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stardustkmo's review
5.0
I thought Conjure was beautifully written with excellent use of imagery. Lea Nolan unfurled the plot in the best of ways. I highly recommend this book. The only thing I disliked was the fact that the synopsis on the back of the book gave away a lot of details that I viewed as important to the plot and that should have been discovered while reading.
jlove731's review
4.0
Conjure is one of those stories that you just enjoy reading. It's enchanting and entertaining with history weaving its way through the curses. The cover is beautiful and this book is fun, adventure, and magic all rolled up into one! Almost like a Pirates of the Caribbean for teens!
Jack and Emmaline, Emma for short, are twins who love spending their summer in the South Carolina heat with their close friend Cooper. They don't expect much different this summer until they stumble upon a bottle with a strange message inside. On search of the treasure within the note, they come across a curse that unleashes itself on Jack. The curse is slowly eating away at Jack's skin and will surely kill him if too much time is wasted. When a mysterious girl shows up and leads them to Hoodoo magic, Emma with the help of Cooper and others will have no choice but to save her brother before time runs out... if it's even possible that is.
Firstly, the fact that Emmaline (love that name!) and Jack are twins totally pulls me in. I have a huge obsession with twins. The other thing I love about them is you can tell how connected they are, how much they care about each other. You certainly see this with Emma and how she takes risks she never thought she'd take, all for her brother. Plus the aspect of diving into Hoodoo was such an adventure and it hold a key part to the story so it was much more than just a magic touch. There's also Cooper Beaumont who is an adorable hunk rolled in sugar. I loved Cooper's role and I absolutely loved seeing Emma and Cooper evolve as the story plays on.
Overall, Conjure is a mystical story wrapped up with revenge, sacrifice, and romance. It'll show you how tight some sibling bonds really are and how far sometimes you have to push yourself for the people you love. Definitely a fun read and definitely worth a pick up!
Jack and Emmaline, Emma for short, are twins who love spending their summer in the South Carolina heat with their close friend Cooper. They don't expect much different this summer until they stumble upon a bottle with a strange message inside. On search of the treasure within the note, they come across a curse that unleashes itself on Jack. The curse is slowly eating away at Jack's skin and will surely kill him if too much time is wasted. When a mysterious girl shows up and leads them to Hoodoo magic, Emma with the help of Cooper and others will have no choice but to save her brother before time runs out... if it's even possible that is.
Firstly, the fact that Emmaline (love that name!) and Jack are twins totally pulls me in. I have a huge obsession with twins. The other thing I love about them is you can tell how connected they are, how much they care about each other. You certainly see this with Emma and how she takes risks she never thought she'd take, all for her brother. Plus the aspect of diving into Hoodoo was such an adventure and it hold a key part to the story so it was much more than just a magic touch. There's also Cooper Beaumont who is an adorable hunk rolled in sugar. I loved Cooper's role and I absolutely loved seeing Emma and Cooper evolve as the story plays on.
Overall, Conjure is a mystical story wrapped up with revenge, sacrifice, and romance. It'll show you how tight some sibling bonds really are and how far sometimes you have to push yourself for the people you love. Definitely a fun read and definitely worth a pick up!
theunlibrary's review
3.0
All Emma wanted to do was have a good summer hanging out with her twin brother, Jack and her best friend and longtime crush, Cooper. But no, she has to stumble into ancient curses and everything goes crazy. With a flesh eating curse creeping up her brother’s arm and her would be boyfriend’s sixteenth birthday approaching (upon which his soul will be stolen and he’ll turn into a grade A jerk like all the males in his family), Emma races against time to learn Hoodoo magic from an old practitioner and save the people she loves the most from their terrible fates.
Lea Nolan’s Conjure is a fun, light read. The main characters are all well fleshed out and you get a good feel for who they are and what their stories are as individuals as well as together. There were a few inconsistencies throughout the book with regard to their characterization which bugged me; mood swings and attitudes that seemed to come out of nowhere, especially when their character had been described in a way that lies opposite of their actions. Emma is a likable heroine and she’s not one of those heroines that are good at everything right away; she struggles with figuring things out. We have access to her inner monologue (since the story is told from her perspective) and although it can get a little annoying sometimes (with reference to her obliviousness and light pining/feeling sorry for herself), generally, she’s a good character.
The plot is interesting enough and has a lot of cool origins of “Hoodoo” magic. The descriptions and explanations were thought out and kind of cool to hear about. The pacing of the story was spot on, nothing happening too slowly or too quickly and it never really dipped into uninteresting territory. I do think the language was a bit simple and dumbed down which can happen in a lot of YA novels, but if you dig simple and direct storytelling, this could definitely be a good choice for you. The action portions and the story behind the curse were definitely the strongest aspects of the plot and while the romance was sweet and innocent, it fell a little flat for me.
All in all, this is a good book for people looking to have some fun and explore a magic that isn’t really touched upon a lot in the genre. The characters are likable for the most part and the story is interesting. I didn’t think there was anything truly special about it, but I enjoyed reading it.
Lea Nolan’s Conjure is a fun, light read. The main characters are all well fleshed out and you get a good feel for who they are and what their stories are as individuals as well as together. There were a few inconsistencies throughout the book with regard to their characterization which bugged me; mood swings and attitudes that seemed to come out of nowhere, especially when their character had been described in a way that lies opposite of their actions. Emma is a likable heroine and she’s not one of those heroines that are good at everything right away; she struggles with figuring things out. We have access to her inner monologue (since the story is told from her perspective) and although it can get a little annoying sometimes (with reference to her obliviousness and light pining/feeling sorry for herself), generally, she’s a good character.
The plot is interesting enough and has a lot of cool origins of “Hoodoo” magic. The descriptions and explanations were thought out and kind of cool to hear about. The pacing of the story was spot on, nothing happening too slowly or too quickly and it never really dipped into uninteresting territory. I do think the language was a bit simple and dumbed down which can happen in a lot of YA novels, but if you dig simple and direct storytelling, this could definitely be a good choice for you. The action portions and the story behind the curse were definitely the strongest aspects of the plot and while the romance was sweet and innocent, it fell a little flat for me.
All in all, this is a good book for people looking to have some fun and explore a magic that isn’t really touched upon a lot in the genre. The characters are likable for the most part and the story is interesting. I didn’t think there was anything truly special about it, but I enjoyed reading it.
chllybrd's review
3.0
CONJURE was a unique story about a girl whose brother is struck by an ancient curse and their journey to cure him. The story started a tad bit slow but picked up and stayed on a nice course a few chapters in. The characters were easy to like (or dislike in some cases). You tend to forget the Main character and her brother are only 14 at some times when they are thrust into situations that a normal 14 year old wouldn't be able to handle, then you turn around and feel that they are extremely immature at other times.
There is some very light romance in CONJURE. Emma has had a huge crush on Cooper for as long as she can remember and Jack crushes on a mysterious girl they meet on the beach before all their troubles start. The Hoodoo parts of the book was interesting. Ms. Delia's character was my favorite character of the book and I looked forward to the parts she was involved in.The premise of the curse was fascinating and the location of the story fit in perfectly. For the most part the situations were pretty easy to guess and not much was a surprise when it was revealed.
CONJURE is geared pretty low on the YA spectrum in my opinion and would be a great fit for the younger, Young adults. A neat little adventurous start to The Hoodoo Apprentice Series.
There is some very light romance in CONJURE. Emma has had a huge crush on Cooper for as long as she can remember and Jack crushes on a mysterious girl they meet on the beach before all their troubles start. The Hoodoo parts of the book was interesting. Ms. Delia's character was my favorite character of the book and I looked forward to the parts she was involved in.The premise of the curse was fascinating and the location of the story fit in perfectly. For the most part the situations were pretty easy to guess and not much was a surprise when it was revealed.
CONJURE is geared pretty low on the YA spectrum in my opinion and would be a great fit for the younger, Young adults. A neat little adventurous start to The Hoodoo Apprentice Series.
anacarter's review
3.0
Full Review on my blog!
*a copy was provided by NetGalley*
Conjure intrigued me beyond my expectations. I enjoyed it. Conjure is a unique read that you won’t want to miss. It’s enchanting and entertaining with history weaving its way through the curses. The cover is beautiful and this book is fun, adventure, and magic all rolled up into one!
Conjure is the first book in The Hoodoo Apprentice series by Lea Nolan. This is a very adventurous book told from Emma’s point of view. Her, and her twin brother Jack, are staying with their dad in South Carolina for the summer. Their friend Cooper lives here, and together the 3 of them find an ancient bottle that leads to horrendous curses. Emma must learn hoodoo magic to save her brother’s life, and the soul of Cooper – her crush.
There were a lot of twists and turns and the mystery was written in a way that kept me guessing up until the end. I’m looking forward to the sequel, especially since it ended on a cliffhanger. I highly recommend it!
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*a copy was provided by NetGalley*
Conjure intrigued me beyond my expectations. I enjoyed it. Conjure is a unique read that you won’t want to miss. It’s enchanting and entertaining with history weaving its way through the curses. The cover is beautiful and this book is fun, adventure, and magic all rolled up into one!
Conjure is the first book in The Hoodoo Apprentice series by Lea Nolan. This is a very adventurous book told from Emma’s point of view. Her, and her twin brother Jack, are staying with their dad in South Carolina for the summer. Their friend Cooper lives here, and together the 3 of them find an ancient bottle that leads to horrendous curses. Emma must learn hoodoo magic to save her brother’s life, and the soul of Cooper – her crush.
There were a lot of twists and turns and the mystery was written in a way that kept me guessing up until the end. I’m looking forward to the sequel, especially since it ended on a cliffhanger. I highly recommend it!
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hetlevenvaneenboekenworm's review
5.0
I loved this book! The review of this book will go online later on my blog!