Imagine that you could change your life instantly. In The Cost of All Things, witches called Hekamists cast spells for a price. These spells can erase memories or make you prettier or less depressed. Hekamists are under strict laws, but nobody stops them from performing spells for teenagers (Which seems incredibly unwise to me).
The book is told by five teens. Winn has been suffering from severe depression and asks for a spell to feel better. Unfortunately, his chapters are flashbacks because we know that Winn dies. His girlfriend Ari is the one who erases her memories to stop the pain. Unfortunately, the spells always have consequences and Ari loses her ability to dance.
Diana is Ari’s best friend. She is starting to come out of Ari’s shadow by speaking up more and dying her hair red. Despite her friend’s warnings, Diana starts to date Markus. Markus was Winn’s best friend. He starts to fall in love with Diana, but ends up screwing everything up (And messing up his brother). Finally, Kay feels abandoned and buys a spell to make her friends stay. Diana and Ari cannot travel very far and must contact Kay every couple of days. If they try to get away, there can be bad consequences.
The book was pretty good. I didn’t expect so much magical stuff (I may not have read the description very well). It would have been nice if the Hekamists had spent more time counseling the poor teens (Though they did have reasons to just take the money). I hope that the books unwritten ending was therapy for everyone.
You can read my full review here.
