View source for What The Spell by Brittany Geragotelis

{{infobox1
|title=What The Spell
|author=Brittany Geragotelis
|reviewer=Robert James
|genre=Teens
|rating=2.5
|buy=No
|borrow=No
|isbn=978-1471117077
|pages=336
|publisher=Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
|date=January 2013
|website=http://brittanythebookslayer.blogspot.com/
|video=lI90s9RDTFY
|summary=Despite some interesting ideas, an obnoxious heroine who undergoes barely any character development and an unrealistic portrayal of high school makes this one to avoid.
|cover=1471117073
|aznuk=1471117073
|aznus=1471117073
}}
Brooklyn just wants to be noticed by someone – the popular kids at her high school, the cute guy she likes, anyone other than the guidance counsellor who’s her only real friend. Luckily for her, she’s counting down the days until her sixteenth birthday - when she’ll have her powers as a witch finally unbound. When this happens, though, even though it initially seems like it will give her everything she wants, her new abilities could have caused more problems than ever. 

The story of a narrator who knows she has magical powers waiting to be unbound before the story begins is an interesting twist on the overplayed paranormal formula of a main character discovering they’re special, and the magic, and Brooklyn's growing awareness of her powers, is actually quite well-handled here.  What stopped me from enjoying it, though, was just how unrealistic the non-magical parts were. It's set in a school where the principal seems to enjoy publicly facing off against students, the (incredibly) stereotypical popular clique are actually called the Elite by everyone, and the guidance counsellor seems to have absolutely no idea of what a professional relationship with a student is. As for narrator Brooklyn, there were moments when I was supporting the nasty, evil clique, on the basis that they at least seemed to know that they were nasty and evil, while she seemed oblivious to just how vile she actually was. In addition, I was surprised by how little character development she went through given the events of the book. 

It's not all bad news - I thought that love interest Asher and his sister were both well-written characters who seemed far better portrayed than the other teens. I also thought that Brooklyn's parents were definitely believable - they also drove me crazy, but it was clear why they'd been so overprotective towards her, and Geragotelis has done well to tie in her witches with real incidents like the Salem Witch trials. Overall, though, this is a huge disappointment and I couldn't recommend it.

For better-handled witches, don't miss [[Hollow Pike by James Dawson]].  We've another obnoxious heroine in [[Dead Rules by RS Russell]].

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