Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF @ 16%. I really wanted to like this...I mean, just read that title and that cute little synopsis. It sounds like the perfect cozy read!
Sooooo many problems, though:
- No magical rules that I can find...he just snaps his fingers and things happen (even relaxing peoples shoulders from stress?)
- There is no fixing up the tea shop...she literally just buys it and continues it as it was
- Miscommunication trope TO THE EXTREME and I wouldn't be shocked if it lasts the entirety of the novel
There is literally no substance to the novel thus far aside from "I'm so into them but no we can only be friends" over and over and over again. GUH.
Sooooo many problems, though:
- No magical rules that I can find...he just snaps his fingers and things happen (even relaxing peoples shoulders from stress?)
- There is no fixing up the tea shop...she literally just buys it and continues it as it was
- Miscommunication trope TO THE EXTREME and I wouldn't be shocked if it lasts the entirety of the novel
There is literally no substance to the novel thus far aside from "I'm so into them but no we can only be friends" over and over and over again. GUH.
This one was really cute and I had a lot of fun!
I loved all the characters, and the world was super interesting.
I loved all the little Addams Family nods and touches. Right down to the love between Morticia and Gomez... and the high-stakes pranks between Prissy and Az.
I also really enjoyed the themes of finding "home". It came up quite a few times with Vicky and how she always felt like she had a home with the Harts. And then both Vicky and Az learned what it was to find a home in each other. Loved it!
There were some parts of this book that I found confusing. I think it might have been a mix of my brain not paying attention from being tired and some things not being explained as well as they should.
I really enjoyed the "I touch her and I die" dynamic. I don't know that I've read that many (if any at all) like that. I will say at times, it did feel like we were going in circles with emotions. Instead of inspiring yearning, we just got repeated thoughts that I swore were already addressed.
All in all a fun time. Great for the Halloween season!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved all the characters, and the world was super interesting.
I loved all the little Addams Family nods and touches. Right down to the love between Morticia and Gomez... and the high-stakes pranks between Prissy and Az.
I also really enjoyed the themes of finding "home". It came up quite a few times with Vicky and how she always felt like she had a home with the Harts. And then both Vicky and Az learned what it was to find a home in each other. Loved it!
There were some parts of this book that I found confusing. I think it might have been a mix of my brain not paying attention from being tired and some things not being explained as well as they should.
I really enjoyed the "I touch her and I die" dynamic. I don't know that I've read that many (if any at all) like that. I will say at times, it did feel like we were going in circles with emotions. Instead of inspiring yearning, we just got repeated thoughts that I swore were already addressed.
All in all a fun time. Great for the Halloween season!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Audrey Goldberg Ruoff, Atria Books, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of Hopelessly Teavoted in exchange for my honest review.
I have mixed feelings about this book. Normally, friends-to-lovers is my jam, and I am always looking for the next friends-to-lovers that I can read. However, while this was a romance book, I truly do not think the romance was at the heart of it. The romance felt more like a subplot to the main storyline, which centers around a mystery. When looking at the various storylines individually, the romance was good, the mystery whodunit, and even the subplots for each of the characters' family dynamics were good. When you put it all together, though, it was too much. I wanted more from each of the storylines, and it felt like there was too much going on. The overall concept of this book was so good, and Victoria and Az are really cute together. But it is hard to get invested in any of the plotlines when it switches from Victoria getting disowned and Az dealing with grief, to them reconnecting, and then to a who made a deal with the devil plot. What's hard is that I still do not fully understand what happened that made Victoria and Az go their own ways in the first place. Like, I have a general idea, but even by the end, I was still unsure.
I have mixed feelings about this book. Normally, friends-to-lovers is my jam, and I am always looking for the next friends-to-lovers that I can read. However, while this was a romance book, I truly do not think the romance was at the heart of it. The romance felt more like a subplot to the main storyline, which centers around a mystery. When looking at the various storylines individually, the romance was good, the mystery whodunit, and even the subplots for each of the characters' family dynamics were good. When you put it all together, though, it was too much. I wanted more from each of the storylines, and it felt like there was too much going on. The overall concept of this book was so good, and Victoria and Az are really cute together. But it is hard to get invested in any of the plotlines when it switches from Victoria getting disowned and Az dealing with grief, to them reconnecting, and then to a who made a deal with the devil plot. What's hard is that I still do not fully understand what happened that made Victoria and Az go their own ways in the first place. Like, I have a general idea, but even by the end, I was still unsure.
3 Stars.
This wasn't the book for me. It felt like if you removed every dirty thought and spicy scene, it would be a middle grade choose your own adventure book. I felt like the author did a lot of telling and not showing. Pages and pages of thoughts between dialogue.
The book was fun but again, fun in a childish way, not in an adult spooky way.
The injection of Covid-19 was actually jarring. I know it's a main plot point in how he lost his family but it just didn't flow in the scheme of things. The also constant injections of real-life issues and pop culture was also off-putting because it was SO prevalent. This was a bad man, he was a gun lobbyist. He was a bad man. Build up the character in different ways instead of just saying: This is X, he's a bad man, he lobbies for guns. OBVIOUSLY, they are bad, but I felt like again, I need more showing and not telling.
The back and forth with Vickie and Az didn't feel productive. Vickie always running away to think. The pretending was weird.
Not for me. Beautifully written though.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This wasn't the book for me. It felt like if you removed every dirty thought and spicy scene, it would be a middle grade choose your own adventure book. I felt like the author did a lot of telling and not showing. Pages and pages of thoughts between dialogue.
The book was fun but again, fun in a childish way, not in an adult spooky way.
The injection of Covid-19 was actually jarring. I know it's a main plot point in how he lost his family but it just didn't flow in the scheme of things. The also constant injections of real-life issues and pop culture was also off-putting because it was SO prevalent. This was a bad man, he was a gun lobbyist. He was a bad man. Build up the character in different ways instead of just saying: This is X, he's a bad man, he lobbies for guns. OBVIOUSLY, they are bad, but I felt like again, I need more showing and not telling.
The back and forth with Vickie and Az didn't feel productive. Vickie always running away to think. The pretending was weird.
Not for me. Beautifully written though.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
ARC Review
Thank you to Audrey Goldberg Ruoff, Atria Books, and Netgalley for the ARC!
First, this book helped get me in to the spoopy season! It's a lighthearted rom-com with witches, deals with the devil, and spirits! Oh, my!
The mystery being solved in this book was well written! While I did guess who did it, I second and third guessed myself along the way! Personally, I love when a reveal feels like an episode of Scooby-Doo! I.e. you're not shocked by the reveal, but didn't quite get there on your own.
Now, let's talk about Victoria and Az! I loved them together - two of my favorite tropes are second chance romance and childhood friends to lovers! My only frustration with them was their communication skills! For me the lack of communication went on too long!
I enjoyed the pop-culture references and inspiration for this book! I also appreciated how Az's grief was handled and portrayed! Also, Victoria's "gift" is so cool! I do wish she was able to use it help others more publicly!
Overall, this book was a good time and it made my heart happy!
Thank you to Audrey Goldberg Ruoff, Atria Books, and Netgalley for the ARC!
First, this book helped get me in to the spoopy season! It's a lighthearted rom-com with witches, deals with the devil, and spirits! Oh, my!
The mystery being solved in this book was well written! While I did guess who did it, I second and third guessed myself along the way! Personally, I love when a reveal feels like an episode of Scooby-Doo! I.e. you're not shocked by the reveal, but didn't quite get there on your own.
Now, let's talk about Victoria and Az! I loved them together - two of my favorite tropes are second chance romance and childhood friends to lovers! My only frustration with them was their communication skills! For me the lack of communication went on too long!
I enjoyed the pop-culture references and inspiration for this book! I also appreciated how Az's grief was handled and portrayed! Also, Victoria's "gift" is so cool! I do wish she was able to use it help others more publicly!
Overall, this book was a good time and it made my heart happy!
I really like charming small-town cozy books and this one was posed as having Wednesday vibes so I was excited for the meshing of those elements. Unfortunately I don't think either of the main characters reminded me of Wednesday (snarky, brooding, black cat) but I do see the Addams Family "kooky spooky" elements and I think that would've been a better marketing comparison. The Pushing Daisies comparison is pretty spot on though! I loved that show and Victoria's abilities were so interesting.
This book features a lot of important things including queer main characters, mental health medication, gun control, street drugs, manipulative religions, problematic rich people, and discussions on grief. For me personally, the way several of these elements were included felt a little forced and heavy handed. It seemed like every chapter contained commentary on politics and while I agree that reading is political, this book was preaching to the choir with me and I got tired of it quickly. In addition to all the real-life issues commentary there were TONS of pop culture references. I usually don't mind those but it was overdone by the 5th reference and it just kept coming. I think nuance and allegories could've been used in place of all of these things. I'm also not crazy about the choice to make literal witches die by contracting COVID but I know that's a personal opinion and maybe it'll work for someone else. I did like the distinction that this is an open-minded small town and some of the plot involves fighting "puritanical bullshit". That was a fun little inclusion.
Prissy was a fun side character! I liked her personality and friendship with Victoria. Prissy is constantly meddling in Victoria and Azrael's lives but she also clearly cares about them both. She also goes to a nerdy bar with Victoria. It's super funny and cute and it reminded me of Scum & Villainy in Hollywood. I wish they went there more than once in the book.
I didn't ever get invested or hooked by the romance between Victoria and Azrael. In the first chapter we're told that this MMC is obsessed with this FMC but it's all tell and no show (it's also barely any tell). We get a little more insight in the following chapters in the present but as a big Second Chance fan it didn't work for me this time. There are also several instances throughout that book that take Miscommunication to the extreme, going so far as to have the characters deliberately lie to each other which I found really annoying. There's tons of whiplash with "will they, won't they" moments and it was so mentally exhausting for me that I couldn't even attempt to root for them as a couple.
I liked several characters, some of the family dynamics, the varied magic, and the town. But ultimately I was expecting a romance and I was let down by that (as well as a lot of the writing choices). A cute idea, but I found myself emotionally wiped out after reading this.
Thanks to Atria for the ARC, sorry it was a miss for me.
This book features a lot of important things including queer main characters, mental health medication, gun control, street drugs, manipulative religions, problematic rich people, and discussions on grief. For me personally, the way several of these elements were included felt a little forced and heavy handed. It seemed like every chapter contained commentary on politics and while I agree that reading is political, this book was preaching to the choir with me and I got tired of it quickly. In addition to all the real-life issues commentary there were TONS of pop culture references. I usually don't mind those but it was overdone by the 5th reference and it just kept coming. I think nuance and allegories could've been used in place of all of these things. I'm also not crazy about the choice to make literal witches die by contracting COVID but I know that's a personal opinion and maybe it'll work for someone else. I did like the distinction that this is an open-minded small town and some of the plot involves fighting "puritanical bullshit". That was a fun little inclusion.
Prissy was a fun side character! I liked her personality and friendship with Victoria. Prissy is constantly meddling in Victoria and Azrael's lives but she also clearly cares about them both. She also goes to a nerdy bar with Victoria. It's super funny and cute and it reminded me of Scum & Villainy in Hollywood. I wish they went there more than once in the book.
I didn't ever get invested or hooked by the romance between Victoria and Azrael. In the first chapter we're told that this MMC is obsessed with this FMC but it's all tell and no show (it's also barely any tell). We get a little more insight in the following chapters in the present but as a big Second Chance fan it didn't work for me this time. There are also several instances throughout that book that take Miscommunication to the extreme, going so far as to have the characters deliberately lie to each other which I found really annoying. There's tons of whiplash with "will they, won't they" moments and it was so mentally exhausting for me that I couldn't even attempt to root for them as a couple.
I liked several characters, some of the family dynamics, the varied magic, and the town. But ultimately I was expecting a romance and I was let down by that (as well as a lot of the writing choices). A cute idea, but I found myself emotionally wiped out after reading this.
Thanks to Atria for the ARC, sorry it was a miss for me.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was looking forward to reading this book because of the witchy vibes and the storyline described. Unfortunately, it fell absolutely flat for me.
I could not bring myself to care at all about Vickie and Azrael. Their story was not set up well and everything was described so vaguely. We know theyโve been friends since they were kids and thatโs about it. They yearn for each other for 90% of the book (partly due to some curse ๐ฅด) and I was over it. Thereโs so much telling, no showing that I donโt believe their love is anything more than lust. Even when things got spicy, I was just so over them that I didnโt care. Those scenes I rate 2 ๐ถ๏ธ out of 5.
The plot ended up being such a second thought. Nothing tied in nicely and there was so much fast forwarding of the timeline that we didnโt even see a lot of the megachurch happenings and then ta-da hereโs the villain. The story could have used more of world building. The magic just didnโt make sense to me. Also how do the parents die from covid?! Like what do you even mean these powerful witches just couldnโt even live through that? It was weird.
This wasnโt for me but hopefully it will be for someone. Thank you NetGalley, Atria and Audrey Goldberg Ruoff for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
I could not bring myself to care at all about Vickie and Azrael. Their story was not set up well and everything was described so vaguely. We know theyโve been friends since they were kids and thatโs about it. They yearn for each other for 90% of the book (partly due to some curse ๐ฅด) and I was over it. Thereโs so much telling, no showing that I donโt believe their love is anything more than lust. Even when things got spicy, I was just so over them that I didnโt care. Those scenes I rate 2 ๐ถ๏ธ out of 5.
The plot ended up being such a second thought. Nothing tied in nicely and there was so much fast forwarding of the timeline that we didnโt even see a lot of the megachurch happenings and then ta-da hereโs the villain. The story could have used more of world building. The magic just didnโt make sense to me. Also how do the parents die from covid?! Like what do you even mean these powerful witches just couldnโt even live through that? It was weird.
This wasnโt for me but hopefully it will be for someone. Thank you NetGalley, Atria and Audrey Goldberg Ruoff for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐:
A spooky magical romance with a hint of danger and mystery. This was a great spicy witchy read to get you ready for fall. There was a bit of world building as the story developed to help define the rules of magic but I really enjoyed learning as I went. I liked the characterโs star crossed situation it gave me pushing daisy vibes. Plus how can you go wrong with a magical house. This book also had great representation and snuck in parallels to real life issues.
๐๐ฒ๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ:
Victoria aka Vickie is the cute mortal girl who lives next store, but her parent made a deal with a lesser devil and she was โgivenโ the gift to see and talk to ghosts. Azrael is the witchy boy next door who has been in love with her since he was 6. They were childhood besties but an incident in college caused them to distant themselves but now they are both back in Hallowcross years later.
Vickie is back to take over Hopelessly Teavote, a tea shop previously owned by Azโs late parents. But sheโs realizing purposing her own dreams and being cut off by her parents has a lot more consequences than expected. The deal her parents made for her โpowersโ now needs the debt paid and things are never straight forward when dealing with a devil. Plus there is a darker plot at play and ghosts keep warning her to be careful.
Az and Vickie will embrace their past and team up to solve the mystery before the Halloween timeline. But will Azโs magic be enough or by trying to save Vickie will he sacrifice himself.
๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐:
โLike I love you more than I ever have. Like my heart is shattering into a million glass fragments that canโt ever be put back together.โ
๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐:
* Childhood Neighbors to Lovers
* Second Chance
* HS English Teacher & Witch MMC
* Tea Shop Owner & Talk to Ghosts FMC
* Heโs Loved Her Since He Was 6
* Touch Her & Die w/ Twist!
* LGBTQ+ Rep
* Dual POV - Slow Burn w/ Spice
๐๐ฅ๐๐ซฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซฐ๐
https://www.instagram.com/p/DOuF1Rxjlat/?igsh=bjNqZGxpbm51cjBy
A spooky magical romance with a hint of danger and mystery. This was a great spicy witchy read to get you ready for fall. There was a bit of world building as the story developed to help define the rules of magic but I really enjoyed learning as I went. I liked the characterโs star crossed situation it gave me pushing daisy vibes. Plus how can you go wrong with a magical house. This book also had great representation and snuck in parallels to real life issues.
๐๐ฒ๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ:
Victoria aka Vickie is the cute mortal girl who lives next store, but her parent made a deal with a lesser devil and she was โgivenโ the gift to see and talk to ghosts. Azrael is the witchy boy next door who has been in love with her since he was 6. They were childhood besties but an incident in college caused them to distant themselves but now they are both back in Hallowcross years later.
Vickie is back to take over Hopelessly Teavote, a tea shop previously owned by Azโs late parents. But sheโs realizing purposing her own dreams and being cut off by her parents has a lot more consequences than expected. The deal her parents made for her โpowersโ now needs the debt paid and things are never straight forward when dealing with a devil. Plus there is a darker plot at play and ghosts keep warning her to be careful.
Az and Vickie will embrace their past and team up to solve the mystery before the Halloween timeline. But will Azโs magic be enough or by trying to save Vickie will he sacrifice himself.
๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐:
โLike I love you more than I ever have. Like my heart is shattering into a million glass fragments that canโt ever be put back together.โ
๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐:
* Childhood Neighbors to Lovers
* Second Chance
* HS English Teacher & Witch MMC
* Tea Shop Owner & Talk to Ghosts FMC
* Heโs Loved Her Since He Was 6
* Touch Her & Die w/ Twist!
* LGBTQ+ Rep
* Dual POV - Slow Burn w/ Spice
๐๐ฅ๐๐ซฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซฐ๐
https://www.instagram.com/p/DOuF1Rxjlat/?igsh=bjNqZGxpbm51cjBy