Book Review: Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz

Title: Spellcaster

Author: Cara Lynn Shultz
Series: Spellbound, #2
Pages: 384
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Date of Publication: 27th March 2012
Source: NetGalley*
Synopsis from Goodreads: Finding your eternal soulmate - easy.

Stopping a true-love-hungry evil - not so much…

After breaking a centuries-old romantic curse, Emma Connor is (almost) glad to get back to normal problems. Although...it's not easy dealing with the jealous cliques and gossip that rule her exclusive Upper East Side prep, even for a sixteen-year-old newbie witch. Having the most-wanted boy in school as her eternal soul mate sure helps ease the pain-especially since wealthy, rocker-hot Brendan Salinger is very good at staying irresistibly close....

But something dark and hungry is using Emma and Brendan's deepest fears to reveal damaging secrets and destroy their trust in each other. And Emma's crash course in über-spells may not be enough to keep them safe…or to stop an inhuman force bent on making their unsuspected power its own.

My Thoughts:
The first book in this series, Spellbound was awesome. I really really loved it, but I thought it was a standalone - so you can imagine my excitement when I found out there was going to be a sequel. It started off a little slowly, but after the first five chapters or so, I really started to enjoy it.

I can't really remember much about the first book, to be honest, but as I was reading I sort of felt like I didn't really need to know. There was some referring back to 'what happened with Antony' and it took me a while to remember what that was and I guess that could be annoying for people who haven't read the first book, but the story in the book stands by itself, I think.

One of the few things I do remember from the last book, was Emma and her snarky and sarcastic personality, and that definitely wasn't missing from Spellcaster. Even at the worst of times, she made me laugh and I had no doubt that she'd get through. She was face to face with someone who could easily kill her, yet she still had time to come up with witty remarks and comebacks that lightened up some pretty appalling situations.

I liked that in this book we got to learn more about the witches of Emma's world. She comes into her powers (sort of) and it was amusing when she tried spells that went wrong, or when she accidentally performed spells on her friends at school. She had her ups and downs with the spells, and it was nice to read about someone who wasn't amazing at spells even though she's only known she was a witch for a short amount of time, like some leads in books.

The reason I didn't give this book five stars, only four, was because I didn't nearly enjoy it as much as the first one. I ADORED the first one, absolutely loved it. This one, I just really really liked. I don't think there was anything majorly different about it, I just think that the continuation of the story was unnecessary - the first one as a standalone worked fine, and while I'm glad this one was written, it didn't need to be, and it ruined the first book a teeny tiny bit for me.

Overall though, I really enjoyed Spellcaster and I think fans of the first book will love it. If you haven't read the series, you should! They're great for fans of YA paranormal - they're like Gossip Girl with a paranormal twist, they say ;) It really reminded me of Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, so if you loved that, you'll love this!

*Huge thanks to Harlequin Teen and NetGalley for allowing me access to this galley in exchange for an honest review! In no way has this affected my opinion of the book.