A few weeks ago, I wrote about the new Coliloquy application for Kindle, and promised upcoming reviews of all the titles. Well, I actually read and wrote a review for Witch’s Brew by Heidi R. Kling way back in December, but my dashboard ate it, so I’m trying again. Sorry this is so late!

Witch’s Brew,  one of the interactive titles in the Coliloquy family, revolves around a group of young witches who are preparing for an upcoming magical joust of sorts with their warlock counterparts. In Kling’s world, the witches and warlocks do not get along and rarely come together. When they do, it’s basically just to fight. Lily, the main character, finds that she’s having a harder time pulling off spells properly, and thinks that it’s just affecting her at first. She goes off to find an herb that will supposedly give her a bit of an edge, but instead finds Logan. Or rather, he finds her when she briefly passes out. The two are immediately suspicious of each other, and with good reason. Logan is a warlock. Although they are on opposite sides of the magical community and never supposed to even speak to each other, the two can’t help but feel drawn to each other.

The star-crossed lover theme is one of the most popular plot devices, dating all the way back to ancient times. Authors who choose to go that route have their work cut out for them, as they have some tough acts to follow. To pull it off, the writer needs to give readers something new, something they didn’t already get from Shakespeare. Kling definitely pulls it off by offering a magical world with her own unique set of rules and mythology. Lily and Logan’s budding romance story is almost secondary to Lily’s discovery of what is happening to magic everywhere in her community, although the two plot-lines do intersect.

The interactive features of the story include the ability to change point of view when Logan and Lily first meet. Readers are given a choice to see the story from either character’s vantage point. At the cliffhanger ending, readers are also given the opportunity to subscribe to the series, which I definitely intend to do. Your choices affect future stories, so in a way it’s like an extended “choose your own adventure.”  I am anxiously awaiting the next installment, especially considering how Witch’s Brew left me hanging in suspense at the very last moment.