Synopsis

Book One of the Spellweaver Chronicles

Felicity Lucas never really knew her mother. Even though they had lived together for all the fourteen years that Felicity had been alive, they had barely even had a meaningful conversation. It was a relationship that was far from perfect.

So when her mother dies in a car crash and Felicity is sent to live with her estranged father in a deprived London borough, she is determined to move on. It isn’t easy – content with her solitude, she’s never had friends before, but the most popular girl in her new school won’t leave her alone and she’s forced to attend counselling. To make things worse, it’s obvious that her father doesn’t want her around.

It is only after she discovers a book of spells and is attacked by a strange boy who can conjure flames in his hands that she starts to realise that her mother was far more than what she seemed. She had a great many secrets, secrets that promise to thrust Felicity into a terrifying world of magic and straight into the path of beings who are determined to destroy her.

Review

Felicity is raised without the knowledge that she has special magical abilities, so when things start going awry after her mother dies, she doesn’t know which way to turn or who to believe.

I thought the plot was interesting and I felt for Felicity since growing up she never really had friends and she has been “adopted” by Hollie who was asked to show her around school.  This felt strange to Felicity, but she came accustomed to having people around.  Sure Hollie is shallow, but that doesn’t make her any less of a friend. There are some characters that you will love and hate and some that will surprise you that they are not who you think. Can’t say too much or it would give it away.

Overall we give this 3 1/2 paws and if you are looking for a fantasy/paranormal YA book you just might like this one.

About the Author

Claire Bridgeman is a secondary school English teacher living in Norwich, England, with her husband, their 1 year old daughter Pearl, their black fluffy cat and the fly infestation currently inhabiting the conservatory. She has written many books but it was only in 2013, at the age of 28, that she felt her work was good enough to be thrust upon the general public. She thinks it’s an awful shame that there isn’t more creative writing in the current education system of the UK and believes that every child should be encouraged to explore the wondrous depths of his or her imagination through an artistic medium.

Her debut novel is an amalgamation of all her favourite fantasy things – a pinch of Dungeons & Dragons, mix in some Buffy the Vampire Slayer (without the vampires) and top the whole thing off with a sprinkling of Harry Potter and there you have it – the Spellweaver Chronicles. Bridgeman hopes to tell human stories as much as fantasy ones, stories that deal with common, everyday themes and feelings like love, loss, grief, friendship and bullying. She wants to explore human emotion and experience using the fantasy genre, and with urban fantasy in particular, she feels that she has found the place to plant her stories and watch them grow.

Website * Twitter * Goodreads