Title: Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs Book One)
Publisher: Orbit
Author: Maiga Doocy
Pages: 391pp

Leovander Loveage is the black sheep of his family: he drinks too much, doesn’t take his schoolwork seriously, and — worst of all — grandmagic won’t work for him. It blows up in his face, leaving him able to perform only small magic. Which is fine. He can use small magic to torment his rival, the too-serious, too-perfect Sebastian Grimm. But then the two of them are paired for a school project and Grimm accidentally curses Leo. A curse that grows worse as days turn into weeks. Leo begins to lose himself, compelled to do absolutely anything Grimm asks, no matter how silly or even dangerous. Desperate to be free before his sense of self disappears, Leo convinces Grimm to help him hunt down a sorcerer who is said to live in the Wilderlands beyond the borders of the kingdom, where magic runs wild and monsters rule ….

Sorcery and Small Magics was a happy discovery. I stumbled a cross it at my local used bookstore, fell in love with the cover, and snatched it right up. And I was right to do so. This is one of my favorite books of the year. This is a fantastic rivals-to-grudging friends adventure filled with misunderstandings and presumptions, heartfelt revelations and deep emotional scars, amazing magic, terrific monsters, and more.

I adored both Leo and Grimm. While the story is told from Leo’s point of view, the reader is given enough insight into Grimm’s character to realize that there is much more to him than Leo assumes. As the story progresses, and the two are forced to work together in increasingly trying conditions, their assumptions about one another are blown away. Much to their mutual surprise, they end up sort of … respecting one another. Maybe even … liking one another? (Of course, the reader can see the romance coming, even if Leo and Grimm cannot.)

Then there are the secondary characters, such as Agnes (Leo’s best friend) and Phade (one of their instructors), and their fellow students, and the various members of the Coterie.

And the magic is amazing, particularly the spellsongs that Leo composes. His songs violate all the known rules of magic, and — yet — they work. They more than work. His songs are the key to their survival in the Wilderlands. Frankly, I can’t wait to see how those stuffy professors react when they learn about Leo’s spellsongs.

That’s just barely touching on all the reasons I loved this book. Read it for yourself and discover the rest.

Highly recommended to fans of romantasy in general, as well as A Rival Most Vial by Ashwick, A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience by Burgis, Spells and Sensibility by Noone and Murphy, and Fireheart Tiger by de Bodard.

[Reviewd by Rebecca Buchanan.]