SPELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT

Following For Better or Cursed (2020), the demon-fighting Sitters tackle new magic threats and face a cringey rock band.

While Esme and her friends are out trying to remove the curse on Esme’s mother, Cassandra and Dion’s house is broken into by culprits who leave behind clues—most notably a flyer for a rock band that looks like it came out of the early 2000s. Investigating the Myspace-using band turns up oddities that set Esme’s Sitter senses tingling, so they amp up their investigation (and gain access to its members) by manipulating their school’s Valentine’s Day dance committee to hire the band. This also gives their friends from the Summit—Ji-A; Amirah; Mallory; and Ruby, Cassandra’s girlfriend—something to do when they visit Esme, Cassandra, and Janis for a girls’ weekend. As in earlier installments, there are zingers and jokes aplenty and delightful, copious descriptions of the creative fashionistas’ ensembles. Some moments seem padded—such as the extensive recapping of plot points that are relatively straightforward—but by the time this gives way to the silly action (which relishes in chaotic and humorous large set pieces), readers likely won’t mind. Along with filling in information about Red Magic and Esme’s and Cassandra’s mothers’ histories, both families’ storylines make varying degrees of progress. While the band members are all White, the Sitters (and Janis) are a multiethnic crew.

A fittingly entertaining end to a fun trilogy.