Enchanting Review: Parties And Potions

PARTIES AND POTIONS

SARAH MLYNOWSKI

Paranormal YA

Delacorte

ISBN# 978-0-385-73645-9

352 Pages

$16.99

Hardcover—Available December 23rd, 2008

Rating: 5 Enchantments

PARTIES AND POTIONS is a really fun, paranormal read. Its definitely one of my top favorites of the year. When her younger sister Miri wants to delve deeper into the witch world, Rachel’s resistant. Sure, its one thing to be a witch, but to be one openly is quite another. But when Miri gets them invited to dinner with one of her new witch friends, Wendaline, off of MyWitchBook, Rachel finds herself exposed to a whole new witchy world.

I really enjoyed PARTIES AND POTIONS. Ms. Mlynowski creates a wonderfully unique paranormal world that’s easy to enjoy even if you haven’t read the other books in the series. I was pulled into the story right from the start. Rachel is a great character, stuck having to deal with her younger sister Miri’s obsession with having a Samsorta, a debutante-like debut for witches in Romania. Now Rachel’s forced into Samsorta lessons, in Arizona no less, plus there’s a cute warlock, Adam, who might just make things even more complicated. Things would be so much easier if she could tell her mortal boyfriend Raf that she’s a witch, but she can’t bring herself to do that. What if that breaks them up? Besides, she’s just not as outgoing with her witchy ways as her new friend, Wendaline. And things get even more complicated when Miri suddenly decides they have to tell their father about their witchy ways.

I loved Rachel struggling to deal with her witchy ways in a mortal world and then in comes her new friend Wendaline, who keeps announcing to everyone she’s a witch—she’s definitely a scenestealer! One of my favorite scenes is when Rachel and Miri go to their first Simsorta, the warlock’s version of a Samsorta. The mix of humor and paranormal really made this a great read.

This is the first of the series I’ve read and I absolutely enjoyed PARTIES AND POTIONS. Can’t wait to pick up the other books and see how Rachel got to this point. If you’re looking for a fun, guaranteed to make you smile paranormal, PARTIES AND POTIONS is definitely the one to pick up.

Sarah Mlynowski’s novels include the first three books in the Magic in Manhattan series. Like Rachel, Sarah lives in Manhattan. Unlike Rachel, Sarah has no magical powers . . . yet. Visit her anyway at www.sarahm.com and www.sarahmlynowski.com. To learn more about the Magic in Manhattan series, check out http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/brasandbroomsticks/books.html

Lisa

Enchanting Reviews

December 2008