Black Spells and Twisted Souls by Cece Rose

Series: Grey Witch

Release Date: July 16, 2018

Format: Kindle

Rating: 1/5 stars

To be honest, I was expecting Black Spells and Twisted Souls to be amazing. I don’t know if I simply got the synopsis confused with another book or combined it with another because this was not the book I was expecting!

First off, Kayla, the heroine, didn’t really inspire sympathy or any reader loyalty. It also didn’t help that Black Spells and Twisted Souls revolves around her bureaucratic, misogynistic office job where supernaturals (including witches like Kayla) and humans work. Hence, the supernaturals have to keep themselves on the down-low. Amazingly enough, this apparently translates to taking all the crap: Kayla and her female co-workers are sexually assaulted and simply complain to themselves rather than filing a report. She’s doesn’t speak up because she assumes the company would fire her if she did report her boss. If that is true, she could sue for wrongful termination or GASP use her witchy abilities to straighten things out (although she does eventually try that, and it lands her in a bunch of trouble, ‘cuz, of course, there needs to be some plot).

Her doormat personality doesn’t end with her job, though! From the very beginning, there was – what I think the author was going for – a slight mystery in her friend group. The group was comprised of herself (a white witch), her BFF (also a white witch), a shifter and the shifter’s cousin (who’s human but is in the know). From the start, you know there’s a history between Kayla and the shifter (I can’t even remember his name), but then it’s mentioned that they all go out for drinks after work, and he goes home with a different woman each time. So, then I thought it was probably one really bad or awkward date because Kayla – and even the shifter – don’t really seem all that into each other (no pining or much angst). But, then you find out that:

1. Wolf shifters mate for life;
2. Kayla was seriously dating this shifter, but when she found out they mate for life and only fall in love once, her mommy issues raised their ugly head, and she was like, nope, even though the shifter was very serious about her;
3. then you find out that Kayla hasn’t been with anyone since this shifter guy (which is totally not cool since the guy is getting with any woman with a pulse, apparently);
4. it turns out that she… actually still likes him?

But then, there’s another guy introduced – a fae who is, of course,

1. beautiful, and
2. it’s his nature to seduce beautiful women (the fae dude literally says this!!)

He’s obviously very interested in Kayla… but initially, you think for more superficial reasons (he turns into a mystery that I don’t really care if Kayla solves). An annoying aspect of Kayla concerning the fae was that her verbal “you’re so conceited/rude/annoying” seemed genuine, except she’d blush when he flirted with her! It didn’t even come across like, ‘she’s pretending not to be interested because he doesn’t fit her ideal type’ situation. It was weird and incredibly contradictory.

I think the only thing that Black Spells and Twisted Souls had going for itself was the whodunnit mystery, especially since the vampire/dark witch detective was convinced Kayla was the murderer. As a result, Kayla was focused on proving her innocence, which meant Kayla started investigating the crime herself. However, this series is supposed to eventually be a reverse harem romance (I think), and I think the “hot” (and super powerful) detective is supposed to eventually be a love interest. But for one so powerful, he wasted his time entirely focused on someone who wasn’t the killer! Oh, and when Kayla discovers a lead in the investigation (yes, Kayla can actually do something *gasp*), she has to check the murder victim’s work desk drawers. However, it made no sense since the victim’s desk is usually cleaned out by the police for evidence (obviously, I watch way too many crime shows). Also, I’m not sure the murder mystery was solved in hindsight.

The only engaging part of Black Spells and Twisted Souls was the demon. But the fact that the demon got quite rude and creepy (detailing all the ways he’d murder her) kind of made him lose his shine (what a shocker!). And, for a series titled “Grey Witch,” I kind of expected a badass white witch who sometimes crossed the line into “dark” magic to get things done (white magic plus dark magic equals grey magic). And yet, we got a white witch who was scared of her own freaking shadow and couldn’t believe her grandmother had black spells – oh, the horror!

So, in summary: a major let down.

Buy Black Spells and Twisted Souls

*These buttons contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.