Spell Fire, The Teen Wytche Saga #3 By Ariella Moon
Summary New school. New friends. New reputation. High school sophomore Ainslie Avalon-Bennett works hard to hide her Crazy Girl past. But as long as her best friend’s disappearance remains unsolved, she can’t shake the depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder that once landed her in a mental ward. Ainslie’s tenuous control over her life shatters when her warring parents ditch her at Christmas. While they take a cruise to “work things out,” Ainslie must spend the holiday in Palm Springs with her aunt and uncle, owners of a struggling Mystery School and occult store. Plunged into the world of fire fortunes, dragons, entity eaters, and an ailing spell book, Ainslie is well beyond her comfort zone. Then she meets a boy who spikes her pulse and calms her OCD. But will she lose him once he discovers her past? Or will his deadly secret, hidden in plain view, be their undoing?
Author Ariella Moon Ariella Moon writes about magic, friendship, secrets, and love in her Young Adult novels, Spell Check, Spell Struck, and Spell Fire, Books 1, 2, & 3 in The Teen Wytche Saga. Ariella spent her childhood searching for a magical wardrobe that would transport her to Narnia. Extreme math anxiety, and taller students who mistook her for a leaning post, marred Ariella’s teen years. Despite these horrors, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at Davis. An author and shaman, she now lives a nearly normal life with her extraordinary daughter, shamelessly spoiled dog, and an enormous dragon.
Reader’s Review Spell Fire puts you right into the action the moment the book starts. It is quick-paced and lighthearted despite its dealing with sensitive issues like divorce, mental illness, lack of parental responsibility, and the like. Though dealing with downer issues, it doesn’t drag the reader into the funk of the characters which I like. You are able to see the difficulty and empathize without having to feel terrible. The main character, Ainslie, is a solid character. She has real issues and insecurities as well as awesome strengths. I thought each character was developed in a timely fashion and didn’t leave you wondering too much about a character you hadn’t heard about in a while. As I read this book I thought it had a feel conducive to humor, but I was disappointed to find very little humor in the book.Obviously, not every book needs to have humor, but I could just totally see some humor fitting in great with the feel of the dialogue and story here. I enjoyed the fast pace of the book, it probably took me a total of 6 accumulative hours to read. I thought the scene jumps were placed very well. Aside from the logistics, the content of the book was interesting. I liked the idea of dragon shamans and fire fortunes. I also liked the calming zen-like qualities of certain characters. Sadly, I wasn’t satisfied with the explanation of the magic. It is explained once specifically and it left me wanting. It was too ambiguous for my liking. Also, at the beginning of the book, Ainslie thinks that magic is weird and doesn’t believe in it and then she sees it and doesn’t really react. It shows her shock once as a “was that what I thought it was” curiosity, but never really shows where she gets to the point of “ok this is real,” even though that is where she is at by the end of the book. I think that is my only major complaint about Spell Fire. My favorite thing about the book was Ainslie’s guardian dragon. I thought the author did great introducing the dragon and still leaving it a mystery to a degree. I thought it sounded great to have a guardian dragon. Anyway, read Spell Fire. It is worth your time!
4 out of 5 stars
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