Book Review: Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

4,5/5***** Star-crossed lovers, an ancient curse, a witch or two, a ghost and Manhattan's posh Upper East Side - Urban Fantasy at its best!

Advance Reading Copy

Title:
Spellbound
(Spellbound Series #1)
Author:
Cara Lynn Shultz
Source:
NetGalley ARC
Publication History:
UK Paperback June 21st 2011 by Harlequin Teen
US Paperback June 28th 2011 by Harlequin Teen
Genre:
YA, Urban Fantasy, Romance

Review
This was definitely one of the best YA Urban Fantasies I read this year.
The story is set on Manhattan's Upper East Side and circles around a curse that makes a pair of star-crossed lovers come to find each other and then die violently over and over again. Phrasing it like this it sounds like any other YA Paranormal Romance you can randomly pull out of any teenage girl's bookshelf.
Luckily Shultz's book has a lot more in store than that.
I immediately clicked with Emma, the main character, and I loved that she was quirky, gutsy and not your whining everybody. I especially enjoyed that she didn't have to face the curse weaponless but with her own, even if still growing, witch talents. Yep, that's right, this is not a "mundane" girl flung into paranormal havoc but a girl that pretty quickly discovers her own powers.
I also enjoyed very much that besides the paranormal romance element that takes centre stage most of the time, Shultz has also taken the time to draw a vivid picture of Emma's high school life and the normal "madness" that is navigating a new school, making friends and growing up into somebody you're not ashamed of.
The set of supporting characters also played a large part in my quickly growing love for this book: starting with Emma's dead brother Ethan and her sweet cousin Ashley, over Cisco and Angelique, my favourite supporting character, to Brendan, Emma's adorable love interest.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I am more then pleased that Shultz revealed on twitter that she is already working on a sequel. My two little wishes would be that she now focus a little more on Emma's growing witch talents and that please, please we get to see more of Ethan.

The verdict: Read Spellbound or you'll miss out of one of THE Urban Fantasy stories of this summer!