"Sorcery and Small Magics" gives "Ella Enchanted" vibes to a new generation

Both the Ella Enchanted book and the movie were essential to my childhood. My paperback of the book fell apart until I was unable to put it back together, and to this day, my family will sit down to watch the movie when we need a laugh. Now, the two entities are very different - to the point I don't consider them the same story, just two different stories with a similar premise. But any story that is compared to Ella Enchanted is a must-read for me, and that is how I discovered Sorcery and Small Magics.

The book's premise is simple: Leovander "Leo" Loveage and Sebastian Grimm have hated each other from the moment they met. In fact, their rivalry is so well-known teachers at the Fount, a college for sorcery students, do everything in their power to keep them apart. That is until they end up partners for a year-long class with a teacher who expects them to overcome their differences and work together. And the result? Through a dangerous spell mix-up, Grimm curses Leo to obey any order he says. And if that wasn't bad enough, the curse forces Leo to have to see Grimm, be in his proximity and only calms him when he is doing exactly what his nemesis wants. So the two of them have to go on a quest for a counterspell, and fast, because otherwise, Leo will become Grimm's mindless puppet - which is something they can agree neither of them wants.

And if you guessed from this premise that Leo and Grimm would fall in love? Well, this enemies-to-lovers romance is one of the slowest of slow burns. And to be honest? It needs to be. I appreciated these two did not work through all of their issues in this book, but instead came to an understanding that their perceptions of the other in all of their years of hating each other were wrong. Every time one of them smashed the other's perceptions and was forced to see the other in a new light, it brought them one step closer to their inevitable romance. But by the end of the book, they both had clearly caught feels - but had a hard time with even admitting they didn't hate the other. I'm excited to see what happens in the next book, especially because I can tell there will be all of the pining. And I am a sucker for slow-burn romance pining.

In addition, the magic system Maiga Doocy created was fascinating. I love the cliche, "All magic comes with a price," and the author was able to turn this idea into an entire magic system. To cast a spell you need two people: a scrivener and a caster. One person writes the spell on paper, and the other then casts the spell into existence. The paper the spell is written on is sacrificed to the magic, and other things can be added to enhance the power of the spell. However, as this is the way most people cast magic, it's not the only way possible. Leo has developed spellsongs, where the magic feeds on the music he plays - an innovation his instructors believe to be dangerous. And to cast a spell without anything to feed the magic? That will result in a physical cost - and the larger the magic, the more it will affect a person. It's interesting to see the way consequences are shown within the way the magic works. But what I was most fascinated by were the multiple allusions to other countries - and how they cast magic differently. I hope to see how these other magic systems work within the world within the next two books, and can't wait to see how it expands on what we know about magic.

In addition, I appreciated the way this book subverted what you would expect from a cozy romantasy book. It has all of the traits you would see in them but adds in some action and adventure where there tend to be more near-death experiences than one would expect in a cozy book. I feel like this is a great way to keep readers on their toes because where it follows so many similar beats, the path it takes to get there is unlike anything else I have read in the genre. This was masterfully done, and I can't wait to see how the author continues to do it in the later books.

Overall, I am so glad I read this book. It was cute and fluffy, with high stakes that will easily get higher in the later books. I love Leo and Grimm, and I can't wait to see how both of them grow as the series continues. So now, I'm just going to be over here, waiting for the announcement for the second book, and hoping it'll come out soon.

Sorcery and Small Magics is available through Hachette Book Group