Sorcery and Small Magics is a story revolving around vulnerability. Not only does it have an unwilling love curse, it’s also about limiting ourselves, about our family’s treatment of us, and taking a chance on ourselves. Keep reading this book review of Sorcery and Small Magics for my full thoughts.
Summary
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
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Sorcery and Small Magics is a story that kept surprising me. Beginning with a curse, it’s a story that takes us into the depths of forests, confronting our own past, and contemplating our future. At the heart of the story is a nemesis story. About two people who don’t merely just dislike each other, there’s pieces of each of them that hit on our insecurities. The things that bug us that we can’t let go of. All the ways they’re able to push our buttons, to take what they have for granted, and to dismiss us. Sorcery and Small Magics, like most enemies to not-enemies stories, explores changing our minds about people, about seeing through the illusions they present to the world.
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Then Sorcery and Small Magics turns into a story about trying to unravel this curse. Their journey takes them places they never expected. Throughout the book, not only do they get to know each other, Leo begins to see the ways the highest of the high don’t care about the average person. The inequalities, the desperation, that he had never seen before. Doocy asks Leo if the visions of his future, the limitations, are truly worth it. While the romantic connection felt a bit thin, compared to the other plot lines, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment.
Sorcery and Small Magics becomes a story about challenging what we think we know about the world and ourselves. And it manages to do that all with this character core of tenderness and vulnerability. Sorcery and Small Magics is a story about believing in ourselves, about changing our minds, and learning not to run from what terrifies us. Find Sorcery and Small Magics on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.