Review: Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs Book 1) by Maiga Doocy

Desperate to undo the curse binding them to each other, an impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival venture deep into a magical forest in search of a counterspell—only to discover that magic might not be the only thing pulling them together.

Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics.

He can summon butterflies with a song, or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Such minor charms don’t earn him much admiration from other sorcerers (or his father), but anything more elaborate always blows up in his face. Which is why Leo vowed years ago to never again write powerful magic.

That is, until a mix-up involving a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime nemesis, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and an absolutely insufferable curmudgeon. The only thing they agree on is that getting caught using forbidden magic would mean the end of their careers. They need a counterspell, and fast. But Grimm casts spells, he doesn’t undo them, and Leo doesn’t mess with powerful magic.

Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To dissolve the curse, they’ll have to uncover the true depths of Leo’s magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and—much to their horror—work together.

Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them.

Review:

Dear Maiga Doocy,

A book friend recommended your book in our discussion group and the story sounded very much like my cup of tea because I love fantasy and some m/m romance. I still feel that I am not finding nearly enough books with m/m romance in them that I am enjoying so I did not even bother looking for this story in the library. I just one clicked.

I have to admit that the beginning of the book irritated me. See I love the “from enemies to lovers” trope and for a second I thought that this is where the story was going between the two main characters. Actually now that I finished the book, I think that this is where it *was* going, but for the first maybe quarter of the book I thought that what was happening was the narrator, Leo, finding ways to irritate Sebastian just because he felt like it. Let me just make sure that I am adequately describing my issue.

I have no problem with the characters initially even hating each other if the author can show that their feelings change throughout the course of the book (it better be convincing of course). Here I did not think that Leo was hating Sebastian, but just that he was constantly irritated with him and finding ways to annoy him. What was missing for me was a reason why Leo felt that way. I did not see any chemistry. I guess that was my main issue.

Leo is our only narrator, we are in his head (first person) all the time (well there is half a chapter at the end where Leo tells us a little bit of what he missed out on as told to him by Sebastian, BUT we still learn it from Leo). I just quickly tired of his pettiness towards Sebastian.

However, surprisingly, slowly but surely the situation started to change. The book offered some interesting ideas about magic. Off the top of my head I never before read a story where some magic users can only write the magic spells and others can cast them but not write them (well occasionally some people can do both but it very quickly depletes their magical reserves). I also thought that some spells just were very intriguing in their purpose. What I am trying to say is that the author first enticed me in their magical world and then I started to see that the main characters are actually interesting people and have some depth.

I very much did not expect how Leo’s cursing came about. I thought their journey to find a counter spell was a lot of fun, and there were some twists and turns along the way. The “monsters” in the forest were adorable, especially the black rabbit with two tiny mouths who could sing :).

I said that the book offered many interesting things about magic in that world, but I also think that not everything was thought out. For example as much as I enjoyed the different rooms in the magical castle they visited, just how the heck were all those rooms going to mesh together and actually stay together? Any magical explanation that works?

I ended ups really enjoying this story and I can easily see the characters as friends at the end of it, which is really all that was being offered with hints of more, let us see if the second book convinces me that they are able to be more :).

Grade B.

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