Review: SPRUNG (Witchbound, #2) by Kelbian Noel

Since she discovered magic, seventeen-year-old Skye Jackson’s life is almost perfect. When Skye’s parents got divorced, she wasn’t exactly thrilled. Especially when her mother married a guy half her age. However, Skye discovering magic existed and figuring out she could use it, made everything easier to deal with. That is until she got a little too spell happy. Now she is stuck in a nightmare, forced to make life and death decisions.

This is the second in the Witchbound series, where we were first introduced to teen girls and boys who have the capability of very powerful magic. I was excited to read this story after reading the first one, but from page one I was very confused. Where were Baltimore and Brooklyn from the first story? This was an entirely different character, in an entirely different area of the country with an entirely different life. At first, I thought I may have missed a book in between these two but only when I got to the last quarter of “Sprung” did I realize this was a story that would eventually weave Baltimore and her brother, Brooklyn, in from “Roots”.

Throughout most of “Sprung” I felt like the rug was jerked out from under me. In the first book, I was thrown deep into Baltimore’s life. All of a sudden, here is Skye and her friends and family. Her Grandmother (known as Nan) is in a nursing home. Skye has been lead to believe it is because Nan is senile. However, Nan is ultimately Skye’s teacher in magic and helps her fine tune her power. Skye’s father eventually comes into play and explains a bit about why Nan is in this home.

I kept wondering when the characters from “Roots” would make their appearance. When one of them did (Ramon finally made an appearance who was a major character in the first book) it felt like the series was finally coming together, but it took awhile to get to this point. This book did not delve deep into Skye’s life; it showed how she misuses her power (she accidentally kills a boy then brings him back to life all because she was defending her friend) and plants a seed of doubt about her stepfather. I did like how she defended her friend and thus shows the reader the power of friendship.

From the way “Sprung” ended, I expected Baltimore to be put on a different journey in “Roots”. I think this second book would have been better served if written from Baltimore’s point of view introducing the reader to Skye that way. We could see how they ‘spy’ on her/protect her and still get a great view of what is going on with Skye and her family.

The storyline is unique and I can see where the author is going. Given what I have read so far, I expect Book 3 & 4 (if there is one) to have a different character and in the end all the Elementals come together to fight whatever evil threatens their existence. I’m looking forward to finding out. If you like magical realism, a bit of mystery, and enjoyed “Roots”, then give this book a try!