A woman haunted the woods behind my house. i used to watch her from my bedroom window. She glowed silver in the moonlight, a pale wraith in a white dress that curled around her ankles and twisted in an ancient wind that didn’t touch the pine trees around her.

Title: A Magic Dark and Bright

Author: Jenny Adams Perinovic

Series: The Asylum Saga

Publication: April 28, 2015 by Bookish Girl Press

Pages: 321

Source: Netgalley

Summary: 

She meant to help a ghost…not unleash a curse.

Amelia Dupree hasn’t seen the Woman in White since the night her brother died.

The ghost seems to have disappeared from the woods surrounding Asylum, Pennsylvania—that is, until Charlie Blue moves into the creepy old MacAllister House next door. Amelia can’t help liking him, even though she spent her childhood thinking his grandmother was a witch. And she definitely can’t ignore the connection between his arrival and the Woman in White’s return.

Then Amelia learns that the Woman in White is a prisoner, trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Devastated by the idea that her brother could be suffering a similar fate, Amelia decides to do whatever it takes to help the Woman in White find peace–and Charlie agrees to help her.

But when Amelia’s classmates start to drown in the Susquehanna River, one right after another, rumors swirl as people begin to connect the timing of Charlie’s arrival with the unexplained deaths. As Charlie and Amelia uncover the dark history of Asylum, they realize they may have unleashed an unspeakable evil. One they have to stop before everything they love is destroyed.

My Thoughts: 

attention from the start, but I had high hopes for the book due to the synopsis so I just kept reading. I can tell you that I am very glad I did. This book was wonderful despite the ending. I hate cliffhangers, and let me tell you – this ends on a huge one. I hope I will get the same chance to review the sequel if and when it comes out.

To start off with, I loved the main character Amelia Dupree. She was understandably shy and slightly broken after the tragic death of her brother, and yes, it played a major part in every choice she made during the book – but she also was not afraid to step out of the comfort zone that her accident had created. Amelia’s brother, Mark, was killed in a car crash the night she found her boyfriend cheating on her. She carries this huge weight of guilt upon her shoulders, and the sad part is that I completely understand why. She thinks her brother’s death is her fault. When she finds her now ex boyfriend cheating on her, she grabs her brother and begs him to drive her home. He is extremely intoxicated, and as you all know, drinking and driving is bad. So, I understand her guilt, but I also know that it wasn’t her fault. This brings me to Charlie, the scary “witch” neighbor’s nephew.

Charlie Blue is literally the perfect love interest for Amelia, and honestly, I couldn’t help but love him too. He is kind and patient, but he also isn’t afraid to jump into things head first and get his hands dirty. One of the things I love the most about him is his ability to make Amelia see the logic in things, like the death of her brother. Also, I love the fact that he wears glasses and can’t see without them. He is imperfectly adorable. Charlie plays a huge part in the story, his appearance is a central plot line in all aspects.

The hard part about writing a review of this book is the fact that I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s nearly impossible to talk about all the things I want to talk about without doing so. I can’t rant about the ending, I can’t tear Ben (the ex) to shreds, I can’t even bring up a central character without spoiling everything about him. It sucks, but I guess it will make you want to read the book, huh?

All I can say was that I loved it. It didn’t pull me in at first, but once I was hooked I devoured each and every page. Since this book deals with suicides and there is a good amount of cussing, I would say it is better for ages fifteen and up. I would recommend it for everyone, unless the possibility and use of witchcraft makes you uncomfortable. Overall, the book was very well written and a very good read.