Only Spell Deep

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Synopsis

Rebecca meets The Craft in this dark, atmospheric novel of one witch rediscovering her power while on the run from another willing to kill her for it.

Judeth Cole has always had certain uncanny abilities. But when she arrived at Solidago – her grandfather’s estate by the sea – she was forced to keep them secret. There she lived a harsh life under his rule and the haunting legacy of her late grandmother, Aurelia. Until the fateful day she ignited a fire with her magic. It was the last time she saw her family alive.

Seventeen years later, she’s living in Seattle as Jude Clark, and failing at life, when she makes a last detour through her favorite bookstore, selecting a book to read as she waits to die. But when she pulls it from the shelf, an invitation to her for a secret midnight meeting slips out.

Jude is quickly swept up into a world of secrets and magic, discovering a circle of powerful new companions led by the mysterious, enigmatic Arla. The source of their magic, Arla tells her, is a goddess, trapped and bound, that they call The Fathom. But Jude swiftly realizes Arla wants this power all to herself, and that she’s willing to kill for it.

Terrified, Jude turns to Levi Orman, the handsome bookseller who’s seen her at her worst. With his help, she begins a research journey that leads her from the crystal waters of the Mediterranean to the icy waves of the Greenland Sea and back to Solidago, the house she swore to never return to. With the Fathom threatening to break free and Arla on the hunt, Jude must finally face her past to save her future.

Synopsis source: StoryGraph

Review

Genre(s): Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal
HB&W Rating: 3 stars
View on StoryGraph | Goodreads
Buy on Barnes & Noble, Amazon
Release Date: March 17, 2026

I went into Only Spell Deep with really high expectations. I loved Ava Morgan’s previous two books, The Bane Witch, especially, so I was ready to be swept away again. But this one ended up being just okay for me.

The book starts very slowly. Morgan is known for her slow-burn style, but this was slow even by her standards. The one thing that absolutely did shine, though, was her beautifully dark writing. She gives Seattle this gritty, eerie underbelly that feels so on brand for her—moody, atmospheric, slightly dangerous in that deliciously magical way.

My biggest struggle was the pacing. The first 65% barely seemed to move the plot forward, and then suddenly the story takes off at a sprint. I almost DNF’d at 30%. Then again at 40%. Then I took a break at 61% and debated not returning at all. Honestly, the only reason I kept going was because I loved her last two books so much.

I also never really connected with the characters this time around. Jude, our main character, didn’t land for me, and it was hard to care deeply about anyone in her orbit. Even the romance, which Morgan usually threads seamlessly into her stories, felt surprisingly flat. Levi never quite came off the page, and their relationship felt more superficial than meaningful. And the spice… it just didn’t work for me here. It didn’t add anything to the story or deepen the bond between them in any meaningful way.

I also went in expecting the same kind of powerful, feminist energy the first two books had, those witchy women flipping the patriarchy the magical bird. This book is about female power, but in a different way—not necessarily in a bad way, it just needed a more cohesive plot to support it.

Another thing I kept stumbling on was how many names sounded similar—Dara, Arla, Mira, Anneli, Aurelia. I was constantly stopping to remember who was who.

And some of Jude’s choices felt… off. She reads like someone who should be smarter than the decisions she makes, but the plot needed her to go a certain direction, so she made choices that didn’t feel believable. It also clashed a bit with Morgan’s writing style, which assumes a pretty intelligent, attentive reader, yet the main character wasn’t always operating on that same level.

Overall, the book still has Morgan’s signature atmosphere and dark charm, but the pacing issues, the character disconnect, and the romance that never fully took shape made this one harder for me to love. I’m still absolutely a fan of the author and hoping the next story captures the magic of her first two.

Thank you St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

Until next time,

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