A perfect cozy fall read! I’m such a sucker for a good Bildungsroman, and this one didn’t disappoint at all! It’s packed with adventures, and the magic system completely drew me in—it was so unique and fascinating! I loved every twist and turn. If you're looking to add a little enchantment to your fall reading, definitely give this one a try. It’s the kind of book that makes you want to curl up with a blanket, a warm drink, and just lose yourself in its magic!

What a delight! I enjoyed this spin on fantasy academia with two stubborn protagonists representing two very different areas of magic. The enemies to lovers romance was an incredibly slow burn--necessitating a sequel ASAP! I can't wait for the next in the series!

Readers who are seduced by character driven stories should not sleep on Sorcery and Small Magics!

We follow rival Sorcerers as they find themselves working together to undo the dark magic that is inconveniently binding them together. There's witty banter, magic forests, and some seriously adorably slow burn romance.

As mentioned, the characters are truly what makes this debut worthy of your shelves. Leo and Grimm are written with such love and warmth that you can't help but feel invested in the story. The plot itself is somewhat low staked but you'll be rooting for these two like they've been your closest of friend for a lifetime! It also gave me some seriously big Sophie/Howl vibes!!

I was lucky enough to listen to audio version of this and the narrator was nothing short of dazzling. The cadence in which he read really brought this story to life and I will be seeking out other narrations by the reader!

This book had been a surprise highlight for me. It's cosy but with stakes, and it's so slow burn I was aching for these wonderful idiots.

I needed the audiobook to just dive into it all over again, and it did not disappoint. The narrator is bringing across the clumsy, the soft, the grumpy and everything else.

5/5 stars

Thank you so much for the ALC!

Thanks so much to Orbit, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the chance to listen to this ALC, all opinions are my own.

I am so happy to have another amazing book to add to my favorite reads of 2024 list!

Book review: Sorcery & Small Magics by Maiga Doocy had everything I love about fantasy - cool world building, unique magic system, lovable misfits, a quest, cool magical creatures, and of course, some drama.

This is the story of Leo (told from first person POV), who is from a wealthy sorcerer family, attending a magic school with students whose aim is to enlist in the magical army to protect their country from “wild” magic. Unfortunately, Leo’s magic always goes a little haywire, getting him into trouble often. When he is paired up with an academic rival, they accidentally miscast a spell that literally forces them to be together. In an effort to break this spell they must (begrudgingly) go on an epic quest together to find a cure and the drama ensues!

The plot was fun and interesting and even though the twists weren’t shocking, I still felt myself fully engaged with the story at every turn. I also loved the unique magic system and the idea that no magic can be created alone and you must work with someone else. I also liked that magic had a cost and could be harmful if you aren’t careful. Plus I loved the way we got to see the different uses of magic in the world (and of course the inequality of it's usage).

But truly the best part of this book were the characters. Leo is of course an epic but lovable disaster, always leaping before he looks. There is a reason he is always getting into trouble! And Grimm is the grumpy to his sunshine. I loved how we slowly get to learn about Grimm as Leo does and how he quickly becomes a sympathetic character. And without giving away any spoilers, I love the way the spell starts to weave its way into their lives and makes them question what is real and what is not.

While you can tell that there is going to eventually be a romance between theses two (I hope!!), there is no actual real romance taking place in this book. You need to enjoy the slooooow burn. It is really about the development of their friendship and coming to understand each other and work together to be successful with their magics. I didn't miss any romance at all and you can just tell that the tension is going to be delicious in the next book! I can’t wait for more!

Audiobook review: I am not familiar with Ciaran Saward but I thought he did a fantastic job bringing this book to life. When a book is first person POV you really need a narrator who can find the voice of that character and draw you into the story. Ciaran was a perfect Leo and provided a great balance of emotion and humor throughout the book. The pace was good, there were no weird inflections or pauses, and all of the different characters were distinguishable through different voices. I know this excellent narration contributed to my love of this book!

Audio arc*

Reading this book feels like reading a fanfic of carry on, an already famous parody of harry potter. Even some names are oddly similar ( Sebastian Grimm vs Baz Pitz-Grimm )

The story is fine. Nothing about it stood out which in itself is a bit of a crime since I want books to hook me in something.

The writing feels the same. It sure wasn’t the worst I ever read.

The main characters main trait seems to be that he’s annoying and bad at what he does and the love interest is just kinda grumpy but at least that’s understandable. In the end I just didn’t feel like I got attached to any of them.

The romance on the other hand is incredible odd.

*Spoilers*

We get to know the “mind control” spell the LI accidentally casts is actually a love spell and it just made the relationship post spell feel really icky. I know this is just book one but I’m not a huge fan of hoe it played out.


In the end I don’t think i’ll continue the series. While it’s far from the worst book I really did nit care for anything in it enough to feel like continuing it would be worth it.

This is one of those rare instances when I am so sad that I don't have more than five stars to give. I adored Maiga Doocy's debut novel Sorcery and Small Magics. I was about 1/3 in, and I just KNEW this book would give me a huge book hangover. It's the type of world-building that makes you want to stay in the story, and it made me jealous of future readers who will get to pick up this book when the entire series is published so they can stay with the characters even longer.

What did I love about it? The writing was beautiful. There is nothing simple about the way she described the scene. The dialogue was funny, and the characters were so multifaceted.

One of the first things I loved about the book was its unique magic system. To have two parts of a magic pair (a Scriver - one who writes spells and a caster, one who casts spells) need to work together to make magic was the perfect setup for this enemies-to-lovers tale (although there are no sparks yet in book one). The forced proximity, the twists and turns, the backstory of both main characters were all so well done.

This is one of the few times I was not annoyed at having read the first book without all the others being out. It finishes in a satisfying place (despite me desperately wanting more), and I look forward to re-listening to the book when the next ones comes out in the series!

Truly a very fun story. I was into it basically from the start. The magical school setting with a good rivalry will always win me over and so it did here again. And then there was a wonderful adventure with glorious character moments. I’ve grown incredibly fond of Leo and Grimm. They are both idiots in their own lovable way. Their relationship reminded me of some amazing fanfiction I read and I mean this as the highest compliment.

The world building was very cool and I loved the magic system. It feels like a lot of thought flowed into it and I can definitely appreciate it a lot!

I already cannot wait to read the next book in series and see everything develop even more. Especially with the promise of a great relationship and very interesting world building.

The audiobook format lent itself well to the book. The narrator brought the characters to live beautifully. However, it was extremely slow so I definitely needed to increase the speed.

This book is enchanting and one of my favorite reads of 2024. Pick this up during the fall and cozy up under a blanket by the fire while diving into this wonderful world created by Maiga Doocy. Leo is a writer of spells who sticks to smaller charms when the bigger magic seems to blow up in his face. Brooding rival Sebastian is a caster of spells. The two are forced to work together and unexpectedly bonded together in a magic they set out to undo. They venture out into a forest filled with beastly creatures and untrustworthy characters in search of a sorcerer’s help. The slow burn of Leo and Sebastian’s connection had me craving more and the well-paced adventure kept me turning the pages. Read this is if you like The House on the Cerulean Sea, Harry Potter and/or Simon Snow. I listened to the audiobook, which is perfectly narrated by Ciaran Saward. I was grateful to receive an ARC from NetGalley and can’t wait to read more of this delightful series!

Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy is a warm fantasy full of magic, slow burn romance and creatures with unsettling numbers of mouths that happen to enjoy music.

The cast was delightful, from the poor put-upon friends to the mysterious sorceror in the woods(agree with Leo there, goals.) 
Our two mains, Leovander Loveage the totally-definitely-above-caring joker and stick-in-the-mud Sebastian Grimm, absolutely stole my heart. I am perhaps not the biggest fan of slow-burn, and this was scream-at-fictional-characters grade slow, but it is a testament to how much I enjoyed them that even at their thickheadedest I was still more than happy to go along with it.

This is billed as cosy fantasy, and while I would definitely agree that the vibes are very cosy, there are definitely moments of life-or-death stakes and even hints of a system in need of changing. Both our mains also have some tradgey in their past.

The main plot treads some well-known ground, but I find that’s really where the main cosy element comes in, sometimes stories don’t need to utterly surprise us to be worth reading. There is a lot of creativity on display in the smaller details, from the monsters in the woods, the magic tower, as well as both the magic system itself and the ways it allows the characters to interact, and I am definitely looking forward to see where the story goes from here. 

Also I’m a sucker for musical harmonizing. Inject that straight into me please. 


I had the pleasure of listening to an audio ARC and, as a big fan of audiobooks, I know a good narrator, as well as good direction, can really elevate a story. Such was the case here, all the praise to the team behind it. Ciaran Saward does a wonderful job with Leo as our narrator and just as well with the rest of the cast, giving great voices that, where needed, can be funny, but never vering into grating. Likewise the acting was never too much but suited perfectly to the material. I can hardly imagine the story without Saward’s voice and will definitely continue the series with audio.

Many thanks to NetGalley as well as Hachette Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It's a quiet book without a very dense plot, with little at stake for the protagonists. I really liked the world and the magic system. The relationship between the characters evolves in a curious, gentle way. The secondary characters have personality and depth, adding richness to the story.
It's supposed to be the start of a series of books, but I feel that the ending is rather closed and I don't know where the story might continue.
I would recommend it to people who like cozy, quiet fantasy, with an original magic system, completely opposite protagonists who then complement each other perfectly, and adventures through enchanted forests full of monsters.
Really liked the narrator.

I loved this book. The narrator has such a pleasant voice, too, I am glad I got it as an audiobook!

The story is about two rivals at some kind of university for magic. Leo studies spell composition and Grimm is training as spell caster. One day, they are paired up for the semester in one of their classes and need to work together, but in there casual bickering they do not notice a different spell in the pile Leovander wrote, so Grimm accidentally puts a curse on Leo that controls and binds Leo to Grimm.
Since cursing people is illegal and Grimm has his careers to worry about, they go on a quest to try and break the curse.
The book is full of magic and Creatures and adventures, but I also really liked the writing of it - the characters' dynamics and the slowly developing friendship.

Overall the book felt very cozy and perfect for autumn.

In the end-credits it said this was book 1 and I do hope book 2 will be about the same characters because I want to see them grow even more close and their life together.
I will also need to look into the narrator's back-catalogue.

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.