Spells and Sandwiches

„Spells and Sandwiches“ ist der erste Band der Reihe „West Side Witches“ von Kate Moseman und ein kurzweiliges Fantasy-Abenteuer. Das Hörbuch wird gelesen von Hollie Jackson und umfasst knapp sechs Stunden. Die Stimme passt perfekt zur Persönlichkeit der Protagonistin Zelda Hawkins, einer Hexe aus deren Ich-Perspektive die Geschichte erzählt wird. Die Sprecherin schafft es aber auch darüber hinaus ganz hervorragend, den anderen verschiedenen Figuren Leben einzuhauchen. Die Charaktere haben alle einen ganz eigenen Charme, der sehr gut rüberkommt und es macht Spaß, ihr gemeinsames Abenteuer zu verfolgen. Das Erzähltempo ist recht hoch und so wird es nie langweilig. Nach dem Klappentext hatte ich eine gemütlichere Geschichte erwartet und so hat mich Zelda rasante Reise zwar überrascht, aber durchaus positiv überrascht. Die Geschichte macht definitiv neugierig, wie es für die Charaktere weitergeht; der zweite Teil der Reihe trägt den Titel „Masks and Mirrors“.

This review is for the Audiobook version of this book. In "Spells and Sandwiches" Zelda moves to New York to reopen her grandmother's sandwich shop. She is also a witch, but hasn't used her powers since her grandmother's passing years ago. In New York she meets up with old friends, makes new ones and gets roped into repairing a magical mirror by a vampiress... Nothing she can't handle, right? This is a fast and fun audio book! The narrators voice fits Zeldas spontaneous character very well and brings her to life. The world building is also very fast and a little thin in some areas, but since this is the start of a series, I imagine those holes will be filled in later works. I really enjoyed the unconventional magical powers (reading minds, "stealing" power, the disguise...) While not all of the characters are loveable (they're not meant to be), I still enjoyed meeting them. Their are a lot of them for such a short book though and I had a little bit of trouble keeping them straight in the last quarter. This book has been previously published under a different title which is still used in the audio book. This was very confusing, I thought there had been a mistake and I'd received the wrong book. I would recommend rerecording the opening! All in all, a fun, fast paced witchy story with a few flaws and a cute poodle! 3.5 stars I received a complimentary download of this audio book via Netgalley. Thank you.