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    Spellcaster
    Spellcaster
    Spellcaster
    Audiobook11 hours

    Spellcaster

    Written by Claudia Gray

    Narrated by Khristine Hvam

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A darkly enchanting series from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a teenage witch who battles dark forces in her small town, perfect for fans of the Beautiful Creatures and Hex Hall series.

    A boy cursed with visions that lead to madness. A girl granted the powers to save him.

    As soon as Nadia arrives in Captive's Sound, she knows something is seriously wrong. The town is shrouded in dark magic, more powerful and complex than she has ever seen. Mateo has lived in Captive's Sound his entire life, trying to dodge the local legend that his family is "cursed" with insanity. When the mysterious girl he has been dreaming of every night appears (Nadia), he fears the curse may be true. But danger is coming, and Nadia and Mateo must work together to stop this unknown force before it destroys everything in its path.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 5, 2013
    ISBN9780062265920
    Author

    Claudia Gray

    Claudia Gray is the pseudonym of New Orleans-based writer Amy Vincent, the author of the New York Times bestselling Evernight series. She has worked as a lawyer, a journalist, a disc jockey, and an extremely poor waitress. Her grandparents' copy of Mysteries of the Unexplained is probably the genesis of her fascination with most things mysterious and/or inexplicable.

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    Reviews for Spellcaster

    4/5

    109 ratings18 reviews

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    • 5/5
      amazing read. very juvenile however. def not a steamy read but good nonetheless.
    • 5/5
      A good teen book. I enjoyed it as an adult but it's definitely for a younger audience. The characters were high school aged with high school problems and of course an evil sorceress making life worse. There is mystery and life/death moments.
    • 5/5
      Nadia, with her father and brother has just moved to Captive's Sound to break with their former life where her mother just walked away. She had been in training as a witch with her mother and she can tell there is something wrong with this town. She meets Mateo, whose family has been cursed for generations. I liked this book because it is a good story (a page-turner), they think things through and the characters seem more real than in other books I've read. I'd recommend for anyone but probably appeals more to girls.
    • 3/5
      If I hadn't already listened to the second book in this series, I may have given the first one four stars instead of three.

      The story has elements I enjoy, such as smart and quirky high school students who are tangled up in magic they don't fully understand. And I really liked the character of Verlaine and appreciated that she was being raised by two "dads" (her uncle and his partner).

      But the main source of conflict in the story is a character who is so unapologetically villainous that she's almost a parody of a villain. And that makes the story less interesting than it could've been.
    • 5/5
      There exists a multitude of poorly written novels about witches and love, but this is not one of them. Claudia perfectly juxtaposes ordinary teenage woes with extraordinary magical powers. A beautifully written world I loved getting lost in.
    • 4/5
      As with almost every other book I've read by Claudia Gray, I absolutely adored this book and series. The characters were likable and relatable. The plot did seem rushed at times, but for the most part it kept a steady pace. Even so, it never got boring, and it captivated me from the very first page. This is one of my favorite versions of witches, as it's simple, yet also complex. If you enjoy fantasy and magical books, I would definitely give this one a try!
    • 4/5
      Whew! This is definitely a page turner book for me. So glad I bought this book from the Dollar store. I can't wait to read the next installment. And looking forward to what will happen to Nadia, Mateo and Verlaine.
    • 4/5
      Fun and often unexpected. I liked the story and most the characters as well though a few were a little too black-and-white.
    • 4/5
      After her mother abandons their family, Nadia, her brother and father move from Chicago to the small town of Captive's Sound. Nadia is a fledgling witch, but even with her limited abilities, she knows something is amiss in her new town. Mateo has lived in Captive's Sound all his life and when Nadia arrives he already knows her. He has been dreaming of her for a while. Mateo can see the future and it is his curse to eventually grow mad form his gift. No really, really a curse. And then there is Verlaine, the girl no one seems to notice, except when they are mean to her. Together, these three must fight the forces that are determined to destroy their town.I enjoy Claudia Gray's books and this one was no exception. I think this is going to be a trilogy. It is sort of a cliff hanger because you wonder what is going to happen. And there were some secrets yet to be revealed. The world created here is very easy to understand and the rules are laid out early in the story. I really liked Nadia. She is very responsible for her age and is still dealing with her mother's desertion. I am anxious to see what happens next.
    • 4/5
      Nadia moved with her father and brother from Chicago after their mom had left them a while back. Nadia and her mom were what you would call 'Spellcasters' in other words, a witch. Once Nadia had reached Captive’s Sound she had sensed some strong magical force around the town. Once Nadia’s car collided with the magical barrier, her book of shadows reacted by causing them to spin off the road and crash. A boy from Captive’s Sound named Mateo rescued them. Mateo’s family has a curse where they have visions, in Mateo’s visions he sees a girl (much like Nadia). Once the curse reaches its height, the person who has it will go mad and do some-what of a form of suicide. In Captive’s Sound Nadia meets a Verlaine a girl who also has a small curse that makes her hair grey. Mateo and Verlaine later go on in the book the battle the forces of dark magic by Asa the demon and Elizabeth, one of the darkest sorceresses in the line of magic. But of course, the relationship between Mateo and Nadia may cause some bumps in their situation. What I love about this book is the magic. I am always a fan of the whole ‘witchcraft’ thing and the character Nadia really makes this book what it is. I love how original the spells are, and that she has to remind her self of certain events to create them. The reason this book has 4 stars is because the awesome stuff did not really happen until the end. The beginning is more of Nadia making friends and trying to befriend Mateo who is mostly trying to push her away the entire book. This book really is entertaining, funny, and thrilling. I recommend that you read this book if you are a big fan of fantasies and romance.
    • 4/5
      Nadia moves to a small seaside town with her lawyer father and little brother after her mother, a witch, runs off, devastating the family and interrupting Nadia’s own magical training. As it turns out, the town is under a curse. Despite the bar on revealing witchcraft to men, Nadia discovers that the mysterious and sexy Mateo is more involved in magic than he knows. Together with a young woman who also seems to be specially affected by the curse, they fight an ancient witch whose pact with ultimate evil threatens the survival of the entire town. Magic here is done with memories and emotion; it’s a good start to a new series—there’s an end, but a promise of more trouble to come—and I’d be very interested to see Nadia’s lack of training/life experience actually affect her ability to do spells in a more tangible way.
    • 3/5
      SPELLCASTER, by Claudia Gray, is a hard one for me to review. It’s one of those books that looked really great on paper, got good reviews from various sources I trust, and featured a dark New England town, witches, and angsty teens. With my recent YA obsession, I thought this was going to be a real winner. Blame it on high expectations but I came away with an overwhelming sense of, “meh” when I finished this one. The strength of SPELLCASTER can really be found in its plot and its world of magic. Let’s start with plot. A young girl from Chicago, Nadia Caldani, moves to a small New England town, Captive’s Sound, with her father and her younger brother. Her mother basically abandoned them and Nadia is filled with hurt, bitterness and a fierce determination to take her mother’s place by protecting and caring for her father and brother. Nadia is also a witch and she immediately recognizes a darkness lurking underneath the small town exterior, a darkness that only seems to be growing stronger. Banding together with two unlikely friends, Mateo and Verlaine, Nadia decides to go to battle and use all her witchy strength to defeat evil and save Captive’s Sound. The plot moved at a good pace and there were several nice reveals that kept me turning the pages and reluctantly putting down the book at night. However, by far the most original aspect of this story is its magic system. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen this before. Witches can only be women, educated and empowered through female relatives and coven sisters. This adds another bitter pill to Nadia’s abandonment by her mother – without her, Nadia has little hope of advancing in her witchcraft. Here’s the real gem – spells are cast through pure memory and emotion. The sight of something wondrous, never before seen.The breaking of a bond that should never have been broken.Cold beyond desolation.Loyalty beyond life. In order to cast this spell, Nadia must call on memories that evoke these strong emotions and then feel them purely and deeply. Is that brilliant or what? This was such an original approach to magic that it made the paranormal aspects of SPELLCASTER feel very fresh. Though well-written and plotted, the major weaknesses for me in SPELLCASTER were its main heroine and hero, Nadia and Mateo. They were so cardboard that it was hard for me to, well, frankly, care about them. Both are motherless, both dealing with adult size issues for such a young age, yet both lacked an evocative depth of emotion. Nadia shined when casting but other than that, I had a hard time connecting with her. It’s not a good sign when the side characters completely steal the show – Verlaine, the spunky, sharp, and funny friend; Liz, Mateo’s enigmatic best friend; and Asa, the demon, who is the major reason why I want to read the next book. All of these characters held my interest five times more than Nadia and Mateo. And the lukewarm romance between the two didn’t help.I do want to give major props to Gray for giving us a diverse cast of characters. There’s color in this world and a non-traditional relationship with Verlaine’s two fathers. Though this was not a major part of the story, I appreciate Gray’s creation of a town that had a level of diversity not often found in many YA paranormal books.With SPELLCASTER I vacillated between a two and three howl rating. I decided to give it three howls for two reasons – great magic and an ending that piqued my interest. A side character, Asa the demon, seems poised to play a bigger role and the mystery and conspiracy at the heart of the dark magic buried in Captive’s Sound hasn’t been fully understood, which does make me want to know what happens next. With these borderline reviews, the deciding factor is always, “would I read the next one?” The answer is, yes. But, honestly, I might borrow it from the library.
    • 4/5
      The day Nadia, her father and little brother move to Captive’s Sound, she knows there’s a strong magical force surrounding the town. The force reacts to the magic in Nadia’s book of shadows, causing her family’s car to crash. They are rescued by Mateo, a young man from Captive’s Sound, whose family is cursed to madness. Mateo has had dreams of saving a girl (a girl who looks like Nadia), but in his visions she always dies. Nadia feels a pull to Mateo, but he is afraid the visions may come true, and vows to stay away from her.Soon, Nadia learns that the force surrounding the town is made of old, dark magic, and the entire town is about to be destroyed. Nadia is determined to stop the dark forces. If she succeeds, she may be able to not only save the town, but break the curse on Mateo as well. But Nadia doesn’t know the extent of her powers or the strength or source of the power she is up against. This is an ancient evil – one that will do anything to get what it wants.I’ve not read any of Ms. Gray’s books before, but that will change. I ordered a copy of Fateful as soon as I finished this book. While the world she created and the threat wasn’t really anything new, I enjoyed how the story progressed, the relationships of the characters and how she created tension. The insta-love felt more like insta-crush (which made me happy).Aside from zombies and superheroes, witches are my character of choice. I love them. Especially witches just learning their powers. It’s that whole magical ability thing. They’re almost like super heroes in that way.I really liked all of the characters in this book, especially Sadie and Mateo. Sadie has a lot to deal with. Her mother left her and her family without any explanation. The bad thing is, she left just as Sadie was about to come into her full powers. All Sadie knows of the craft are a few basic spells and rules of witchcraft. I loved her growth and her strength.Mateo was another sympathetic character. He’s cursed to go mad. Both his grandfather and mother committed suicide because of their visions and he knows he’s next. He’s a super nice guy and I was totally on his side. I was also all for a Sadie/Mateo hookup.While not an entirely original premise, I really enjoyed Spellcaster. It has a great storyline, great characters and a story that moved quickly. I’m very much looking forward to the next installment!
    • 4/5
      Standard urban fantasy with teen Herod. Some romance...
    • 3/5
      Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.Quick & Dirty: A young girl with unharnessed power must go against a centuries old witch with perilous power.Opening Sentence: Before anything else, Nadia felt the chill.The Review:Claudia Gray knows how to write paranormal for young adults. In Spellcaster, her latest paranormal series, Gray writes about magic controlled by women. The lore in which Gray created the magic is fascinating. It reminded me of older historical stories of witches, charms, and generations of power.Nadia and her family relocate to Captive Sound after her mother left them. The beginning of the story begins when Nadia becomes aware of a surge of power while driving into town. An accident causes Nadia to temporarily black out, only to be rescued by a boy, Mateo. Her power is unleashed, and she never fully learned how to control the Craft. Nadia’s mother was also a witch, and her teacher, but with her mother’s absence, she will have to endure on her own.A powerful, dark force has caused the decay of Captive Sound. Nadia is faced with battling the evil deep within, while understanding to control her magical power. Nadia has help. There’s Mateo, the boy who rescued her. He has visions through dreams. The dreams are a curse, and has driven family members to their death. Mateo is filled with dark secrets, but is lured to Nadia in a way that he cannot explain. The attraction is dangerous, and dare I say filled with doom.Nadia is independent, having to become the mother figure to her young brother and her dad. She has had to grow up a lot in the year since her mother left. Nadia closes herself off to anyone, never getting attached and allowing herself that vulnerability.Nadia forms an unwarranted bond with Verlaine, someone who seems unimportant and easy to forget. They become fast friends, after breaking the initial walls that they have each put up. Nadia confides in Verlaine, and in turn Verlaine helps Nadia as a sounding board for all the magical mysteries in Captive Sound. She’s filled with snark and wit. I appreciated her comedic relief to the story.Nadia first met Mateo in one of the beginning scenes of Spellcaster. He saved her after her accident. Mateo wasn’t someone that I instantly warmed up to. I originally didn’t understand his purpose until the very end. I didn’t exactly see his swoon factor. He had issues and a hang up that I couldn’t get past. Initially, I had an issue with what his role in the story symbolized, but I slowly warmed up to the idea. It was a rare situation, and I thought it played well with the theme of the story.I enjoyed Gray’s writing. I could always tell when it is Gray’s writing, and Spellcaster added to that thought. There is an ease of flow when reading Spellcaster, adding elements of paranormal, fantasy, and a unique system of magic. There was a built in history and culture that I haven’t seen in a while, and it was refreshing to see it again. I didn’t always enjoy the antagonist. I didn’t like the voice used, but that’s just my opinion. I felt it was a little forced, but you’ll just have to read Spellcaster to see what I’m talking about.Despite the few things that I didn’t like, I enjoyed the world that Gray built. Spellcaster has a world of magic where only women harnessed the power. Witchcraft, traditions, secrets, and romance. All good themes and details within Spellcaster.Notable Scene:Verlaine clearly was ready to get back to the subject. “So, come on. Tell me the laws of witchcraft.”The First Laws were so familiar to Nadia – so often repeated to her, so much a part of her – that the words seemed to flow out almost without her thinking about it. “The most unbreakable one is that you must never be sworn to the One Beneath and do his bidding. Besides that – you must not reveal the Craft to anyone who would betray it. You must never speak of witchcraft to any man. You must never attempt to divine your own fate. You must never bear a child to the son of another witch. You must never command the will of another. You must never suffer a demon to walk among mortals.” Her eyes sought Mateo as she spoke the last remaining law:“You must never cast a curse.”FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Spellcaster. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
    • 4/5
      From the moment Nadia and her family drive into Captive’s Sound, she knows dark magic has a hold on the new town they’re moving into. Although she’s been a practicing witch for a while now, she’s not sure she knows enough to confront the terrifying problem, let alone defeat it. With the help of hot guy Mateo and school outcast Verlain, Nadia just might stand a chance. Soon the three of them will realize that magic has a hold on all of them, not just Nadia.This book definitely kept me reading – there was plenty of action and romantic tension to keep me interested to the end. The story is told from four viewpoints. Typically, I find narrator changes to be jarring and I have to work to keep my mind with the current character. Instead of assigning each chapter to a different viewpoint, Gray used short passages within the chapters to switch characters and it flowed very nicely and logically. Major points for that. However, I felt that so many viewpoints made it hard for me to really get to know any of the characters. I didn’t feel majorly connected to any of them. The author also gave a twist to what we’re used to reading about magic. Nadia Casts differently, using emotions from her memories as ingredients for the spells. It was nice to read some different ideas about witchcraft.Overall, it was a fun, fast read. I was a little annoyed to find out that it’s the beginning of a trilogy which means that many questions remained unanswered at the end.
    • 4/5
      Review courtesy of All Things Urban FantasyMagic and mystery mingle in a small New England town in Claudia Gray’s SPELLCASTER, the first book in a planned trilogy that is sure to enthrall readers. One of the big attractions has to be the magic system which is incredibly cool and unlike any I’ve ever read before. Nadia doesn’t mix potions over a cauldron or recite Latin incantations, her spells require specific emotions. For example, the first spell she casts calls for:Terror so great it paralyzes. Hope so desperate it aches.Courage so strong it survivesIn order to produce these emotions, Nadia recalls memories. They are always short little flashbacks, but they serve as great ways to reveal Nadia’s backstory without any dreaded info-dumps.And speaking of first spells, I’ll admit the opening was a touch on the unimpressive side, but once Nadia started Casting, I was bewitched. The story doesn’t rely on the myriad of cliches that many YA titles fall back on. There are no unnecessary secrets that divide our couple, no ridiculous miscommunications that create problems where there are none. All of the main characters were refreshingly straightforward, even with themselves.The secondary characters were, unfortunately, pretty stereotypical, but since they weren’t given a ton of page time, that’s a minor criticism. Less easy to dismiss was the underwhelming romance. It never really reached that heart pounding place for me. I’m not sure if it was because of the multiple POVs (there are four) or because of the very real threat of death that hung over them, but the romantic plotline was the least interesting to me. But again, the rest of the book was excellent, including the characters.Be prepared for a hefty cliffhanger at the end of SPELLCASTER. This series has a very clearly defined beginning, middle, and ending. A lot of questions go unanswered and numerous storylines are left unresolved, but it all felt very deliberate. Claudia Gray knows exactly where this story is going and I intend to find out when STEADFAST releases in March 2013, and the Spellcaster trilogy ends with SORCERESS in 2015.Sexual Content:Kissing
    • 4/5
      Needing to get away from my last intense read, this gave me exactly what I need. A thrilling fantasy, exploring the world of magic and darkness.A consistently awesome plot, I fell into this story quick. A curse that moves from generation to generation and a untrained witch who can be the only person who can help him. The plot moved at a good pace leaving me feel good. There are more twists and minor characters who played a bigger role than what I anticipated. The love interest is quite a nice catch. I like that there is no insta-love and really like that there are many obstacles standing in their way. It gives their love much more to fight for. Nadia and Mateo are great characters that work well together. Each have something to gain and loose. With the town quickly falling under darkness, it's up to them to stop it.Spellcaster is a fantastic story sweeping you away in an awesome adventure. Combining a dark past with an uncertain future, the reader is caught in an intriguing story. Impressive and suspenseful, Spellcaster is wonderful.