DEADLY SWEET (Spellwork Syndicate #1) by Lola Dodge
Synopsis
For fans of Hex Hall, The Magicians, Practical Magic, and Food Wars!
Anise Wise loves three things: baking, potion making, and reading her spellbooks in blissful silence. She might not be the most powerful witch, but enchantment is a rare skill, and her ability to bake with magic is even rarer. Too bad one wants witchcraft on their campus. Anise’s dream of attending pastry school crumbles with rejection letter after rejection letter.
Desperate to escape her dead-end future, Anise contacts the long-lost relative she’s not supposed to know about. Great Aunt Agatha owns the only magic bakery in the US, and she suddenly needs a new apprentice. Anise is so excited she books it to New Mexico without thinking to ask what happened to the last girl.
The Spellwork Syndicate rules the local witches in Taos, but as “accidents” turn into full-out attacks on Anise’s life, their promises to keep her safe are less and less reassuring. Her cranky bodyguard is doing his best, but it’s hard to fight back when she has no idea who’s the enemy. Or why she became their target.
If Anise can’t find and stop whoever wants her dead, she’ll be more toasted than a crème brûlée.
Who knew baking cakes could be so life or death?.
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My Review
This is a delicious tale of witchcraft, mystery, and finding your place in the world. Eighteen-year-old Anise Wise lives among the regular folk who run in fear the moment they find out she’s a witch. Making friends is impossible and dating? Yeah, that’s not happening either. All she really wants, though, is to get into pastry school and get her dream job in a bakery. After a rather horrific display of magic at the county fair, Anise is sent packing to Taos, New Mexico, the vortex of witchcraft, where she’ll work as an apprentice in her great Aunt Agatha’s magical bakeshop. For the first time in her life, Anise is among her people, and the local muggles see witches as celebrities, rather than something to fear. But life isn’t as magical as Anise had hoped. While she feels surrounded by people like her, someone has decided her death would be in their best interest.
Plot
The plot centers around the attempts on Anise’s life, but there are subtle subplots involving her life goal of working in a pastry shop, her relationships with the other witches in the community, and even a little bit of romance. I figured out pretty early on who the warlock after Anise is, which made some of her actions more than a little annoying. I would have liked more red herrings, but Anise only has her sights set on one possible culprit. It’s so Snape-over-the-top, that it was clearly a misdirection. What really worked for me, though, was all of the magical world building. The imagery, analogies, and metaphors were unique and creative. The town of Taos comes alive on the pages.
The Characters
Anise annoyed me more often than not which made it hard to really root for her at times. She did ridiculously reckless things for no logical reason I could discern. Her insistence on constantly risking her life because she was bored drove me insane. But when she was in her baking mode, I warmed up to her. I could identify with her love of creating things from scratch and her desire to be accepted for who and what she was. Wynn, her bodyguard, was by far my favorite characters. His gruff exterior only made him more loveable. Aunt Agatha was equally fascinating. Some of the other characters got jumbled in my head because there were a lot of them.
Top Five Things I Enjoyed About DEADLY SWEET
1. World Building. The world of witchcraft as part of everyday life is so well done. The way magic is infused into everything from baking to healing was well-developed and detailed.
2. Wynn. Anise’s moody bodyguard was my favorite character. I’ll read the second book just for more of him.
3. Agatha’s shop. Anise’s great aunt’s bakery is the first place I’d go in Taos if it existed in real life. The beauty and confectionary are so well described, I can’t believe it’s not an actual place.
4. Taos. This small mountain town in New Mexico came alive for me, brilliant and vivid, full of charm and secrets.
5. Finding your place. Anise struggles to fit in with regular humans as well as her witchy counterparts, never quite feeling like she belongs in one and fighting to be accepted in the other. This is something that transcends magic and is a wonderful message for all young adults.
Bottom Line
An upper young adult paranormal adventure that is as delicious as it is action packed.
Disclaimer
I was provided with a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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About the Book
Title: DEADLY SWEET
Series: The Spellwork Syndicate #1
Author: Lola Dodge
Publisher: Ink Monster LLC
Release Date: January 16, 2018
Pages: 265
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo
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Author Lola Dodge
About the Author
Lola Dodge is a compulsive traveler, baker, and procrastinator. She earned her BA in English from Stonehill College and MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University—and hasn’t stopped moving since. When she’s not on the road, Lola spends her time indoors where the sunlight can’t melt her, writing or bingeing on anime and cherry soda. She can be summoned in a ritual involving curry, Hello Kitty idols, and a solid chocolate pentagram.
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Where to Find Lola Dodge
Goodreads | Website | Facebook | Twitter
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Giveaway
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