Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft

by Jody Gehrman

[kimbacaffeinate]

Audrey’s Guide to Witchcraft has a gorgeous cover and inside there is a terrific spell-casting, character filled tale that kept me spellbound. Witches, necromancers, swoon worthy guys and a chocolate cake with raspberries that should be illegal! This witchy tale offered a great start to a new series.

The tale pulls you in from the start. We meet protagonist Audrey and things are about to turn upside down in her fairly normal little life. First, strange things happen at school that kind of freak her out, she has some weird visions/daydreams and a nagging, persistent feeling that something is wrong with her Mom. When she gets home she and her sister are greeted by their supposed cousin, twenty-one year old Sadie. Sadie informs them their mother has had to go home to deal with a family emergency. Audrey and Meg have never met their mother’s side of the family and something just feels wrong. Stranger still weird things are happening to Audrey. Mix in a cute boy who does things to her, the weird dude from her dreams and her unusual cousin and you have the makings for a witchy tale. The tale that unfolded kept me enchanted, as the tale slowly picked up speed and things were revealed to us.

Audrey is a typical teenager, who is eager to take on the world. She loves cooking and chemistry and I ended up liking this geeky, nerd girl. Her sister Meg is one of those girls who seems to have it all, from the way she walks to her ease at being center stage. Sadie was totally cool and just gave of that whole 'hippy-vibe'. I found her to be funny, quirky and quick-witted. I so want to read more about her! Bridget is Audrey’s best friend, and I liked this nerd girl with her made up vocabulary. I admired how loyal Audrey was to her, but also loved the growth we saw in Bridget. Julian is yummy, and I am very curious about him and the effects he has on Audrey. Overall the characters were fairly fleshed out but still have the potential to be more as the series progresses. The romance is sweet, funny, smexy and served on the side is this tale.

Gehrman adds her own delightful twists and colorful characters to a tried and true formula creating a fun, silly, captivating read that kept me intrigued as the tale unfolded. The tale had dark and suspenseful moments filled with evil, necromancers, zombie type creatures and witchy goodness. Gehrman made baking sensual even magical and I liked this added element. I want to test out that chocolate cake recipe..Eep! Audrey’s powers, the coven’s rules, spells mentioned and other witchy details were fascinating. The pacing was perfect and slowly built to the intense climax. While the tale is far from over, she skillfully avoided the dreaded cliffhanger.
Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer