Once upon a time in Wilmington, North Carolina, three witches ran a curio shop named Smuggler’s Arcane. But as the years passed, their magical powers started to fade—leaving them no choice but to conjure up a retirement package…
Before they could blink their eyes or twitch their noses, Molly, Elsie, and Olivia somehow became eligible for AARP. But they can’t fly off to Boca Raton just yet. First they must give up their magic, recruit and train three new witches, and pass on their cherished spellbook.
They’ve barely begun to consider potential practitioners when Olivia winds up dead and their spellbook is stolen. To honor their friend and reclaim their spells, Molly and Elsie are about to go wand-to-wand with a dangerous young witch more powerful than the trio was in their prime. And this time they’re going to need more than magic up their sleeves…
My Thoughts :
I was very excited about this new series. Paranormal cozy mysteries are the best and I couldn't wait to try this new offering from two authors that haven't disappointed me before. This was on pre-order and I couldn't wait to curl up with it over the weekend but it had to wait till the Bank Holiday (yeah we had one here!) before I could give it my attention.
Ever read a book and thought the whole time, 'Not sure if I like this? It isn't as good as I expected?' Then gone over to somewhere like Goodreads and seen that everyone is giving it amazing reviews? Well this is one of those books. There were things I liked about it. For instance the general concept was ok. However the story kept falling flat and the characters kept annoying me. The plot was good but at the end of the day the big reveal, while very surprising, was rushed and lacking in any real explanation.
What got me from the beginning was the lack of mourning and general grief about their friend being murdered. Someone they have spent all their lives with, own a shop with and share magic with. The reactions of Molly's husband who talked about Olivia as if she was some passing acquaintance and not someone who was such a huge part of Molly's life. I didn't need a full on cry fest but it came across as something that happens all the time.
The magic was nice enough but lacked explanation. The council was mentioned so much and it was all hidden from everyone mundane and so on but there was something missing. I didn't believe it. Which brings me on to my other problem with this debut. Everyone just accepted it. Even poor Dorothy just took everything on and went with it. No ifs or buts. Just jumped on the crazy weird roller coaster of an investigation that really didn't solve anything.
I am willing to give the sequel a go but I won't be pre-ordering it. When it comes around it will go on my wishlist but I won't be rushing to read it. There were so many things that didn't sit right with me from the ages of the main characters (they all felt wrong) to the amount of times in the two? three? days that they ate pizza. Which even the story ended up trying to joke about.
A slight disappointment but I remain hopeful.
1 comment:
I was really looking forward to this one, but now, I think I will pass.
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