A fun, heartwarming story, Spell Bound is as charming as the magic within it.

Spell Bound follows Sun and Rook on an adventure to save the mages, all while finding love and family with one another.

Wonderful Characters

Absolutely fantastic and charming; I loved Spell Bound from beginning to end.

Rook has been deemed non-magical. Feeling displaced, he seeks out Antonia Hex, one of the most powerful mages known and the most troublesome rule breaker. She takes him on despite not being allowed an apprentice after the last one tried to take over the world.

And that is the beginning of a beautiful story.

The characters are the driving force of the story. Sun, who goes by they/them pronouns, has the perfect attitude to balance out Rook’s unwavering optimism. And they are quite powerful, if I do say so myself. He works for Fable, the rule-abiding frenemy of Antonia Hex.

Wholesome

Honestly, the dynamics between these characters were one of the best things about this novel. They are very much a found family, a perfect one at that. They may have grumbles, but they all balance one another out, making the romance between Sun and Rook even more wholesome.

Of course, the story and writing were also excellent. But, again, this is a character-driven story, and much of the storytelling hinges on connecting to the character’s inner dialogue. Which Lukens does expertly. And some of the one-liners, oh, they were breathtaking.

Especially when everyone fights over Rook not being magical and Sun, who can see magic, tells everyone they are wrong and that he does have magic. That was probably the best scene in the novel—right next to Rook being able to light a candle.

Final Thoughts

Spell Bound is honestly one of my favorites that I read this year. It was wholesome and sweet, action-packed and magical. It’s funny; I read Zenith Dream by Lukens years ago. I was not a fan, but now, after reading this, I’m looking forward to reading more and even re-reading Zenith Dream if possible.