‘Spells to Forget Us’ Review: A Witchy Whirlwind of YA Rom-Com Tropes

Fleeting, unexpected, and swoonworthy, there is something undeniably magical about the perfect meet-cute novel. Published on Sept. 17, the second novel from author Aislinn Brophy ’17, “Spells to Forget Us,” centers around the enchanting moment when a teenage girl meets Boston’s most powerful young witch. Yet, for Brophy’s two heroines, a complex web of forbidden romance, family drama, and amnesia spells means that their story emerges as a somewhat muddled plotline strung together by one meet-cute encounter after the next.

For Luna Gold, magic is more of a burden than a gift. As the presumptive successor to her grandmother’s seat as head of the Witch Council, she dreads the responsibility and pressure of magical bureaucracy. Yearning for the normalcy of life beyond the “Veil,” the barrier hiding the supernatural realm from the non-magical people of Boston, Luna ventures out to a high school football game. At the game, Luna meets Aoife and the two are instantly smitten.

Though Aoife is non-magical, or “mundane,” she commiserates with Luna about steep familial expectations. Aoife’s parents are successful influencers, meaning that her life has been broadcasted on social media for as long as she can remember. As the two grow closer, Luna reveals to Aoife that she is magical, and removes the “Veil” so that Aoife can experience the magic unfolding right under her nose.

In the book’s magic system, all spells cast by witches in the Gold family have a catch. The price for Luna and Aoife’s spell is that if they break up, they will both forget everything about their relationship. Despite a complicated explanation of the spell when it is cast and a series of convoluted counter-spells and hexes throughout the novel, Brophy’s entire premise boils down to a single amnesia trope.

Of course, romance novels often subsist on employing and reinventing well-trodden tropes. Unfortunately, while witchcraft could have been Brophy’s creative twist to breathe new life into a trope, the sheer number of break-ups, bouts of forgetfulness, and meet-cutes in the novel veers into overwrought drama. Additionally, the lack of clarity about the novel’s magic users becomes exceptionally confusing later in the novel when Aoife gains magical abilities through some sort of ill-defined mental link with Luna.

That being said, the novel truly shines in scenes where budding romance takes center stage. The relationship that Luna and Aoife build over and over throughout the book always begins with sly, witty banter that balances out the subsequent emotional breakups. In building these central characters, Brophy tackles important issues including race, queer identity, body image, and social media exposure. The inclusion of these other storylines makes the book speak to the experiences of young readers.

Brophy also succeeds at defining two distinct voices for her dual-narration style. In each chapter, Luna and Aoife alternate as first-person narrator, with Luna’s introverted, analytical personality contrasted to Aoife’s boisterous energy. The dynamic between the two characters ensures that despite all of the time jumps and confusing bouts of lost memory, readers can reliably identify through whose eyes the story is being told. This device is particularly effective to develop these strong main characters and ensures that readers are invested in their relationship.

For romance-inclined Harvard students, Brophy’s novel offers an extra layer of intrigue, since many of the scenes are set in Cambridge. Not only do Luna and Aoife have a date watching dragons swimming in the Charles River, but there are also frequent references to Flour, Aoife’s favorite Boston bakery. For readers outside the Cambridge area, these somewhat superfluous details may contribute to the backdrop of realism that offsets descriptions of Boston’s hidden magic scene.

The central queer storyline, endearing characters, witchy school, and quirky magic system make this novel perfect for fans of the Disney Channel series “The Owl House,” which also features a jaunty romance between a young witch and a non-magical girl who just so happens to stumble upon a magical realm. Brophy’s work would also strike a chord with fans of the popular subgenre of contemporary witchy romance novels, like Erin Sterling’s “The Ex Hex.” Ultimately, “Spells to Forget Us” is a lighthearted, magical variation of a fantasy romance.

—Staff writer Katy E. Nairn can be reached at katy.nairn@thecrimson.com.