BOOK REVIEW: Hexes for the Modern Age by Val Brains

Stephanie O'Connell | 28 March 2018 | Reply

BOOK REVIEW: Hexes for the Modern Age by Val Brains

Skyhorse Publishing
December 2017
Hardcover, $22.99
Reviewed by Steph O’Connell

Humour

4/10

Let’s face it: most people irritate us. Hexes for the Modern Age is a tongue-in-cheek approach to giving these folks a taste of their own medicine. While inspired by witches’ curses of the past, this is a gift book of 120 funny spells specific to the smartphone-obsessed, overworked, hipster-drenched reality of the present day.

Organized by category–love, work, roommates, traffic, pets, weddings, and so on–each hex is accompanied by an irreverent, Demetri Martin-type line drawing.

Spells include: “May you start turning into your parents way earlier than you expected.” “May all the cords to your electronics become entangled in a massive death coil.” “May a full-size parking space that appears to be open actually be taken up by a tiny Vespa scooter.” “May you always have 3 percent phone battery when you have no idea where you’re going and it’s in the middle of nowhere and there’s no one else around.”

And many, many more!

This little book, with a spell and an illustration on every page, is perfect for anyone who wants some subtle modern-day revenge.

Though the blurb mentions hexes and spells, this book doesn’t include anything of the sort, just phrases of misfortune. This is quite a quick read with a variety of misfortunes and illustrations accompanying each one, including some that are particularly specific and obscure, and others that are things readers are likely to experience on a daily basis.

May you finally see Bigfoot and be unable to take a photo because your phone is out of space.

May all the cords to your electronics become entangled in a massive death coil.

May a full-size parking space that appears to be open . . .
. . . actually be taken up by a tiny Vespa scooter.

Some were giggle-worthy, but this book failed to provide the spells it suggested it would, and also failed to be funny enough to make it worthwhile on that merit alone. The majority of the “hexes” are overly silly or try to hard. This could mean that for the right readers, this would be incredibly hilarious, but will probably be a miss for more readers than it is a hit for.

This would perhaps be good as a joke gift, but it has limited lasting value.

The sense of humour seems to be in line with that of the creator, whose previous books include colouring books about “cat butts”, “dicks”, and “poop”.