Aster and his family are adjusting to his unconventional talent for witchery; unlike the other boys in his family, he isn’t a shapeshifter. He’s taking classes with his grandmother and helping to keep an eye on his great-uncle whose corrupted magic wreaked havoc on the family.

Meanwhile, Aster’s friend from the non-magical part of town, Charlie, is having problems of her own — a curse has tried to attach itself to her. She runs to Aster and escapes it, but now the friends must find the source of the curse before more people — normal and magical alike — get hurt.

I was a little worried that this volume would be like a bridge between the first volume and the third, and while it did have some bridge elements it still stood really well on its own. There was a lot of character growth and transformation in this one and anyone who doesn’t love Aster and Charlie even more after reading this obviously will have read something different than I did.

I really loved the progression of some of the other characters that we met in the first volume, as well as introduction of new characters. Sedge’s sub plot in this one really hit me in the feels, and seeing him and Aster interacting and communicating more was great.

I’m kinda mad I slept on reading this one for so long, but so glad I did finally get to it. I can’t wait to pick up the next one!

Happy reading!