Book Review | Witch's Brew | Heidi R. Kling

Witch's Brew by Heidi R. Kling
Series: The Spellspinners of Melas County #1
Published by Colliloquy on January 11, 2012
Genres: Paranormal YA, Witches, Young Adult
Pages: 342
Format: eBook
Also in this series: The Gleaning
Also by this author: The Gleaning
Source: Bought it
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
three-half-stars

Once soulmates, the witch and warlock covens of the California coast have been estranged for a century. Raised to hate each other, their teenagers meet in the Solstice Stones, a magical battleground where they draw energy from each other to maintain their balance. 16 year olds Logan and Lily have spent years training for their first Stones…only to discover just days before that the enemy may not be what either of them had thought.

In Witch’s Brew, Lily is torn between her feelings for Logan and her coven’s need to know who—or what—he is. The young lovers race against time, their distrust for each other, and the powerful influence of their elders to unravel the mystery of their pasts before their future is destroyed.

I’ve been waiting for WITCH’S BREW to come out for what seems like forever. It sounded like all of the things I love to read: witches, warlocks, prophesies, a magic-pocalypse. Also, I was SUPER intrigued by its author-appointed nickname, #sexahmagicbook. Umm…YES PLEASE. And then when I found out that this book was not only totally up my alley plot-wise, but that it was also a new kind of ebook where the reader could choose the path the story would take, I became VERY EAGER to read it. The whole package just sounded so new and awesome, and it was. It was a little different than I thought it would be, but I really enjoyed it. Which is a good thing, cause this is only the first book of TEN. (That sounds more daunting than it really is, I think. The book wasn’t overly long, and it moved at a good pace, too.)

WITCH’S BREW was really fun and fast-paced, and the sexytimes parts were good. I loved the magic, I loved the mythology, and I loved the relationship. And throw a prophecy at me, and I’m pretty much putty in an author’s hands. On occasion, though things felt like they could have been a little smoother (there were few times when important/biggish things happen a little abruptly), but this could have just been a function of the changing perspectives and the different story paths, which are mostly the same, but still plenty different. I will say, though, that I liked one of the paths I chose a little better than the other (I read through it twice) simply because it felt a little more fluid, and the progression of things felt a little more natural. They both had their positives, though, and I would definitely recommend going back and making some new choices after you finish the first run-through. The good from reading them both? You learn more about the mythology and the characters. In fact, I found that there were some things from my second read-through that wouldn’t have made sense if I hadn’t read the book the way I had the first time. PLUS, you get to spend more time with Lily and Logan, who have this great connection that sparks and gives MAJOR tingles. Woot! The bad (if you want to call it that)? You’re essentially rereading the same book over. Essentially. The major points are the same, they just arrive at each one differently. SO worth it, though.

Also, because I’m a nerd about details–especially witchy ones! I LOVE witchy details–there were some things that I wished were explained a little bit more. For instance, there are totem animals. But I’m not sure if all witches and all warlocks have the same animal, or if it’s different with each person. Also, Logan’s tattoos. Do all warlock’s have them, or is it just him? I think it was mentioned that they were a warlock thing, but no other warlock was actually shown to have them. Good thing we have lots of books left to get our fill of magical geekery, though!

But the actual story of WITCH’S BREW was intriguing, with lots of meaty things in the air. The prophecy and the curse that will affect both the witches and the warlocks is obviously the big one. But there’s the whole issue of the funny business that Jacob’s, the head warlock, company is getting up to (because OBVIOUSLY it’s not kosher). There’s DEFINITELY something going on with Lily’s mom, Iris. And Jonah, the barista from the Witch’s Brew coffee shop? I have a theory about him, but I’m going to keep it to myself so that I don’t get TOO embarrassed when it turns out to be wrong. Of course, though, the relationship between Lily and Logan is huge as well, fraught as it is with DANGER and the potential for sexytimes. HOLLA!

I’m definitely excited to keep reading The Spellspinners of Melas County. (Also, I only recently realized that “Melas” is “Salem” spelled backward. Who’s a smarty pants? THIS GIRL.) There’s a lot introduced here, and I’m eager to see where it all goes. I LOVE witches, especially the witches here, who have heaps of Celtic magic overtones. Lily and Logan are apparently Meant To Be, which gives me some cringes, but I like that they’re connection is something that they can neither ignore nor understand. It’s intense. And Logan is almost instantly crush-worthy. I predict that this series is going to get bananas in a really great way, and I can’t wait to keep reading!