Witchful Thinking
by Celestine MartinSetting: New Jersey
Genres: Fantasy & Magic
Published on September 27, 2022
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback Source: Library
Love is the trickiest spell of all. Lucinda Caraway loves living in Freya Grove, the mystic seaside town where charms, hexes, and magical beings of all kinds are the norm. She spends her days teaching high school history and her nights reading tea leaves and tending to her conjure garden. It’s a good life . . . but she can’t stop wishing for more.
Until one night, that wish turns into a spell, and suddenly Lucy can’t say no. Not to a public karaoke performance. Not to running a 10K. And, most alarmingly, not to her high school crush, Alexander Dwyer, who needs her help unjinxing his new house—which just happens to be right across the street from hers.
Alex has spent the last ten years traveling the world on adventures Lucy has only ever dreamed of, and he’s planning to leave again as soon as his house is safe to sell. But until Lucy can unhex herself, she and Alex are stuck together. And with so much magic in the air, maybe the next spell Lucy casts will be the one that convinces him to stay.
I loved the town of Freya Grove, New Jersey. This is a town where magic is accepted and expected. Houses have jinxes on them. Goblins, ghouls, and vampires live in the neighborhood.
This story focuses on the Caraways, a family of Black witches. Lucy has been the steady one. She’s a teacher. She lives in the family home. She reads tea leaves on the side. She’s starting to think that she is boring.
Alex was her best friend in school. Immediately after graduation he left. That’s not unusual for mermen. Now he is back and Lucy would knows not to get too attached. Mermen don’t stick around.
When Lucy and her cousin do a powerful wish spell, her life starts to change. But how much is real and how much is the aftermath of the spell?
The focus of this book is reaching for the life that you wish you had – not the life that you think you should have. Lucy had the power to change her life all along but didn’t until she got a magical push. Alex is able to set down roots even though he’s always been told that mermen don’t do that.
I hope there are going to be more books in this town focusing on Lucy’s cousins. They have a lot going on in the background of this book that sets up sequels well.
