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For most people, magic is invisible. But not for Elsie Camden. She can see the shimmery runes left behind by spells that modify the physical world, hear the chirps produced by blessings and curses, smell the earthy tang of time-altering enchantments, and feel the curving outlines of those that affect the mind.
That’s because Elsie is a spellbreaker — a person born with the ability to detect and unravel the spells cast by magicians, known as aspectors.
It’s an ability she has kept secret from everyone. Everyone except for the Cowls — the mysterious organization that rescued her from a workhouse when she was a child. Now that Elsie is a young woman, she has a job as a stonemason’s assistant. But in her spare time, she still works for the Cowls — going on spellbreaking missions and longing for the day when she’ll be brought fully into the fold and learn all the secrets of her mysterious rescuers.
Elsie’s spellbreaking work is illegal and dangerous — spellbreakers who fail to register their abilities with the government risk imprisonment, or worse. But she doesn’t mind being a criminal. Robin Hood was a criminal, too. And the way Elsie sees it, she’s the Robin Hood of Victorian England, delivering the poor from their wealthy, magical oppressors, one disenchantment at a time.
But everything changes when what should have been a routine mission — freeing the Duke of Kent’s servants, who have been imprisoned by a bespelled door — goes horribly wrong. She’s caught in the act by a powerful (and, if she’s honest, kind of handsome) aspector. The magician, Bacchus Kelsey, agrees to keep her secret — but only if she’ll work for him until he decides her debt has been paid.
It’s a devastating blow. On top of her responsibilities at the stonemason’s shop and to the Cowls, another job is the last thing she needs. But if Elsie wants to keep her head on her shoulders, she doesn’t have much of a choice.
However, Elsie is quick to discover that Bacchus has secrets of his own. And soon, her growing relationship with the aspector — along with a spree of murders and thefts targeting magicians, and a potential revelation about her own painful past — leads Elsie to wonder if she has somehow stepped into a story as thrilling as the novels she loves to read.
I enjoyed delving into the fantastical world of Spellbreaker. The magical system author Charlie N. Holmberg has created is unique and thoroughly developed, and her characters are engaging and relatable. The romance is sweet and well-paced without ever dipping into tawdry territory, and the mystery kept me on my toes. With every secret unraveled, new questions are raised, drawing the reader ever deeper into the intrigue. Fans of fantasy, romance, and mystery will all find something to enjoy in this novel.
Unfortunately, the story falters a bit in the final chapters. The book is clearly advertised as a duology, with the sequel, Spellmaker, set to release in March 2021, so I wasn’t expecting every loose end to be tied up. However, it almost felt as if the author struggled to decide where this book ought to end and the next ought to start. The story loses its momentum in the final few chapters, which in several places begin to drag. And the loose ends that are wrapped up feel a bit contrived.
It’s an unfortunate way to end an otherwise excellent book, but apart from that, and a few minor, but still disappointing, content issues (noted below), I thoroughly enjoyed Spellbreaker, and I eagerly await the sequel to find out what happens next!
Rated: Mild. There are fewer than 10 instances of mild profanity, a few uses of moderate profanity, and the name of Deity is taken in vain nine times. The moderate profanity is always in reference to a character of illegitimate birth. In one scene, a man must take off his shirt so a woman can work with a magical spell that has been placed on his body. The woman describes the experience as feeling “scandalous,” but the work is done in a professional context, and nothing improper happens. A woman kisses a man on the cheek. One male character is strongly implied to be attracted to the same sex. Characters discuss murders in the news, which include stabbings, poisonings, electrocutions, and arson. Someone is given a minor eye injury. One character is killed by a sharp object. Blood spatters from the fatal wound, but no further gore is described.
