Published by Joy Revolution Pages: 266
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Format: Young Adult
There is a LOT going on in Shelly Page’s Charmed and Dangerous, a lighthearted rom-com set in small town Fair Glen, where magic is a part of everyday life. The Bureau of Mystical Affairs, where high school senior Monroe Bennett is a Junior Recruit, oversees everything from enchanted objects (legal) to charms (illegal), like the love charm running amok at Fair Glen High. When the rogue charm causes flirtatious, popular girl (and Bureau Chief’s daughter) Iris to suffer a dangerous magical mishap, Monroe’s daring and romantically-charged rescue of Iris goes viral, launching the pair into a fake-dating scheme for varying motives. What follows is a pat romance plot that hits all the beats just when you’d expect them while also trying to manage the mystery behind the charm and some rather messy magical worldbuilding.
At times, the chaos of these competing ambitions gets in the way of the romance, which, despite increasingly didactic explanations about being real with the person one loves, still relies very heavily on physical attraction between two otherwise engaging Black, lesbian teens. The writing, peppered with today’s pop ephemera, leans toward the young end of YA, and its strongest elements – the mystery, diverse representation throughout, and Monroe’s struggles with her parents’ divorce – give readers plenty to love, even if the romance ultimately lacks a little magic.
Reviewed by Emily Ender, Oxford Hills Middle School Library, South Paris