Back in a Spell | Lana Harper

 "but that was the point, and the comfort of it, too; no matter the weight of your pain or loss, the world only ever knew how to move on."

    The story follows Nineve ‘Nina’, a dutiful Blackmoore family member who is nursing a broken heart from a fiance who left her at the altar. Trying to get back into the dating scene, Nina decides to accept a date with the most unlikely person she can find on a dating app, which happens to be Morty Gutierrez.

    Morty who owns a bar that Nina’s family—with her help—has been aggressively trying to purchase out from under him. Nina is brilliant, generous, and considerate, likes order, and is a science fiction and fantasy fan. Morty is perceptive, kind, and a bit of a risk taker. Despite their differences, they find they have things in common. Strange events end up fostering a magical connection between Nina and the non-magical Morty, which end up giving Morty magical powers, and bringing them closer than ever expected.

    Nina also has a strange and mysterious connection with an unknown entity, which was mysterious and compelling. I liked how it deepened the town lore, though giving that kind of power to a Blackmoore just felt a bit over the top, as they have already seized most of the power for themselves anyway. I think a big problem I had with this book is that I just really don't like the Blackmoore family, and focusing so much on them was not a selling point. Howevermuch Nina tries to distance herself from her family’s reputation, she still fails to recognize that they are the bad ones – for someone who is supposedly very much steeped in the geek culture, it’s ridiculous that she doesn’t recognize her family as the equivalent to the Empire from Star Wars, with her terrible grandmother at the helm.

    The plot is solid, absorbing, and intriguing with a storyline that definitely packed a punch. The diverse characterization and great world-building details provide insight into the town’s inhabitants and their differences – both between the witches and the regular people, as well as between the witch families themselves. But there is an undercurrent of a familial abuse plotline that ends up being somehow both deeply underdeveloped and cartoonishly evil at the same time. The resolution of this plotline feels random and unearned for how little space it is given on page and how little it is discussed or referenced throughout the novel.

    Additionally, I must note that I was a little disappointed in Morty's non-binary description. The use of Morty's pronouns, he/they, and how he was described using only masculine terms throughout the book took away from the intended representation. There is a scene in the book where Nina asks Morty about his pronouns and they say how they mostly use "he/him" because of his family but use "they/them" at bars and with friends. What disappoints me is that not a single character uses they/them pronouns for Morty throughout the entire book, not even this woman they supposedly have a soul bond with and who is supposed to know him better than anyone. 

    This series is starting to drag, and reading it feels suspiciously like a chore – but I already own them, so I’m going to get my money’s worth, I guess.