Practical Mischief

by D D Scott

[Angie]

Practical Mischief sounded so fun, magical, and mischievous, but it fell flat. It’s a quick read and has some interesting moments, but as a whole it’s kind of a mess. Belle is the Queen of Witches after her sister, Gaia, was sent to the Summerlands by their other sister, Angelica. Gaia’s daughter, Gia, is suppose to be next in line for the crown, but Angelica worked her magic on her niece as well, making her forget that she’s a witch and binding her powers. Well, Belle has brought their niece back and is helping her remember her past and unlock her powers, while Angelica is working on a way to get rid of her for good so that she can become queen.

I was extremely confused about what was going on in Practical Mischief. The basics are clear enough, but I had no clue how everyone got to this point, or even what this point was. At first it seemed like the Summerlands was just what the witches call the place where their dead go, but that’s not the case at all. Apparently, Angelica did something (who knows what?!) and owed the faeries. Then the faeries needed to take either Belle or Gaia to protect them in their homeland, the Summerlands. Obviously, it was Gaia. At the end, Gaia comes back and no one is protecting the faeries. So what was the point of all this? Nothing is explained!

The characters were all stereotypes there to fill a role. Belle was the wise, good witch. Angelica as the evil witch out for power, and we never learned why. Gia is the sweet, innocent who will one day rule. Then there’s the Farley brothers who are idiots and just served as comic relief. Too bad they weren’t funny. Slapstick is not my thing.

I did like how the magic was presented in Practical Mischief. It was really the only thing that made sense. The witches rely on the power of the moon for most spells, but some also required the Sun goddess. They have incantations and some require plants or precious stones. There’s even familiars! Unfortunately, this didn’t save the book for me.

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