Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman

Falling in love, baking a magical cake, fighting an evil necromancer—it’s all in a day’s work for Audrey Oliver, seventeen-year-old witch-in-training. When her mother goes missing and her mysterious "cousin" shows up out of the blue, Audrey knows something’s gone horribly, dangerously wrong. Now it’s up to her to get her own magical powers up to speed before everyone she loves is destroyed by the sorcerer intricately connected to her mother’s secret past.

Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft is more than just a novel; it's a book of spells, a collection of easy recipes, a charming Young Adult novel, an enchanting romance, and an action-packed adventure. As Audrey overcomes her insecurities and learns to protect herself against the wicked black magic of her nemesis, she grows into a heroine we can root for—a witch who knows that true power comes from deep within.

This is one of those books that can make a weekend fly by as you read it. It’s the kind that puts you in a good mood.

The protagonist is Audrey, of course, a teenage girl dealing with the regular issues that come with adolescence and with the things that come with being a witch in training. She is a fun heroine to follow throughout the book, with enough spunk to make her more interesting than many of the YA female protagonists that are out there at the moment.

I would have liked a bit more development in the book’s magical side. The magic performed in the story seemed to come too easily, and it would have added a nice bit of tension to have made it more of a challenge.

The story is fast-paced (sometimes a bit too fast), so that we are never bored. The ending felt just a tad rushed, but it is an interesting conclusion to the book. Of course, this is just the first in a series, so there’s still lots that will happen in Audrey’s life.

I recommend this book to YA fiction lovers and to those of you who are looking for something fun to read.