What the Spell? (Life's a Witch, #1) by Brittany Geragotelis

May 09, 2013 Chelsea N rated it 2 of 5 stars

What the spell? More like what the hell?

Um I could honestly write a better book myself. Her obsession with being popular made me want to stop and just throw it away. I have never ever wanted to be popular. (Ok maybe a little...) I would never go to those extremes to be popular.

I also found the main character flat and in changing. I hate books with unappealing main characters. have no idea what Asher ever saw in her and I was glad when they let. Brooklyn never deserved him, he was above her.

The...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Stine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, magic

I'm guessing this book is aimed at a much younger audience than me. This is a very obvious coming-of-age-and-realizing-who-you-are type of book, and I liked it well enough. Except from the cupid part. Why did author add the cupid part? She had all the magic in the world to work with, but noooo. She had to add the cupid part, which ruined it for me. But maybe I'm just getting too old for these kind of books (boredom, and younger sibling being an important factor here), but I didn't like it. I may...more

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Apr 26, 2013 YAL Book Briefs rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People Who Have No Self Respect

Recommended to YAL Book Briefs by: Library and It's Fucking Feature Reads Shelf (Now Termed the Shelf of Doom)

Shelves: alienating, annoying-heroines, anti-feminist, bad-body-image, cliches, could-ve-been-great, cringe-worthy-covers, did-not-finish, dumb-ass-heroines, face-palm, i-m-in-the-mood-to-snark, insta-luv, it-had-so-much-potential-but, just-not-my-thing, man-cessory, mary-sue, meh-characters, middle-grade, offensive, oh-bother, paranormal, predictable, rage-fest, rude-and-offensive, sanctimonious-bitches, sexist-piece-of-shit, sexual-harassment-panda, shallow, slut-slaming, why-reality-tv-is-bad-for-society, witches

To see full ~~rant~~ review click here.

This is going to be a rant.

It's not going to be impartial.

If you like this series you might as well get the hell out of here because this is not going to be pretty. Currently, I am studying for finals which means I have high stress levels, am writing this during my limited breaks, and have had three cups of tea . Though to be honest, I think this book accelerated my heart rate more than the tea did and that's not a good thing.

I'll be blunt about it, this book...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Dark Faerie Tales rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-by-bridget

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: This was a very predictable coming of age book. It had some cute funny moments, but slightly disappointing characters.

Opening Sentence: It totally sucked being invisible.

The Review:

Brooklyn is a witch, well at least she was born a witch, but her over protective parents have had her powers bound since she was a baby. They promised that on her 16 birthday they would release her powers, but she has to be very cautious about using them. Brookl...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Sandy Shen rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one

Shelves: ditched-series

What The Spell?
Rating: 1.5 stars
PLOT
The plot was traditional, forgetable, and not that much different except the popularity part. I would'ved liked it if she hadn't focused so much on popularity and focused on what she had. I mean, how often do you meet awesome adults that don't act like they have a stick up their butt or being fake-nice?
CHARACTERS
Brooklyn, and I won't even bother sugar coating, was totally shallow and pretty ditzy as she would call it. Very corny which I wouldn't have mind...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Alivia Anders rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Young teens, Lovers of 'Twitchy Witches', Cutesy Romance

Shelves: 2013-reads, debut-author

Cute and very teenager-y styled, WHAT THE SPELL is one of those books you might get a kick out of if you're looking for a speedy read on a rainy day. The book seems to be built on a cocktail of Mean Girls, dashed with cliche high school drama, and drizzled with a little love story to fill the rest of the pages.

While I like this book and have to give massive kuddos to the author for being published after being spotted on Wattpad, I probably would have enjoyed this book loads more if it hadn't fe...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Alice Liu rated it 5 of 5 stars

I didn't think I would like this book as I prefer more supernatural and less social situation, but I found the story really engaging. First, I think every parent who wants to "protect" their children needs to read this book. It is a warning of what will happen if you shelter your daughter and then suddenly set her loose in the world with absolutely no social or emotional survival skills. Brooklyn's parents bound her magic until her sixteenth birthday on the assumption that she would suddenly hav...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Montana G. rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was super curious to read this book, especially after hearing that Simon and Schuster had picked it up after it’s success on Wattpad. Although What The Spell? was a very addicting, quick read, both Brooklyn’s characteristics and the unrealistic high school setting took away a lot from the book.

Brooklyn, the main character, wants to be popular above all else. When she gets magical powers, she gives herself a makeover and almost instantly gains popularity. What The Spell? had my attention the e...more I was super curious to read this book, especially after hearing that Simon and Schuster had picked it up after it’s success on Wattpad. Although What The Spell? was a very addicting, quick read, both Brooklyn’s characteristics and the unrealistic high school setting took away a lot from the book.

Brooklyn, the main character, wants to be popular above all else. When she gets magical powers, she gives herself a makeover and almost instantly gains popularity. What The Spell? had my attention the entire time. It was kind of fascinating to me to read about just how far one girl would go for popularity.

At Brooklyn’s high school, there’s a group called “The Elite”. They are an extremely exclusive group of the most popular, respected people in school. I just couldn’t seem to find anything realistic about a group like that. They were terrible people, yet people would do anything "The Elite" wanted and respected them anyways. After the way they would treat so many people, I just found it to be too unbelievable that people would do anything they asked.

I felt that Brooklyn was a very shallow, immature main character. She would do anything for popularity, and didn’t seem to care who she hurt along the way. In my opinion, that’s one of the worst characteristics a person can have and therefore, Brooklyn was one of my least favorite MC’s I’ve read about in a while. She made such dumb decisions to be part of “The Elite”, even after they repeatably stabbed her in the back. Also, she never seemed to take any responsibility for her actions. Brooklyn would get angry at anyone who accused her of doing anything wrong, even when they were just trying to help.

There is some romance in the story, with Brooklyn and Asher. Asher was a super sweet guy, and he liked all of Brooklyn’s good characteristics. He was a super forgiving person, and I didn’t think Brooklyn deserved him. For the ending, it summed things up pretty well, although Brooklyn didn’t change throughout the course of the story. I was hoping that she would change as a character more and I don’t think I’ll be continuing on with the series.

Even though What The Spell? was a book that held my attention the entire time, because of how much I disliked Brooklyn, I’d give it 2 out of 5 flowers.

* This review is also posted at http://www.thebookbelles.blogspot.com (less)

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Jan 06, 2013 Bailey (IB Book Blogging) rated it 4 of 5 stars

WHAT THE SPELL is a spellbinding witchy read that explores what it means to be a teen with a little magic on their side. Many giggles were had during my time reading the book, though that reaction may not have been the authors intent in certain places. The situations that Brooklyn went through were at many times ridiculous, and a few times inspirational. I didn't fall completely in love with the story as I expected I would, but I still think that this will be a popular read with the younger teen...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Meg - A Bookish Affair rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction, ya-children, paranormal

4.5 stars. "What the Spell" is the first book in a planned series about teenage witches and is rooted in the story of the Salem Witch Trials, which is definitely not new territory for a book but the author does a really great job of breathing brand new life into a subject that has been tackled before.

One of the standout parts of the book for me was the main character of Brooklyn. She is smart but she doesn't always make the best decisions. I loved, loved, loved her voice in the book. You want s...more

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May 16, 2013 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely adored this book. It's a coming of age tale of a girl who has come into her magickal powers after her parents unbound them at the age of 16. She tries to gain popularity by giving herself a magickal makeover and joining The Elite. The Elite were the highest popular group in her high school. She has to decide what is more important to her- becoming an elite or losing herself and who she truly is. She finds out the guy that she is crushing on likes her back and he also has powers. The...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Jeannette Medina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Its about a teen girl discovering who she is. She's a loner and wants to make it in the world and will stop at nothing just to be notice. She soon discovers that she is a witch and is just coming into her powers. Brooklyn uses those powers to do an extreme make over just to fit in and it starts to work. I like how the rich snobby kids always tends to put an obstacle in Brooklyn's way, yet she manages to overcome it. We also have a little bit of romance with the very sexy Asher. The story goes pe...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Ariella Blake rated it 4 of 5 stars

More of my reviews at Secrets of Lost Words.

Rating: B

Brooklyn is a witch whose magic has been bound since birth. Then on her sixteenth birthday, her parent let her have her magic again. Now just think about it. If you had wanted something your whole life, and you can finally have it, let's be honest here: You'd probably abuse the privilege. (Don't deny it; if you still won't abuse it, you have no life)

Anyways, Brooklyn's dream is to fit in and be popular. With magic, that can be easily achieved....more

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Mar 30, 2013 harlequin {Stephanie} rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: could-not-finish

Lost me as a reader a short time after she changes her body with her magic. Not just removing bad hair or zits, but making her butt and boobs bigger.

What do the parents say in reaction to this?? Your using magic too much. Honey, your gonna get burned at the stake. WTH! How about, honey, your beautiful just the way you are. Her teacher showed more concern about her body image hatred. Clearing up bad skin is one thing, but changing everything about yourself just to get some popular twits to notic...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Brytani White rated it 5 of 5 stars

"What the Spell" by Brittany Geragotelis was a book I immediately fell in love with. I found the struggles the narrator, Brooklyn, went through were ones I could relate to as a high schooler even thought they had a supernatural twist to them.

I found Brooklyn as a character easy to relate to. She is very smart and I loved her voice throughout the story. I wanted her to do the right thing at every turn. I also found myself cheering for her and Asher and for her to be able to overcome the obstacl...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Kt from A Book Obsession.. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: signed, received-for-review, hardcopy

Review originally posted on my blog: A Book Obsession..

All her life Brooklyn has been waiting for the day she turns sixteen and her parents unbind her witch born powers. The first matter of business will be to change her appearance so she can finally stop being invisible to all of her classmates. The change is dramatic and people have taken notice. She's gained the attention of the Elite, the highest social clique in the school. But Brooklyn quickly learns that popularity comes at a price, and s...more Review originally posted on my blog: A Book Obsession..

All her life Brooklyn has been waiting for the day she turns sixteen and her parents unbind her witch born powers. The first matter of business will be to change her appearance so she can finally stop being invisible to all of her classmates. The change is dramatic and people have taken notice. She's gained the attention of the Elite, the highest social clique in the school. But Brooklyn quickly learns that popularity comes at a price, and she'll have to decide just how high a cost she is willing to pay.

There are two kinds of Paranormal YA. One being where the focus is largely on the paranormal elements, and the high school drama and dynamics are more in the background, which is largely my preference. The second type being where the paranormal aspects take a backseat to the high school drama. Unfortunately, WHAT THE SPELL fell in the latter category. Even when I was a teenager myself, I still wasn't immersed in that sort of drama as I made every effort to avoid it. I never understood the quest for popularity and power in school. Fashion was not a priority for me. I wanted to surround myself with people that liked me for me, not something I was trying to be. So, when a book is centered around all of that not so fun stuff, it just doesn't make for the most enjoyable read. It's just a shame because I was really interested in the Witchy parts of the story, but in the end it really only played a small part, leaving me rather disappointed.

Even if I could have put aside my style preferences about the amount of paranormal focus in WHAT THE SPELL, this book still wouldn't have worked for me due to a large character disconnect. Again, this is probably coming back to my non-understanding of social ladder climbing, but I just couldn't seem to connect with Brooklyn. She was very selfish and acted rather spoiled at times, all in the name of not wanting to be invisible any more. I mean, she wasn't naieve, she knew what she was doing was wrong, but each time she justified it by it being necessary to be in the Elite. Also, she was given several chances to redeem herself and come clean, but never took them. Even worse she didn't grow a backbone until the very end, and in my opinion that was too little too late. By that point I was long past wanting to reach through the pages and smack some sense into her, so there wasn't much she could really do at that point to impress me. Hopefully the fall out will cause her to learn her lesson.

I have to admit that I am on the fence as to whether or not I will continue on with this series. On one hand, I had the major character disconnect, and my issues with there only small amounts of paranormal. But on the other hand, unless I really despise the first installment, I like to give each new series two books to win me over. There are just so many times where the first book can be a bit rocky due to world building, but then the next book takes off with a bang. Which, I think may be the case in this series due to the way WHAT THE SPELL ended, so perhaps a second change might be warranted. As far as this book goes, WHAT THE SPELL should largely appeal to fans of a strong high school setting, but for me, unfortunately it's a pass.
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Jan 28, 2013 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-books, own, advanced-reader-copies

An adorable tale of teenage witchery. Brooklyn lived a sheltered life till her sixteenth birthday... She grew up knowing she was a witch, but having her powers bound. She never felt that she fit in anywhere in her short life. All she ever wanted was to be accepted, popular, to make a difference in the world. On her birthday her parents give her the one thing she thinks will make her life better, her powers. As the old saying goes, Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Brooklyn lea...more

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May 14, 2013 Alesia rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was interesting in both good and roadways. I liked the idea but I found I really didn't like the main character whos a selfish, little b with an itch. It works out in the end but it was frustrating reading about how stupid she was acting. I almost stopped reading halfway through because she separates this guy and girl who she originally had hooked up all because she wanted to be accepted as part of the Elite and so the elite don't blackmail her. I really don't like these characters muc...more

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Feb 19, 2013 SJH (A Dream of Books) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-review, witches, young-adult

‘What the Spell’ is a fun and enjoyable read about a teenage witch. If this is giving you flashbacks of Sabrina the Teenage Witch then you are on the right track! The author was published after having her story spotted on Wattpad, giving hope to aspiring writers out there. The main character Brooklyn has her magic unbound by her parents on her sixteenth birthday. Suddenly, with the power of magic, anything seems possible and so she sets about turning her life around and hooking herself a boyfrie...more ‘What the Spell’ is a fun and enjoyable read about a teenage witch. If this is giving you flashbacks of Sabrina the Teenage Witch then you are on the right track! The author was published after having her story spotted on Wattpad, giving hope to aspiring writers out there. The main character Brooklyn has her magic unbound by her parents on her sixteenth birthday. Suddenly, with the power of magic, anything seems possible and so she sets about turning her life around and hooking herself a boyfriend in the process.

I could understand how exhilarating it must feel to be able to change yourself so completely, but it did seem at times that Brooklyn wasn’t happy with any aspects of her old life. She totally changes her appearance and some of her actions were distinctly questionable, but I could see that she was trying to find her feet and where she fits in at school. This is a theme that readers of the book will probably find familiar. She comes under pressure from ‘The Elite’, a group of the most popular teens at school and desperately wants to be one of them. However, I think she did gradually come to understand that there is more to life than popularity and develops a real relationship with Asher and his sister Abby, along with her ongoing friendship with Ms. Zia, the guidance counsellor.

The romance between Brooklyn and Asher is sweet and warm. Although I initially thought his interest seemed to follow on immediately after her transformation into the new hot girl at school, he did come across as genuine and too shy to say anything to her about his feelings before. They made a cute couple and I really enjoyed reading their scenes together.

I loved the magical aspects of the story and finding out about the history of the witch families and the truth behind the Salem Witch trials. It will be interesting to see how this is explored further in the series, as I would like this element of the plot to be developed more.

Younger readers in particular will love this story about magic, mayhem and romance and I for one am looking forward to more in the series by author Britanny Geragotelis.
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Jan 28, 2013 Amy Fournier rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, own

*3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

I really like witch books, so I was excited to read this one. It sounded so fun and cute. And it was. The story was fun to read and I enjoyed seeing what would happen next. I liked how the characters interacted with each other, even if I didn't particularly care for a lot of them. This book gave me a kind of Mean Girls vibe, and I really enjoyed it.

Brooklyn is from a family of witches who don't really use their powers, so hers have been locked. It's not until her 16th b...more *3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

I really like witch books, so I was excited to read this one. It sounded so fun and cute. And it was. The story was fun to read and I enjoyed seeing what would happen next. I liked how the characters interacted with each other, even if I didn't particularly care for a lot of them. This book gave me a kind of Mean Girls vibe, and I really enjoyed it.

Brooklyn is from a family of witches who don't really use their powers, so hers have been locked. It's not until her 16th birthday that her powers are unlocked. She has always been invisible, and so what is the first thing she does? Gives herself a makeover to be supermodel perfect so she can try to get a coveted spot with The Elite. She gets so obsessed with being popular that she does awful things and seems to lose who she really is. I get that she just wanted to be popular, but I felt like she really took it too far. She knew that the things she was doing was wrong, but she kept convincing herself that she was almost in with the popular crowd. I'm sorry, but if someone kept giving me "tests" to see if I would really fit in, I would tell them to eff off. Underneath it all though, Brooklyn is a great girl, it just took a little too much for her to finally realize how stupid she was being.

Asher was probably my favorite character. He was so understanding and great to Brooklyn. He didn't care if she was popular or not. He liked her for the real her, not the fake Brooklyn trying to fit in. In fact, he doesn't like The Elite and doesn't see why Brooklyn wants so badly to be part of their group. He will pretty much do anything for Brooklyn. He was so sweet and charming. I really wanted him to get through to Brooklyn. I was hoping that how much he cared about her would me more important than popularity.

Overall I thought that this was a fun book, but I was so mad that Brooklyn kept lying and hiding things from Asher when he had been nothing but understanding even when discovering she had lied before. All he wants from her is honesty and she could have prevented so much drama if she just opened up to him and didn't lie. I also was annoyed that she kept letting The Elite walk all over her. It's one thing to prove loyalty, but they keep having her do all this illegal stuff and she's totally okay with it. She is pretty shallow and stupid a lot of the time and I couldn't quite get past that. Otherwise I thought that it was a great book. (less)

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Apr 20, 2013 Marcie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My thoughts on the audio:
I listened to What the Spell by Brittany Geragotelis on audio. The narrator, Joy Osmanski, did a fantastic job. She did well with what she had to work with.

My thoughts on the book:
I wish I could get the 9 hours and 41 minutes of my life back. What the spell was I thinking listening to this book. That sounds harsh I know, but I really struggled with this book. So why did I continue listening? Because I was hoping that the character would redeem herself in the end. I was h...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Darlene rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, books-given-for-review, young-adult, 2013-debut-author-challenge

Wow, what a debut!

Brooklyn Sparks is a 15 year-old girl, who comes from a family of witches. Her parents bound her witching powers until her 16th birthday because they did not want her to rely on her magical abilities to get things done and wanted her to practice her witching skills responsibly. She was raised in a low-magic household, and her parents seldom use magic for anything for fear that they would be found out as what happened to Brooklyn’s aunt.

Brooklyn has passed through life unnotice...more Wow, what a debut!

Brooklyn Sparks is a 15 year-old girl, who comes from a family of witches. Her parents bound her witching powers until her 16th birthday because they did not want her to rely on her magical abilities to get things done and wanted her to practice her witching skills responsibly. She was raised in a low-magic household, and her parents seldom use magic for anything for fear that they would be found out as what happened to Brooklyn’s aunt.

Brooklyn has passed through life unnoticed by anyone. She has no siblings, and her only friend is the school guidance counsellor, Ms. Zia, who looks fondly upon Brooklyn as a younger sister. Brooklyn eats her lunch every day in Ms. Zia’s office while the two chat about celebrity gossip.

On the eve of her 16th birthday, Brooklyn’s parents perform a spell to unbind her powers. She spends the following night performing spells to give herself a magical makeover to improve her looks: She changes the colour of her eyes from brown to green, adds a few inches of length to her hair and changes the colour from brown to blonde, makes her hips and bottom a little more curvy so that she no longer feels like a boy, clears up her complexion, and adds a little bit of height. She transforms herself from dull to dazzling, and she can’t wait to show off her new look at school! Not only is she hoping to catch the eye of her childhood crush, Asher, but she wants to be noticed by the coveted clique, The Elite. Brooklyn does succeed in getting what she wants, but she also realizes that it doesn’t come without a price.

I cannot believe that this is Geragotelis’ debut novel! I could not put it down!! She has nailed the teenage social hierarchy and high school angst. I am sure we can all recall the bitchy snobs and jocks who “ruled the school,” and it brought back some memories of what some kids are willing to go through to be accepted by the cool kids. I really felt for Brooklyn, even though I hated what she became and wanted to shake some sense into that girl! I loved her show of repentance and how she tried to make amends at the end. I was hooked from the get-go, and I cannot wait to read more of this series! The next book, Life's a Witch, is going to be released in July. I will be eagerly picking up anything that Geragotelis writes.

Narrator Joy Osmanski is new-to-me, and she had me hanging on to her every word. Never sounding whiny, she aced the persona of teenagers. Her character transitions were seamless, going from snobby Gigi to peppy Eliza in the same breath. I couldn’t imagine anyone doing a better job, and she was perfect for this book. I am definitely going to be looking for other audiobooks narrated by her.

I received this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own. (less)

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Mar 15, 2013 Jeanbooknerd rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

What the Spell? is the first book in Brittany Geragotelis’ Life’s a Witch Series. For sixteen-year-old Brooklyn, she wants nothing more than to be the popular girl that gets all the attention, especially by a cute guy. When her traditionalist parents finally liberate her powers, she wastes no time in giving herself a makeover, complete with new friends and finally getting the attention of her crush, Asher. But just like her Salem ancestors, this insinuation puts her in a position that if she is...more

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Mar 17, 2013 XxForeverXx_Xxvampire_diariezxx rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who like nice, cute, fluffy reads.

Recommended to XxForeverXx_Xxvampire_diariezxx by: Goodreads.com, public library

This was a pretty good book. I finished it pretty quick though. I liked the plot which is a teen witch who wants to fit in with the popular group at her school and make her crush notice her. Don't we all want that, to be popular or fit in or just not be invisible. But unlike Brooklyn, we aren't witches. We can't just zap our hands and make spells that make up be prettier and have everyone look at us. Thats what Brooklyn does when her parents unbind her powers at her sixteenth birthday. She is th...more This was a pretty good book. I finished it pretty quick though. I liked the plot which is a teen witch who wants to fit in with the popular group at her school and make her crush notice her. Don't we all want that, to be popular or fit in or just not be invisible. But unlike Brooklyn, we aren't witches. We can't just zap our hands and make spells that make up be prettier and have everyone look at us. Thats what Brooklyn does when her parents unbind her powers at her sixteenth birthday. She is then swarmed with friends and has her crush notice her. She also finds out that he is a witch. Yep, I love Asher, he was a pretty good boyfriend, even when Brooklyn wasn't that great of a girlfriend. One thing I didn't like about her was, that she was willing to do anything to get into The Elite. And I mean anything to toilet papering the principle's house to helping them cheat on a test to even kissing another guy for a dare. She even put Asher and Mrs.Zia who was always there for her and helped her with so much behind them. Jut so she could have the perks and meet famous people. That was the main reason why I sorta disliked her. Other than that, she was a pretty cool person. So the plot was good and everything, loved it. The ending was soooo good!!!!! I was so proud of Brooklyn to stand up for herself and everyone else. Even if Gigi found out the truth about her. I was sad to see that Asher and his family disappeared and Brooklyn doesn't know where. He used to say how they had some troubles and people could get hurt if he told her. But Brooklyn thought that if he didn't say goodbye to her, then he thinks their relationship is over. So shes moving on. But she gets a suspenseful video of her doing magic that was taken by Gigi when they broke into the school for their files, but she did a spell to make it disappear and know someone has it. But she will handle it when she has to. She is treating everyone better, now that The Elite is gone. So as she says life is a witch and she sure is right. I am so glad this was a series, can't wait to grab the next part to devour of Brooklyn and her witch powers. Enjoy it!!!!! (less)

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Apr 20, 2013 Elizabeth Aguilar rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1-wand, 2013

Review to come later.
I've read a lot of books in the same genre with a basic plot similar to this. This can't be an excuse to why it was rated to low, though. I've loved all of them. (I'm a sucker for paranormal and fantasy, after all.) However, Brook in WTS was such a whiny, self-centered witch who was so full of herself. I could barely stand to finish the book. The style was good (hence why it had at least one star.) The book overall, though, was not up to hype. Considering she was a popular a...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-review, arc

WHAT THE SPELL is a fun, charming, bittersweet and utterly delightful story of magic, mean girls and boys, actions and consequences, and the price one girl is willing to pay to fit in. A quick and engaging read, with just a touch of the paranormal to differentiate itself from its contemporary peers, this story will hold readers captive as they follow Brooklyn Sparks as she treads the line between right and wrong in her attempt to shed her cloak of invisibility and find out just who she really is...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Beckie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: given-to-read-by-author-publisher, own, paperback, read-for-review-on-blog, signed-by-the-author, ya-witches, ya-urban, favorites, ya-fantasy

Review is also posted here - What The Spell? + a giveaway to win a print copy!

I simply adore books about witches, always have. I jumped at the chance to read What The Spell? by Brittany Geragotelis. I was first introduced to Brittany by a mutual author friend, Lori Curwell. Lori told me that Brittany was recently signed with Simon & Schuster after being a self-published author. I found out more info about her books and was soon sent an ARC to review. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Chelsey rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was a great coming of age story and depicts the brutal events of high school that we often carry for the rest of our lives. Let’s face it; high school can be awful and embarrassing and every other terrible adjective you can think of. Brooklyn has a solution for all of her problems having to do with high school, however. She is a witch and on her sixteenth birthday her parents have promised to unbind her powers. Brooklyn, who just wants to be noticed and better yet be considered popular...more This book was a great coming of age story and depicts the brutal events of high school that we often carry for the rest of our lives. Let’s face it; high school can be awful and embarrassing and every other terrible adjective you can think of. Brooklyn has a solution for all of her problems having to do with high school, however. She is a witch and on her sixteenth birthday her parents have promised to unbind her powers. Brooklyn, who just wants to be noticed and better yet be considered popular, thinks that having her powers will in turn fix her seemingly sucky life, but popularity is not all that she imagined it would be. Readers will soon find out that this story has a connection to the Salem Witch Trials and should be prepared to pick this book up once because it is just too darn cute to put back down.

Brooklyn’s story has a lot of life lessons embedded within it. She is a young teenage girl who feels like she is invisible to the rest of the world. Don’t all teenagers at one point or another? She wants to be popular so bad that she begins to lose herself. She forgets everything that was once dear to her and even neglects to heed the advice of her parents. Obviously I am not the same age or maturity level as Brooklyn, but I really enjoyed her story. High school wasn’t my favorite time, but it wasn’t absolutely awful for me either. A lot can be said for Brooklyn’s story and I think young readers could really benefit from a book like this. Brooklyn grows and struggles with internal conflicts and watching her change and realize what life really means to her was the best part of the book.

I loved that witchcraft was incorporated in the telling of this story because I just felt that Brooklyn was quirky and really unique and I think her ability to cast spells only added to that. She wanted so badly to fit in when in all reality she had this awesome power that could totally make her stand out. I love stories about witchcraft and especially cute ones like this. As I mentioned before, the Salem Witch Trials was embedded in this story as well and was a great segue into the history of Brooklyn’s family and her understanding of the magic that surrounded her. I have also always loved to read about the Salem Witch Trials and I just thought it was awesome to bring a great historical event like that one and add it to a light, breezy young adult novel like this one. It was a nice touch on the author’s part.

Although I know that this book is directed for a much younger audience that still does not change the fact that I absolutely adored it. I would re-read it again tomorrow if I had the time. I do believe that this is a planned series and I am very anxious for the next book in the series!!

***A big thank you to the publishers at Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review***
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Apr 16, 2013 Jaiden rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: waiting-in-2013, arc-copy, contemporary, for-review, magic-witches

Originally posted at: Girls on YA Books

~Review:
The way I got this book was totally epic. I had it as a WOW post. I loved the quirky title and series name. A quirky author=a fun book! So anyways she saw the tweet and was gracious enough to offer me a copy!! I was super excited!!

Now the main question? Was it worth all my hype? Yes I think it was. There were times I wanted to throw it across the room and slap Brooklyn so hard that her head turned around but I still enjoyed it when the book ended...more Originally posted at: Girls on YA Books

~Review:
The way I got this book was totally epic. I had it as a WOW post. I loved the quirky title and series name. A quirky author=a fun book! So anyways she saw the tweet and was gracious enough to offer me a copy!! I was super excited!!

Now the main question? Was it worth all my hype? Yes I think it was. There were times I wanted to throw it across the room and slap Brooklyn so hard that her head turned around but I still enjoyed it when the book ended.

Brooklyn was my main problem but it was a problem created purposely by the author I think. The thing is is Brooklyn is a witch. A witch that had her powers bound for her life until now, her sixteenth birthday. If your powers were bound your whole life would you be a little more than curious and go a little buck-wild? Ya well that's what she does. But another thing is Brooklyn is a sort of wall flower and she is tired of it. She's tired of her average looks and eating lunch with the guidance counselor. She wants to be noticed. Admired. Envied. She wants to be an Elite. I was just so annoyed by how shallow and naive she was. She made mistake after mistake hurting people after people and ruining why made her...her!! Again that was kind of the point. If she hasn't done all those stupid things that made me want to slap her she wouldn't have learned and t wouldn't have ended the way it did.

This book was fun and more of a contemporary with a slight dash of the witch paranormal. I mean, excluding the magic Brooklyn uses to get her through life it would be a contemporary. Now I know what your thinking. Wouldn't that be the case with ALL paranormal books? Strip away the paranormal and that's all your left with right? Ok so let me rephrase then. There wasn't any paranormal goal. There wasn't some huge witch hunter threatening Brooklyn or anything like that that normally drives the paranormal plot. There was mention of the Salem witch trials and hunters but that was it. Just mentioned.

I think What the Spell was a fun read. It is the book that introduces one hell of a series. I can feel it. The way it ended just goes to show the amount of potential for the Life's a Witch series and I am highly looking forward to reading more of it. It was like the Nightwatchers series by Michelle Rowen. book one wasn't my favorite but i knew the next one would be epic and it totally was. there is so much potential for this series its ridiculous! hopefully book two will bring just what it needs to and dazzle me! ;D The writing was really clean and crisp. It flowed and made for a breezy read. Knowing this book had an awesome author made the book that much more awesome. You could tell she had fun writing it just by reading it. That my friends is something you don't get all the time. To actually feel that is spectacular! It's a one in a million kind of thing. Would I recommend this book? Yes!!

~Rating:

3.5 of 5 stars!!!(less)

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Jan 26, 2013 All Things Urban Fantasy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-january-hotp, reviewed-by-abigail, earc

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

Back in 1989, there was a silly/fun movie released called Teen Witch about an unpopular girl who, on her sixteenth birthday, inherits a magical abilities and casts a spell to become ‘the most popular girl’ in school. There were awesome music montages, dancing, singing, and wicked cool 80′s hair. I watched it 50 bazillion times when I was a kid ((I even read the book series–somebody leave me a link if they can find them) and still can’t bring myself to s...more

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title link	preview: What the Spell?
avg rating	preview: What the Spell? Goodreads rating: 3.48 (112 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13589580-what-the-spell?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348863077l/13589580.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13589580-what-the-spell?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]What the Spell? by Brittany Geragotelis[/url]

What the Spell? (Life's a Witch #1)

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