story could have been fleshed out more. For example, much was made of the fact that the probably-main character (one of them, anyway) was a genius. I may have missed something, but I still don’t know if that was meant to be literal. I did read his internal monologue for a solid half of the book, and he didn’t seem like a genius to me. But what would I know, I guess? There’s also the occasional preachy monologue powerful enough to sway public opinion, which seemed a bit improbable to me. This book is definitely heavier on youthful romance than adventure, and is more earnest than humorous. There’s plenty of banter and maybe too many callbacks, but don’t expect to be cracking up throughout.

Overall, I found Spell Bound to be a sweet and enchanting read with compelling characters and an intriguing magical backdrop.

This was my first F.T. Lukens, and it definitely won't be my last!

This was a super adorable story about magic, found family, and wanting to fit into a society that doesn't know if you belong.

I really enjoyed the characters. They all had distinct personalities and were quite humorous in their interactions. I also really liked the romance that developed. It felt very natural, especially with the age of the characters.

My only complaint is that it takes over 60% to get past the events outlined in the summary. I kept waiting for the actual action to happen, but it took too long to get there. I did enjoy my time, but I wish it had picked up the pace in parts.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a sucker for grumpyxsunshine, and this book delivered!

Spell Bound follows teenager Rook, an orphan who is left on his own after his grandmother passes away and he ends up being deemed unmagical and cast out of the magical community. Desperate to return to the world he knows and loves, Rook seeks out a job with Antonia Hex at a magical Hex-Be-Gone agency. There he also meets Sun, the grumpy apprentice to Antonia's rival Fable. After the Magical Consortium comes after both Antonia and Fable, it is up to Rook and Sun to band together and save their mentors - for better or for worse.

This book kept me reading all day, I found myself counting the minutes until my break at work so I could read during my lunch. I previously really enjoyed In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens, and I was not disappointed. The world is simultaneously barren when it needs to be and lush when it's magical, and is fluidly written to be so.

One big theme of this book is found family, which is one of my favorite tropes ever. The connections between characters were so precious that I just wanted more! More interactions and reasons to learn about their pasts and relationships, I just wanted to do nothing but root for them. I especially loved the connection between Sun and Rook and how that grew through the book. I am a sucker for pining, and there is one section in this book that had me on the edge of my seat just screaming at them to get together it was so good.

I had so much fun reading this book that I immediately preordered my copy and I can't wait for it to arrive.

I received this arc from NetGalley and McElderry Books in exchange for an honest review.

This was a highly anticipated YA read for this year and I am here to say that I adored this book.

This may be one of my most favorite found family books ever. EVER!

In this fast paced frenemies to lovers we get, magic, mayhem, queerness, crazy magical government, teens saving everyone and great banter wrapped up in this wonderful YA Novel.

I’ve been recommending this to everyone I know that reads YA! I’m off to read more from Lukens!

I think I would've loved Spell Bound when I was a kid, but I would probably put it more in the middle grade category than YA which is what it's being sold as.

The book has lovely characters and a decent plot once it gets started but everything just felt very youthful and flat to me. Luken's previous books also fell into the younger end of the YA range but Spell Bound seemed to straddle the line betwen YA and middle grade much more. Which is perfectly fine if I was going in expecting to read a MG book but I wasn't.

The actual plot didn't really begin until well past halfway into the book, the worldbuilding didn't grab me, and the humour was very juvenile. I actually fell asleep a couple of times reading this book and struggled a bit to finish it.

I think kids might love this but I sadly did not. My favourite part of this book is probably the gorgeous cover.

Giggling and kicking my feet- I ADORED this book! A cozy urban fantasy that features a queer romance between rival apprentices to sorcerers who run curse-breaking businesses? Sign me up!

'Spell Bound' is a wonderful story about fighting for your place in the world and toppling idiotic bureaucracies- all while delivering feel-good vibes.

The world-building was natural, seemless, and as a bonus, cute. Hexes and jinxes show up in the silliest ways- singing mice, doormats that purposely trip you, video games that won't let you stop playing them, and so on.

The plot and story-telling had me feeling warm and fuzzy the whole time, but I was still engaged and excited. The twists and turns were unexpected, but welcome all the same.

And the best part? Rook and Sun were so loveable and endearing. They both had me laughing and 'awwwe'-ing the whole way through. I will protect them with my life!!!

(Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Spell Bound follows non-magical teen Edison Rooker as he attempts to land a job with renowned sorceress Antonia Hex in the wake of his sorceress grandmother's death.

One of my favorite thing about FT Lukens' books is that they manage to craft these tiny worlds that have just the right amount of detail that you can sink comfortably into them for the story. They are not complex, and they often leave more questions than answers, but for the story, it is enough. Lukens isn't just adept at just-enough-worldbuilding, though; they are also immensely talented at crafting beautifully round characters you can root for. I am so deeply fond of Rook and Sun, and going on their whirlwind journey through this quirky magical world was a wonderful time. FT Lukens never misses for me, but this book might have even earned its place as my favorite of their books.