Quill Me Now

Lighter in tone than Price's other series, but like those it features a world where the fantastic is almost prosaic. In fact, the way that the Penn's have spellcrafting as their family business reminds me of Schroeder's family mneming business. Not sure it has enough heft to keep me going through the series like PsyCop and Mnevermind do, but a light, enjoyable read.

Quill Me Now is the first book in ‘The ABCs of Spellcraft.’ It stars Dixon Penn, a failed Spellcrafter, and Yuri, a mysterious Seer. This story is told in third person from both Dixon and Yuri’s pov.

4.5 Stars



I really enjoyed this story and was immediately pulled into the plot. The blurb describes a bit about the book, but I’ll add a little more. Dixon is in a no end job delivering food because he failed his Spellcraft Initiation. He and his cousin live in the attic of his missing/dead uncle’s house while renting the downstairs out to a tenant. Why does he live there instead of with his parents? I’m guessing it’s his pride pushing him to make it on his own since he considers himself a failure. His failure at spellcrafting show more is something he is constantly trying to overcome or rationalize throughout the story. Dixon decides to enter a Valentine’s Day contest at Precious Greetings hoping to win a position and earn more money, but first he has to pass some spellcrafting tests which of course he fails. There he meets Yuri, a large intimidating man with a Russian accent and lots of tattoos. There’s something odd going on with Precious Greetings and Yuri tries to warn Dixon away, but that only makes him more curious. And so goes the story.

I was completely engrossed in the plot and the world the author built. However, at times I had difficulty trying to figure out what spellcrafting was or how it worked. The beginning of the story was also a bit slow with Dixon talking about his current job and his past failure.

The characters were terrific especially Dixon. He was animated with a never say die attitude. Yuri is quiet, suspicious and we eventually find out why. Dixon is immediately taken with Yuri even though Yuri isn’t giving Dixon any encouragement, but Dixon keeps going breaking down Yuri’s walls in his crazy Dixon way. I could totally believe in them as a couple by the end of the story.

Couple questions I have are: What’s going to happen to all the animals? And will Dixon keep the cockatoo as a familiar/pet?

I like the cover of the book, although I think the Dixon on the cover looks older than as described in the story. I can’t remember if Yuri was bald or not either.

I’d like to give this book 5 stars, but I can’t because descriptions about how spellcrafting worked were a bit confusing and I had to read over some passages more than once. However, I was drawn into the plot immediately and enjoyed the characters so much, I’ll be reading the rest of the series. I give, Quill Me Now a solid 4 Stars and would recommend it to others.

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As usual, Jordan Castillo Price delivers a sweet, dangerous, funny tale perfect for a February read - or any time you want a bit of magic in your life. Dixon is a down on his luck optimist, and Yuri, tough as he is? Needs help. The solution's complex and clever and so satisfying. Well worth a dollar!

Really enjoyed this. It was in parts creepy, funny and cute (as much as JCP does cute). It's also just the beginning for Dixon and Yuri (autocorrect keeps changing this to Tutu!), because more books are coming.

Really enjoyed this. It was in parts creepy, funny and cute (as much as JCP does cute). It's also just the beginning for Dixon and Yuri (autocorrect keeps changing this to Tutu!), because more books are coming.

This was an interesting take on magic and a cute little novelette of a story.

This hit the spot :)