Spellcaster does bring a solid plot and likable characters into the mix, even if that too has a tinge of familiarity. It’s boring and sometimes makes certain moments easy to predict. The small town supernatural outcast thing has practically been done to death. The setting was very familiar, as were a few other things, like the romance and some of the turn of events. The whole thing feels extra special to the reader. I must say that Gray does fine job at heightening the emotion when Nadia does the Craft. When reciting the spell, Nadia would have to conjure up memories, and through these little instances, we learned a great deal about her. The magic has to come deep within one person. It wasn’t just incantations and a mixture of oddball substances that we’ve read about time and time again. I loved how the magic was produced in this book. Nadia introduces us to the Craft, what she calls her magic and spells. Nadia is the main narrator though, so it is her that we follow for the majority of the story. The book is written in third person, but switches perspectives between characters frequently. His mother was the last to have this burden, and Mateo is afraid that he inherited his family’s mental illness when he starts getting visions of Nadia and the future. It is part of his family’s curse to see the future, a curse that led each family member to go crazy and commit suicide. Mateo can’t believe that he just saved the girl he’s been dreaming about from the car wreck that he had envisioned for a while. A car crash into a magical barrier leads to Captive Sound resident Mateo saving her and helping her father and brother from the car wreck. And there’s no doubt upon entering Captive Sound that the town is simmering with magic. She’s still a novice, but she can sense and work magic. What her father and brother don’t know is that Nadia is a witch and has been studying the Craft with her mother for years.
Recently abandoned by her mother, Nadia, her father and little brother are leaving Chicago for a fresh start in the small town, Captive Sound. Claudia Gray cooks up a spellbinding story with a solid plot, mythology and characters.
In fact, I preferred and enjoyed it more than I did Beautiful Creatures (the book). I hoped it wouldn’t be too similar to BC, and luckily it wasn’t. Obviously, I was hesitant when starting out Spellcaster. I knew it wasn’t the best idea to read something pretty similar, but time restraints and scheduling made this happen. I started Spellcaster right after seeing Beautiful Creatures in theaters, which also follows a story about a witch who moves into a small town.