thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this audiobook! an easy 4/5 stars - I did already receive a e-arc for this but it's always enjoyable to me to listen to the audiobook, especially when the narrator is as talented as ciaran saward. saward has the perfect voice for this book and brings life to leo so effortlessly, I absolutely adored listening to every second. saward also does a great job of giving the characters distinct voices that match my mental picture of them, so all in all, this was just firing on all cylinders for me.

Sorcery & Small Magics by Maiga Doocy, her debut novel, is a captivating start to what promises to be an exciting trilogy. Narrated by Ciaran Saward, this audiobook transports listeners to a world of magic, rivalry, and unexpected attraction. The story follows Leovander Loveage, a scriver responsible for imbuing spells with the ancient magic language, and Sebastian Grimm, the caster who brings these spells to life. As the two clash in their professional roles, a magical spark of attraction ignites, leaving you longing for the next chapter in their journey.

As a debut, Doocy’s writing is imaginative and full of charm, setting a strong foundation for the series. Ciaran Saward’s narration is equally remarkable. His voice work brings the characters to life, using distinct pitch and intonations to distinguish each one clearly. Unlike other narrators who sometimes blur characters, Ciaran excels at making them feel unique. I found the ideal listening speed to be between 1.50x and 1.75x, which maintained the perfect balance of pacing and emotion. If you love magical worlds and character-driven stories, this debut audiobook is a gem you won’t want to miss!

Thank you Hachette Audio, NetGalley, & Maiga Doocy for this eARC!!

A warm, sweet, and fun novel. Would recommend for those looking for a magical and youthful read.

I enjoyed the fantasy elements. They were accessible and it was easy to fall in love with these characters.

The audiobook was narrated by Ciaran Saward who did a fantastic job of this story and the characters. He has a lovely voice, and captured the characters quirks and personality.

While I generally focus on books for youth, I had to take a moment to celebrate today's publication of this marvelous fantasy book for new adults. Events in Leo's past have made a reluctant participant at magic college, and have caused him to shun larger magics, only writing small spells for others to cast. However, when his rival and total opposite, Sebastian Grimm, accidentally casts an illegal spell on Leo that binds Leo to Grimm, the two must work together - and perform magic in new ways - in an attempt to to find someone to help them break the curse. And maybe the two of them don't feel so prickly about each other after all.... I loved how sexualities and gender identities were normalized, as well as the magical worldbuilding, the way the two opposite characters come to care for each other, and the idea that sometimes you need to get out of your own way to succeed. I'm classifying this as "new adult" based on the early-20s ages of the main characters, as well as the amount of drinking Leo sometimes does in an attempt to cope with his issues. However, I feel like older teens could probably handle the content, depending on your collection's guidelines. (And if you have a "new adult" section, by all means, add this to it!) @ciaransawardvo does an outstanding job with the audio version, too, in case your collection includes audiobooks. Thank you to @orbitpublishing and @netgalley for the audio ARC!

I really enjoyed this book. The narrator was great and nice to listen to. The story was interesting and moved well. I'm assuming this is going to be more of a slow burn romance since there wasn't much that happened in this book aside from the MCs being able to tolerate being around one another. I look forward to reading the next book.

Five bajillion stars for this book from me!

This was a wonderfully whimsy adult queer cozy fantasy and I absolutely cannot wait for everyone to enter into the Unquiet Wood with Leo and Grimm, who are most definitely *not* friends, on a delightfully spooky journey to break the curse binding them.

I went through all of the emotions in the last few chapters. I will be desperately waiting for the next book (no cliffhangers here, but I promise you will want more!!) to continue this story.

Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys:
✨ slow burn romance with a touch of enemies-to-lovers
✨ sunshine x grumpy
✨ light academia (actual classwork lessons included!)
✨ unintentional love spells and music magic
✨ spooky woods with fun monsters

The narrator did a fantastic job enhancing this book and I highly recommend the audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me access to an arc copy in exchange for an honest review. All feelings and statements are my own.

4.5 wildly magical stars.

🎧Audiobook🎧 was masterfully read, bringing everyone's characters so wonderfully to light.

This book is an absolutely delightful and adventurous romp. The two mains feel destined to be bitter rivals for good and all. But thrown together by a nasty bit of curse-work, they must endeavour to travel/work well together to find themselves a curse-breaker, before either of their aspiring magical careers is ruined properly. Yumm!!!

My biggest pet peeve? Naming the grumpy one Grimm?!?!? I mean, come on!

Otherwise, delicious! This audiobook was exactly what I needed to recover from a series of incredibly dire, dark tales of unending woe. And despite several tropes being carried through, the magical academic setting and subsequent short break where our fabulous sunny & grumpy pair travel upon their quest, the world-building and magical foundations set are cool enough to carry the plot along.

As with any book that I personally find worthy to binge, it was deeply fun, while also filled heaps of personal growth. The two main characters themselves, I found deliciously lovable (especially together - there is all the unrequited longing that anyone could ever want).

Honestly, this is basically a gay, magical Pride & Prejudice, and I’m 100% here for it!

Now, I just ABSOLUTELY REQUIRE the sequel to appear as soon as humanly possible. Until then, I see myself revisiting this audiobook again, each time I need some great enemies to ... not sure .... Also, the author Maiga Doocy is definitely a new author to watch.

Huge gratitude to Netgalley, and the publisher Hachette Audio, for an Audio-ARC of this title, in exchange for my honest review.

A wonderful tale of magic and sorcery set in a school between opposites Leo and Grimm.

Leo, is a rich legacy kid who seemingly could care less about anything. Always causing trouble and especially driving the prim and proper Grimm, up the wall.

When magic goes wrong (or maybe very right) they are forced to work together and in the process discover that the other isn’t who they thought they were. Both are wearing masks to deal with trauma and expectations. There’s some suspense and action along the way to keep us entertained.

I enjoyed the fantasy elements. They were well thought out, but not so complicated that I got confused or lost.

The audiobook was narrated by Ciaran Saward who did a fantastic job of this story and the characters. He has a lovely voice, and captured the characters really well.

4.5 stars rounded up!

This was such a pleasant surprise! It was the perfect cozy, light read for autumn. It felt very Carry On-like, and I mean that in the best way possible. Leo and Sebastian have a delightful rivals to... something... relationship that I adore. Leo is frustrating as a narrator, making choices that are baffling and self-sabotaging, and yet so entirely understandable by the end of the story. And Sebastian is stoic and dedicated and frustratingly by-the-book. This makes them a delightful pairing, especially once they are quite literally forced to be together.
The other major plus side to this story is the unique magic system, one of casters and scribers that depend on each other to succeed. I just genuinely love the idea of a magic that, while not finite in the world, is limited by the imagination and talents of those using it to the point that a spell might never be replicated.

Genuinely, the only downside, if it can be called one, is that I absolutely went in obliviously thinking that this was a one-off story, or at least the first in a series of interconnected stories focusing on different characters. It's not that: it is absolutely the first in a series, and it ends without much payoff on the romance side of things. When I say I like a slow-burn, I don't know that I mean quite this slow!

The narrator for the audiobook was so talented! Ciaran Saward did such an amazing job bringing the story to life.

I super liked the fantasy and fall vibes of this book! I really liked the characters and this is one of the few books that I actually think works better as a single POV narration.

The romance is....real light. I am imagining (hoping) that the next book will be about the same couple since we didn't actually get a resolution of their relationship. This is not my favorite kind of series (I'm a big fan of interconnected standalones with each book being about a different couple) so I'm somewhat biased against it as my preference is to have the main characters together romantically at the end of a book. I believe the author calls this a slow burn...but really it's a slow burn across series which makes it feel even slower.

I liked the narration by Ciaran Saward!

Read this for:
- a really cool magic system!
- fall vibes
- academic setting but also an adventure through the forest
- academic rivals
- banter

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A wonderful start to a new series! Sorcery and Small Magics is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy from debut author Maiga Doocy. Leovander Loveage and his rival Sebastian Grimm must venture into the magical Unquiet Wood to uncover a counterspell that can break the curse between them.

Lighthearted and whimsical, this story has the makings of a great comfort read. I was completely charmed by our impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival who share an undeniable chemistry.

This book is very light on the romance, which I didn’t mind. I sense their slow burn romance will kindle further in future books. The quest and adventure were more than enough to fill the pages with a unique magic system and fun mythical beasts.

The narration is fantastic, and I felt the voices of the characters really come through. I absolutely recommend this format for an immersive experience.

Read if you like:
🎼 chaotic bards
✨ academic rivals
🌲 quests into a magical forest
💘 slow burn queer romance
😆 cheeky writing and banter

Sorcery and Small Magics blended a unique, interesting magic system with a world plagued by monsters and a dangerous forest, yet somehow delivered a fun, cozy fantasy story. Leo is a delinquent sciver (spell-writer) in a longstanding feud with Sebastian Grimm, a spell caster. When an errant spell ties them together they set out on a quest through a dangerous forest looking for help. Of course, the forced proximity of their quest and the nature of the curse bring them closer together and make Leo question his carefully curated aesthetic of a careless sorcerer.

Leo and Grimm had the perfect grumpy/sunshine balance and I was so rooting for both of them despite each of their quirks. This is definitely a slow burn that I expect will heat up over the course of this planned trilogy - I'm excited to see how this world will expand in the future and if the stakes will increase past this one lighthearted quest.

The audiobook narrator was very pleasant to listen to and I think captured the tone of Leo's point of view. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for dual POV and two narrators in book 2!

Leovander Loveage begins the novel as an insufferable prat, mocking everyone around him and the opportunity he has at the Fount, a magic school, getting drunk frequently and barely performing in class. He’s known for his pranks, and constant supposed love of the spotlight, though this is actually a cover for complex feelings. Leo, as he prefers to be called, is also better at cantrips and other small charms, as anything more complicated tends to backfire, or blow up in his face, so he has no interest in learning more detailed, powerful magic.

His constant mockery, and his use of charms against classmates, particularly Sebastien Grimm, a gifted and determined student, has earned Leo a poor reputation at school, and with his father. The only person who likes him is Agnes Quest, a fellow student.

When Leo is paired with Sebastien for an exercise in one of his classes, a seemingly innocuous spell has unintended and unwelcome consequences: Leo is forced into constant proximity with Sebastien. Thwarting the spell leads to Leo experiencing discomfort, and prolonged separation causes pain. When two young men discover that the spell is actually forbidden Grandmagic, Leo is desperate to find a way to sever the forced connection between them.

Leo is distraught enough to follow Sebastien to his home, a farm, hire a guide, and convince Grimm to follow him into the Unquiet Wood after a mythical, powerful sorcerer. The Wood is inhabited by monsters and outlaws, a strong deterrent for the inhabitants of this world to keep them from wandering out of safe areas. (In fact, much of this world seems to be populated by dangerous creatures, held back by magical barriers.)

Leo and Sebastien must get past their mutual ire and frustration to find the sorcerer who may be able to counteract the Grandmagic spell. But Leo also begins to realize that their closeness also highlights his growing feelings for Sebastien, much to Leo's initial disgust, then growing fascination and lust.

Leo also discovers something very interesting about the spells he creates and puts to music (he's always got his violin handy) and when the two men pair Sebastien's voice to Leo's playing, they not only entrance a surprising audience, but also are able to work powerful magic together.

I loved author Maiga Doocy's beautiful prose in this novel. There are so many wonderful details, whether of the two main characters or of the world, and I revelled in the descriptions and adventure of this book.

Leo is self-destructive and self-centred, and admittedly hard to like, but Doocy made me care about this man who kept so much fear and sadness concealed under jokes and poor choices. His irreverence often saved me from giving up on him, particularly in the early part of the novel, and his occasional insight about magic was also welcome, and showed a mind under the persona he regularly affected.

For a debut, this is captivating; the major plot points of this novel were dealt with by the end; the author has left enough plot threads for the next book. On a sidenote, I do wish the author had given me more Agnes, as I wanted to get to know her better, and what made her tolerate and even like Leo so much. I hope she figures more in the next instalment of this series, which I'm looking forward to.

I will admit I was drawn to this book initially by its lovely cover, but the audiobook was a pleasure to listen to. Voice actor Ciaran Saward ably personifies Leo's insouciance, arrogance, and humour, all the while conveying the impression of deeper layers to the man. Saward also conveys Grimm's carefully held emotions nicely, and the many charged interactions between Leo and Grimm. Saward also distinguishes the other minor characters' personalities well, never leaving me confused as to who was speaking.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Hachette Audio for this ARC in exchange for my review.

4.5 Stars. This might be the slowest slow burn to ever burn slowly, but I need book two… right now. Whimsical and snarky and sweet and cozy. I loved it.

The magic system is interesting and different, the characters are a lot of fun. A few cliches mixed in with some surprises makes for a really enjoyable read.

The narrator was great, really brought the characters to life, giving them individuality.

I can’t wait to see what else Leo and Grimm get up to!

Magic! Mayhem! Monsters! I was originally drawn to this book because of the gorgeous cover - the details are just so lovely. I was completely charmed by the premise of this story and can’t resist a cozy fantasy, especially when a there’s a curse involved and a chance for former rivals to become something more. Doocy’s writing is infused with warmth and charm and I loved how the magical system encompassed a whimsical quality. I enjoyed how the stakes weren’t too high and the monsters were more of something from a fairytale than a gruesome nightmare.

The audio was superb and the narration was so immersive and engaging. I loved the bit of cheekiness Saward layered into the banter and exchanges between Leo and Grimm. It is always such fun when long-standing rivals must put aside their squabbles and through their time working together discover that they might actually be harboring feelings for each other… *GASP*

I am looking forward to where the series takes us next and to hopefully see magical sparks fly between Leo and Grimm. I think it’s important to mention that if you pick up this book expecting a romantasy, there’s a solid chance you’ll be disappointed. This is a slooooow burn, as in the smallest flickers (I don’t think you can even say sparks fly) of feels are mentioned near the end of the story. I’m assuming Leo and Grimm will share their feelings in the sequel? Fortunately, I read a review prior to starting the book that mentioned how the romance is VERY light so I was prepared but I do wish the kindling between Leo and Grimm started to spark a bit.

Lack of romance aside, I love a cozy quest with magical monsters and academic rivals, who once could not stand being in the presence of each other, must fight side by side and then happen develop feelings along the way. Highly recommend the audiobook for a delightful adventure!

It's books like this that make me think a majority of the originality in stories today are in fantasy novels. The magic system, the academic world, the socioeconomics, the incorporation of music (I've never read a book that so begged to be made into a musical), the quirky characters, and the forest creatures were all compelling, beguiling, amusing, and clever. Our protagonists are sympathetic and leave us wanting more of them both. The side quests were fun, and each one binding our heroes more. I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next installment.

Thank you Net Galley and Hachette Audio for giving me an ALC in exchange for a honest review.

This story has a flair of dark academia that I would have loved to explore more of it. It was slow to start and the love even slower. It was slow for me to like the MMC. The banter started to get better. I was invested enough to finish but the story just wasn't for me. I would have loved to explore more of the magic system and the college. The audio production was good and produced well, just nothing special or that stood out.

My first ever NetGalley audiobook and it was SO GOOD. Allow me to hit you with some enticing tropes-

🔥 cozy fantasy
📚 Magical school
♥️ M/M rivals to ??
😈 walking disaster MC

I loved every second of this book and the audio narration was on point 👌

This was such a good read!
I was expecting just a cozy fantasy story but what I got was actually deeper and more emotional!
I enjoyed the banter between Leo and his nemesis Grimm and their burgeoning friendship throughout the adventure. The side characters were also really well done, although I'd really love to see more of them in book 2 and beyond!
Definitely character driven, we follow Leo and Grimm as they try to figure out how to rid themselves of a curse mistakenly put on them. Very grumpy/sunshine, both leads discover a lot about themselves and the other. A very slow burn romance ensues and while I love that, I also loved that their mutual respect became so evident, leading to a friendship first.
The audiobook was exceptionally done. The narrator Ciarian Saward does a phenomenal job with the voices, the emotion and the hilarity! All the characters had their own voice which really brings an audiobook to life. The whole production was flawless. It's going to be a re-listen for me!
I loved this book!
My rating is 4.5 rounded up

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of the audiobook from #Netgalley, #Orbit and Maiga Doocy, so thank you so much!

Sorcery and small magic was the perfect cosy read. The pacing was slow and allowed me to stay in the world and be grounded. The writing is beautiful and descriptive which allow me to easily see the world and understand the characters better. The setting was just amazing and gave me that cosy vibe that I have been looking for.  Watching Leo and Grimm's relationship grow was beautiful and was nicely intertwined with the plot. The narrator Ciaran Saward complements the book so well and their narration added to the reading  experience. 


Thank you @HachetteAudio and NetGalley for this incredible audiobook.