Review: Spellbound

Spellbound (Spellbound #1)
by Cara Lynn Shultz
Paperback
324 pages
Published June 21st 2011
by Harlequin Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

What's a girl to do when meeting The One means she's cursed to die a horrible death? 

Life hasn't been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Connor, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she's irresistibly drawn to—Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight. 

But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can't stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma's been having the oddest dreams: visions of herself in past lives—visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else.

Thoughts:
I have to admit that I have been eyeing this book for such a long time but just never got around to reading it. I just love books about witches so when I received the ARC for the second book, I decided that it was high time for me to start reading the series.
The book is quite cliché to say the least. You have the new girl with the absent parents, mysterious gorgeous guy and everlasting love that transcends time. Such plot line is certainly nothing new. It's like Twilight, Fallen and even Hush, Hush put together except instead of having vampires and angels we have witches.

Likes
Thankfully the secondary characters are lovable enough for me to finish the book. You have Angelique; the weird gothic witch who help Emma find out about her curse, Cisco the pre-requisite gay best friend and even Aunt Christine; a former theatre actress who took in Emma when her stepfather is arrested for DUI. And Emma was pretty cool in the beginning when she stood up to the stereotypical mean girls on her first day of school.

Dislikes
I really wished that there was some more magical mayhem in this book but since Emma was pretty much in denial of her witch background and only used her powers towards the end, it was kind of disappointing for me. The reincarnation story could have been explored more especially the part where Lord Asher decided to curse himself with such a confusing spell. The ending was too brief. Everything is resolved rather too quickly that I can't help wondering what will happened next. I mean if the curse was broken then what's next in the series?

Recommended for: fans of paranormal romance
Verdict: 3 stars.

In my Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge 
Available on: Amazon