Modern Divination

Agajanian debuts and launches the Spells for Life and Death series with a lopsided romantasy, originally self-published in 2023, that introduces a fascinating world but focuses on a couple it’s hard to root for. Witch Aurelia Schwartz knows that keeping her magical identity hidden from humans is essential for her safety—especially after her Cambridge University friend and fellow witch Margarita is murdered. When her mysterious classmate, Theodore Ingram, reveals that he, too, is a witch and offers her refuge with his magical family at remote Townsend Hill, she reluctantly accepts. There, they learn that a shape-shifter named Leona has been killing witches across the country and stealing their magic. Despite working together to stop the evil, the pair antagonize each other for much of the novel, without any real motivation for the animosity. Their constant bickering grows tiresome and makes it difficult to imagine them working long-term as a couple. The plot is more successful when it’s focused on the hunt for Leona and Agajanian’s fresh take on witchcraft. This is a world that’s worth returning to, but readers will hope for more compatible leads in future installments. (May)