Book: Spellcast by Sophie Jordan
Reviewed by Suzy Wickedly Good Reads
Rating: 4/5
I am genuinely a little torn on this one. Sophie Jordan is a new-to-me author, and I didn't realize when I started Spellcast that it was connected to an existing series. That leaves me wondering whether my experience (particularly with Tage) might have been different if I had already read the other books and knew more about this world and its characters. Because there were parts of this story that absolutely pulled me in. I knew dragons were eventually coming, so during the beginning I kept waiting for them to arrive. And I'll admit, her backstory initially felt LONG. But here's the thing... It worked.
By the time everything started happening, I was completely emotionally invested in her. The experience of existing almost like a "living ghost" was heartbreaking. There were scenes that had me in tears and others where it felt like my heart was being squeezed in a vice. I FELT what she was going through.
And then the dragons finally arrived. Surely things were going to get better now, right? Nope. This poor woman just kept going through hell- Only Tage wanted her; the other dragons hated her- one to the point of being abusive. Where the story lost a little of its magic for me was Tage. After spending so much time inside her pain, loneliness, and emotional journey, I wanted more from him. He remained just a little too distant and emotionally flat for me, especially for a fated/mated-pair type of romance. I wanted that overwhelming, "I will burn this entire world to the ground for you" intensity. Instead, I kept waiting for Tage to fully get there.
That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the story. I absolutely did. In fact, I'm adding the other books in this world to my TBR because I'm curious whether having that additional background will change how I see some of these characters and relationships.
And I have to give Fiona Hardingham her flowers. Her narration was fantastic. She brought so much emotion to a heroine whose story desperately needed it, and I think her performance was a huge part of why those emotional scenes hit me as hard as they did.
Also... can we talk about that COVER? 😍 I am a creative myself, so a really striking cover will make me stop a scroll. This is one of those covers. I'm not even going to pretend it didn't influence me. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous and was one of the things that initially made me want to pick this one up.
So this is one of those complicated reads for me: the heroine's journey pulled me completely into the story; the narration was excellent; and I'm intrigued enough by the world to go backward and read more, but I wanted considerably more emotional intensity from the romance itself.