Title- Spellmaker
Author- Charlie N. Holmberg
Series- Spellbreaker is the first in this duology
Rating– 4.1/5
Genre- historical fiction mixed with whimsical fantasy
POV- third person, past tense. The point of view switches to Bacchus Kelsey mid chapter at scene breaks which isn’t my favorite method.
Steam level- 0/5 spice
Cover– beautiful and representative of the genre
Character Development- Elsie learns she is loveable and not disposable
Best part-Page 111- it’s about damn time
What I would change-
the style of writing in action scenes. The sentences are too long winded for it to feel fast, dangerous & urgent, but more of a burden to get through.
First chapter- It quickly reminds me of the overall events of book 1 without too much confusion or repetition or info dump. Problems have already arisen and Elsie needs to make choices and figure out her future.
Setting- outskirts of London in 1800s
Prose- well, they’re not truly my style since sometimes the writing feels flat but the vocabulary definitely makes me feel as if I’m brought back in time.
Character goals/motivations- Stop Lily Merton
Vivid sensory descriptions- below average
Dialogue- the terms they use in that day in age are representative and appropriate
Diversity- Kelsey is from Barbados, that’s the diverse ethnicity shown. Otherwise there’s class differences to overcome
Ethics/morals- murder
Conflict/tension/obstacles- Yes, but they were too easy. She overcame the struggles too quickly
Ending- happily ever after
Pacing- medium
Thoughts while reading-
Page 19- feels like she regressed know regards of her character arc. I was hoping for her to overcome a different inner demon instead of backtrack on the one she had overcome in the first novel.
Page 56- the slow flirting is so slow it’s killing me.
Page 97- I feel like the author is trying to give me clues but idk what just happened with that code lol
Page 118- hero just added some sexy charm with that statement
Page 131- awe, I hope it’s true
Page 144- I’m glad the action has picked up. The first half of the book was more romance compared to “Spellbreaker,” which I was glad about but it was starting to get slow until all these attacks started again. The plot is very similar to the first though.
Page 153- but can we trust Irene? Oh, by the way the enchanted pen is a genius idea by the author to keep the couple communicating easily in the 1800s
Page 204- that was unexpected. I need proof.
Page 242- interesting concept in the era of a pandemic. I did enjoy that it also translated to ideals and not just physical contagions
Page 255- stupid clean romance. Stupid fade to black.
Page 272- I want to be fully absorbed in the climax scene but there are way too many moving parts. The way they solved the problem was humane but not extremely satisfying for the reader who wants the bad guy to get what’s coming to them. The protagonists were too nice.
Cassie Swindon 