Book Review: The Language of Spells

When you are ready, seek, and you shall find. It is your gift.


Gwen Harper left Pendleford thirteen years ago and hasn’t looked back. Until an inheritance throws her into the mystical world she thought she’d escaped. Confronted with her great-aunt’s legacy Gwen must finally face up to her past.

The magic she has long tried to suppress is back with a vengeance but gift or burden, for Gwen, it always spells trouble. She has to stay – she has nowhere else to go – but how can she find her place in the town that drove her out after branding her a witch…?

I must admit that this really isn't my usual sort of book at all--I may be a bit snobbish when it comes to 'chick lit'--but it was a Kindle bargain at the unbeatable price of free, so I couldn't resist.

Much to my surprise it was really rather good.  I zoomed through it in two days, and that was only because I had to go to sleep.  It really is a proper page-turner; I haven't been so caught up in a story since I read A Game of Thrones for the first time.

I really liked that magic wasn't the main focus of the story.  It's definitely there, but it's not in your face.  (I've read some dreadful urban fantasy books over the years, so this was a welcome relief.)  This is a book about relationships.  Gwen's relationship with her ex, Cam, who is stiff and distant when she returns to Pendleford, her rather strained and fraught relationship with her sister, to whom she is pretty much a polar opposite, and her developing relationship with the townsfolk who either welcome her with distrust or expect her to fix all her problems, just like her Aunt did.

The plot flows well, and there were some twists and turns that came as genuine surprises--my favourite thing is guessing whodunnit or motive and I like to think I'm pretty good at it!  I've held off on reading the sequel, "The Secrets of Ghosts", until my summer holiday as I wanted to be able to relax and enjoy it; as you read this,. I'll be tucked up in a cosy cottage, iPad in hand, and a slice of cake in easy reach.  Bliss...

The Language of Spells is a satisfying and engrossing read; I'd give it 8/10.