Sorcery and Small Magics follows Leovander Loveage and Sebastian Grimm after an unfortunate magical mixup links them together in an unexpected way. The magic system was so interesting, and I love that there is potential to build upon what we know in future books. The monster-filled forest setting was so fun, and I loved the side characters we meet throughout the book. I look forward to the rest of the trilogy!

Narration by Ciaran Saward was outstanding and truly brought this book to life.

I received an ARC and ALC from Orbit Books | Orbit and Hachette Audio | Orbit via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sorcery and Small Magics is the first book in a cozy, slow burn fantasy romance series. This book is built around a strong character driven plot, which results in exquisite characters with strong development. Truly, Leo and Grimm are the best part of the book. The character growth is well done for both of them. I’m a sucker for banter and loved it between these two. I also really appreciated the world building and magic system development. Both were well done in general but even more so for a debut. I especially loved the Unquiet Wood forest. I felt the pacing was appropriate for the book and had no issues with it keeping my attention. The one thing I was hoping for was better developed surrounding characters. I’m hoping this is further explored/developed in the next book since I love having a rich and varied cast. I combo read this via ebook and audiobook, but I was particularly drawn to the audiobook. Ciaran Saward’s narration was whimsical and fitting for Leo making the experience all the more enjoyable. I don’t think you could go wrong with either choice, but the audiobook was such a great experience that I would strongly recommend checking it out.

Wow! It's going to be hard to convey how much I love this book! It is the best of this genre and coming from a debut author?? This book has everything: a magic school, two snarky and morose main characters who can't stand each other, deep dark secrets from their pasts, a magical dangerous wood with crazily inventive monsters, a wise and wonderful sorcerer, and the sweetest love story embedded in the adventure. I loved these characters and all of the supporting cast. If you like Freya Marske, F.T. Lukens, the Simon Snow series, you will love this book. I cannot wait for the next in the series! The audiobook narrator was brilliant - absolutely perfect for this book. It was a delight to listen to from start to finish!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Hachette Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I pretty much listened to this in one sitting and loved every second of it! I loved the atmosphere and the storytelling so much. Leo’s humour is top notch and it made me chuckle more than once.

Watching these two grow closer was so fun and they’re absolutely adorable. I need book two immediately!

This has been one of my favorite reads this month!

Sorcery and Small Magics is set in a unique world of magic, where scrivers write spells and cantrips while the casters make them come to life. Leo Loveage is our MMC, who is a reckless scriver at The Fount. The story focuses on his rivalry with Sebastian Grimm, a serious, rule-following caster. When a spell goes wrong, they’re magically bound together and forced to embark on a dangerous journey to break the curse. Their relationship was fantastic, with Leo's self-deprecating humor and Sebastian's black and white matter of thinking, their bickering turned tension kept me giggling and completely engaged.

The magic system is unique, and the slow-burn romance between Leo and Grimm adds just the right amount of entertainment. The worldbuilding is solid, though it mostly focuses on the magic system, and I did feel like some side characters could have been more fleshed out. Overall, this is a pretty cozy fantasy, and I would highly recommend adding it to your TBR this spooky season! 👻

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this advanced copy! You can pick up Sorcery and Small Magics on October 15, 2024.

This book absolutely blew me away. I didn't expect to get hooked by the characters and world so quickly, but Maiga Doocy drew me in immediately with Grimm and Leo's academic rivalry in a magical school. It was easy to pick up on the magic system, but it still felt so unique and original to this world. I love the idea of casters and scrivers, showcasing how Grimm and Leo will eventually need to rely on each other, even if it's the last thing they want to do.

While I didn't realize this would be a sllooooooooowwwwwburn romance, I loved the little sprinkles of tension and longing we got from Grimm and Leo. The forced proximity with the curse helped them see past each other's flaws to the person underneath, and their trials in the woods actually had me on the edge of my seat. I expected the cozy vibes we got from the school and Leo's musical magic, but the monsters they faced and the life-or-death stakes had me gasping. If you want a truly SPOOKY, atmospheric book, look no further.

Am I devastated that I have to wait for the sequel? Of course. Am I positive it'll pay off in more high-stakes shenanigans and ramped up romance for these two idiots? Absolutely.

This is def one of my top reads of the month, if not the year, and it's perfect to pick up for spooky season!

This was a delightfully cozy magical school misfit adventure romp. The narrator does a fantastic job of elevating the very engaging and entertaining first person POV of Leo, who is immediately lovable as the screwball with a tune in his heart and a nemesis to annoy. Grim is just the right curmudgeonly prodigy from humble origins who is Leo's foil. Agnes is wildly talented and supportive to a fault towards Leo. I loved them and everyone their paths crossed immediately. The story and worldbuilding isn't super complicated but still feels loved in. However, for all the romping through magical woods to break a curse, something about all the narrative beats felt too simplistic. The curse in itself is a hilarious romance trope which touches on consent issues, and yet by the end, the simmering slow burn never resolves itself and there's some not insignificant hand waving around how things are resolved. I imagine the dangling loose ends are sequel bait, ones which I will happily follow but I'm still annoyed at the pacing and abrupt stop. That said, the audiobook narration itself deserves a whole extra star of its own because it contributed significantly towards me tearing through this in a short time.

Okay, intentionally or not, this is the perfect romance book for anyone on the ace scale. Those seeking spice should opt for another book, this is low simmer all the way through.

There are TONS of tropes, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, "enemies" to lovers, etc.

In this magical world, Leo is a bit of a flibbertigibbet. He avoids the deep, powerful spells in favor of amusing or simple, useful spells. There's a sad reason for this you eventually learn. On the other end of the spectrum, Grimm is very serious and always seems to be vaguely annoyed by Leo's silliness.

When they're paired together in a class and a spell that binds them together is accidentally cast, they set out on an adventure to undo it. However along the way, the spell may potentially resolve itself.

There's a dash of adventure with monsters and traitors but lots of slow burning affection development (my favorite!).

I'm glad this is just the start of a series as there was barely an admission of affection between our duo (even though we ALL see it).

If you are still skeptical about the hype surrounding the sudden popularity of cozy fantasy stories Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy will definitely convince you that the hype is real. This book has been a delight to read. So much in fact that it took away my Saturday and you know what it definitely deserved it. Sorcery and Small Magics is a delightful debut by Maiga Doocy that will make a great addition to your bookshelf.

I don't remember how I first became aware of this book, but I do remember reading the synopsis and immediately knowing I would love it and needed to get my hands on it as quickly as possible. I was, of course, correct. Sorcery and Small Magics was exactly what I wanted it to be: whimsical and magical and clever, the perfect balance of earnest and funny, simultaneously reminiscent of both Freya Marske's The Last Binding trilogy and a Hozier song. Needless to say, I absolutely adored it.

Leo and Grimm have quickly become one of my favorite book couples, and they aren't even an actual couple yet. I can't say that's surprising given that this book utilizes three of my favorite tropes (grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, and enemies-to-lovers), but it's worth noting that they pulled me in right from the start. Their banter and the deliciously slow shift in their feelings for one another had me giggling and kicking my feet the entire time. But beyond enjoying them as a pairing, I also loved them both as individuals. Leo is chaos personified, and Grimm is his exact opposite, rigid and firm and by the book. They balance one another out in all the right ways and are able to bring out in one another exactly what's needed for any situation in which they find themselves. While I loved their dynamic and was absolutely rooting for them to get together, I was glad that the romance wasn't so prominent as to overshadow their individual personalities and growth. If anything, it made me root for their relationship more because I was truly able to get to know them as characters.

I found the magic system in this book really interesting, and although you're thrown right into it, it's not too convoluted or complicated to follow. The world-building was done well, thorough but never needlessly drawn out. I'm really looking forward to reading the second and third books in the trilogy and learning more about this world and these characters, and I'm especially hoping to get a bit of Grimm's POV at some point because the inner workings of his mind seem horribly fascinating.

Overall, 10/10, absolutely loved this book just as much as I thought I would and cannot wait to recommend it to literally everyone.

As for the particulars of the audiobook, I quite enjoyed Ciaran Saward's narration. I read an ARC of this title a few months prior to being provided with the audiobook, so I did go into it already familiar with the characters, story, etc. The narrator did an excellent job of bringing to life what I had imagined while reading the book myself.

While not a terrible book, this just didn't work for me. I disliked both main characters enough that some small part of me was hoping they'd actually get offed early so I could be finished with the book. As well, the writing felt a bit juvenile with none of the characters fleshed out beyond annoying and rebellious meets surly and sulky. I certainly didn't see why either would be attracted to the other and couldn't help but want to say, "run far away!".

Story: Leo attends a prestigious school for magicians. But he hates everything about it and only attends because his parents are forcing him to do so. His rival is Grimm - a quiet and uptight boy who considers Leo a travesty. When put together for a magic class, a spell is accidentally cast on Leo forcing him to do whatever Grimm says. While potentially annoying, the real problem with the spell is that it is a) highly illegal and b) slowly evolving into something much more problematic over time. Can the two work together long enough to find a counter in time?

So yes, I found both leads problematic. Leo spends most of his time sulking, rebelling, and of course the self-doubt that the magic of a love interest always seems to cure. Because yes, he is a special snowflake with magic. Grimm is a 'by-the-rules' guy who didn't have the advantages of an aristocratic family connection like Leo and so despises Leo for purposely throwing away all that Grimm has had to struggle to obtain. Que silly mcguffin to throw them together and obfuscate that they aren't enemies but madly in love.

The plot meanders, there is far too much inner dialogue, the side characters are cardboard cutouts (YA friends archetypes) and the plot honestly is just silly. They are supposed to be on a dangerous quest through a monster-ridden forest that felt more like Disneyland and certainly there was never a worry that they were in harm's way. Queue quirky witch character cliché and I had to throw my hands up in disgust over this one.

I do get what the writer was going for here - something lighthearted, enemies-to-lovers, with a fairytale like atmosphere and clearly yet another Harry Potter derivative. But whiney self destructive characters aren't my cup of tea and everything felt heavily plotted so we can throw the boys together. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.