Parties and Potions by Sarah Mlynowski

Rachel’s ready to start off her sophomore year of high school with a bang! Now that she’s gotten her powers, and learned to semi control them, there’s nothing holding her back from having the best year ever. Except there is one little hindrance, she has to keep her witch life and her “normal” life separated and the task is proving to be a lot harder then she thought.

First there is her Samsorta, which is pretty much a debutante ball for witches. Miri (her sister) and she have to take classes and learn that there are tons more teen witches out there. Rachel soon meets up with Adam, whose cute, funny, and a witch, but there’s also Raf- adorable, sweet, and doesn’t know Rachel’s secret. 

Then there is Wendalin - Miri’s new witch friend who just started high school and doesn’t understand why she can’t let everyone know that she’s a witch. Rachel kind of takes her under her wing and tries to change her into a more “normal” teenager.

And finally she has to deal with the fact that her dad still doesn’t know that her and Miri are witches, and she’s terrified to tell him.

Even though she’s a witch and it takes nothing to hop on over to Paris or to change the color of her shirt, Rachel still has many issues that can’t be solved with the snap of her fingers.

This whole series is seriously cute! The books always pick up right where the last left off with nothing missing. That said though, the story can definitely hold its own and it would be just as enjoyable read if no other book in the series had been read.  Rachel kind of retells her past adventures throughout the story in a way that sparks your memory if it has been a while since you read the previous books, or will catch you up if you haven’t read any of the other books.

One of the best parts of the book for me was the creativity of the plot. In all the types of fantasy realistic books I’ve read, I’ve never come across anything with a plot even remotely similar to this series and I feel that in Parties and Potions, Sarah Mlynowski’s creativity is exemplified more then it ever has been before. Having a witch debutante ball and popping to Arizona to attend Samsorta classes at a witch community center! I felt like the book was something out of my wildest dreams! It was truly a blast to read this book.

The characters were fairly well developed. There were some times when I got frustrated because Rachel would act the same way in a multitude of different situations. When this happened the book dragged a little, but then it quickly picked up again and was great. I also really enjoyed the author’s writing style. She made it really easy to see through Rachel’s eyes and I felt like I was walking down the hallway with her or zapping off to Paris and standing on top of the Eifel tower.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and think it was a great addition to a fun series. It’s a great book for all that provides a great adventure and some fun magic. I absolutely can’t wait for more from Sarah Mlynowski and urge you all to pick up this book, or at least one of the books in the series!