Spellcaster

Spellcaster (2025) is a dark academia romantasy novel by USA Today best-selling author Jaymin Eve. An established author in the fantasy romance genre, Eve is known for other popular series such as Shadow Beast Shifters and Supernatural Academy. The novel follows Paisley Hallistar, a young witch with dormant magical abilities, as she enters the elite Weatherstone College. There, she becomes entangled with the powerful and enigmatic Logan Kingston, the heir to a rival family, forcing her to confront a dangerous ancestral feud, mysterious monster attacks, and the true nature of her own immense power. The book explores themes including Social Status as a Determinant of Self-Worth, The Conflict Between Family Legacy and Personal Choice, and The Blurred Line Between Monster and Protector.

This guide refers to the 2025 Mira Books edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of graphic violence, sexual content, bullying, cursing, and death.

Plot Summary

The narrative opens with the protagonist, Paisley Hallistar, stumbling through Nightrealm Hall at Weatherstone College, severely wounded by a “beast” (1). Desperate to escape, she seeks help from her enemy, Logan Kingston. The door to his room opens before she can knock, and she collapses into his arms. Logan expresses fury at her injuries, demanding to know who hurt her before she loses consciousness.

The story then shifts to six months earlier. Just after her 22nd birthday, Paisley’s magic “blooms” (3). She is surprised to receive an acceptance letter to the prestigious Weatherstone College, where her father, Tom Hallistar, is a professor, as her entrance exam scores were poor. Her entire family, including her mother Beth and siblings Jenna, Alice, Trevor, and Jensen, are powerful magic users, and Paisley worries she will not live up to their legacy, as she has yet to discover her magical affinity. When Paisley arrives at Weatherstone with her family, an office administrator, Ms. White, informs them that Logan Kingston, a powerful spellcaster known for commanding multiple forms of magic and the son of Rafael Kingston, is transferring to the school. Tom panics and attempts to make Paisley withdraw. He reveals that the Hallistars and Kingstons were once close friends until 18 years ago, when Rafael’s wife, Isabel, was killed while hiking with Beth. A grief-stricken Rafael blamed Beth, creating a blood oath of vengeance between the two families. Since that day, Beth has suppressed her own magic. Paisley refuses to leave, promising to be careful.

After settling into her dorm, Paisley’s siblings warn her about Logan, confirming that he was a protective childhood friend before the tragedy. Soon after, Logan and his imposing friend, Noah, confront Paisley and her siblings. Logan uses cryptic nicknames that hint at a shared past she cannot remember, which unnerves her and angers her brothers. Haunted by a sexually charged dream featuring Logan, Paisley goes to the showers late one night, where she saves a fellow first-year student, Belle, from an attack by another witch. Paisley and Belle, a water elemental and the daughter of a High Council elder, become fast friends. During her first classes, Paisley shows no strong affinity for any element. She meets a promising student, Marcus Lofting. In her water elemental class at the campus lake, she sees Logan watching from a distance. While swimming, she is mysteriously dragged deep into the campus lake, where she has a terrifying vision of a monster before Logan saves her from drowning. Her father arrives, convinced that Logan is behind the attack, but reveals that her mother has agreed to let her stay at Weatherstone.

Several weeks pass peacefully, with Logan avoiding Paisley. At the first full moon party, Belle’s bully attacks her again. Soon after, Paisley is abducted and brutally beaten in the graveyard by one of Logan’s friends, Walter Allomore, before other students interrupt. The next day, Logan confronts Paisley and claims that Walter is no friend of his. Paisley soon learns from Headmaster Gregor that Walter has been expelled after being turned in by an anonymous student, whom she suspects was Logan.

During a special lecture, Logan demonstrates his immense power. At Belle’s prompting, he attempts to identify Paisley’s latent affinity. When their powers connect, it causes a massive, uncontrolled explosion of multiple elements, shocking everyone, including Logan. Afterward, Paisley feels a persistent sensation of being watched. Logan confronts her in the library, suspecting that she is a spellcaster hiding her abilities. Later, in the graveyard, a snake-like monster attacks Paisley. While wearing her grandmother’s crystal necklace, she uses a defensive spell from class, and the monster vanishes. During a trip home, Paisley discovers a box belonging to her deceased grandmother containing photos of crystals with notes on their properties and unopened letters addressed to her mother.

Days later, a large, praying mantis-like monster appears in a dorm hall and kills a third-year student. Paisley’s spell is less effective this time, but Logan intervenes, saving her and disintegrating the creature. In response, the school enacts a magical “blanket” (165) to suppress all strong magic, and Logan forces Paisley into intense physical and magical training with him and Noah. The sexual tension between them, fueled by persistent, shared dreams they discover they are both having, culminates in an intense encounter in Paisley’s dorm room.

During Parents’ Weekend, Belle’s father, Elder Monroe, gives Paisley cryptic advice to read a book titled The Reapers of Purgatory (230) and research the witch massacres of 1859. A public confrontation occurs between the Hallistars and Kingstons, where Rafael Kingston implies that Paisley’s family is connected to the recent tragedies.

At the Blue Harvest Moon Festival, a magically enhanced fire breaks out, destroying the chapel. Paisley’s father, a chaperone at the event, is suspended after an anonymous source reports him for knowing about the bootlegged witch wine that fueled the fire. Headmaster Gregor reveals that a highly ranked community member has demanded the expulsion of all Hallistar children.

On Halloween night, the magical blanket over the school is lifted for the graduation ceremony. Paisley agrees to meet Logan in the graveyard to finally get answers. There, her intense emotions cause dozens of monsters to manifest around them, revealing that her own magic is calling the creatures. Logan connects his power to hers, and amplified by her grandmother’s crystal necklaces, they destroy the army of monsters. Immediately after, Paisley’s mother, Beth, appears. Logan calls her a “demon-witch” (322), a previously unknown classification of magic user, which Beth neither confirms nor denies. Logan declares, “Paisley belongs to me” (322), and gives Beth one month to train her before he comes for her. Beth uses a portal to take a shocked Paisley home, where Tom gives her the very book Elder Monroe had mentioned, promising a full explanation in the morning.