Reviews

Love and Other Wicked Things by Philline Harms

art3mis_'s review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad 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? No

4.5

happily_undignified's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Love and Other Wicked Things by Philline Harms is a mysterious Sapphic Fantasy about two witches destined to be in each other's lives. Rhia is a sweet earth witch who lives with her close knit family and helps the townsfolk in her community with her gifts. When her grandmother warns that a dangerous witch is coming to town. Rhia is determined to avoid the danger, but upon meeting Valerie, said witch, she is more captivated than cautious. Valerie is in town to learn more about her mysterious mother and about her powers. She is a rule breaker and challenges Rhia at every turn. The more the girls discover about Valerie's lineage and the towns shady history, the closer and more dangerous they become. I really enjoyed the magical system in this book and how how the town is built on the secrets of the founding families. The enemies to lovers storyline was well done and I really enjoyed both of the main characters. I thought the end of the book was very fast-paced and adventurous and I really liked how everything wrapped up. This would be an amazing book for people who want a sapphic twist on wishy tails like practical magic or charmed.

spinesofsam's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.75

nelliandbooks's review

lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

honeybee_reads_'s review

emotional relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

emodustbunny's review

funny mysterious fast-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? No

bre_sizzle's review against another edition

DNF I just cannot handle the cringey dialogue and every time someone introduces themselves they say their pronouns I can’t

anniekslibrary's review

4.0

This was one of my first autumn-themed books I've read this fall, and it has the perfect autumn vibes. Sapphic witches, autumn and Halloween traditions, family, friendship and romance, what more could you want? This was such an enjoyable, cosy read, full of queer characters, and I thought the romance was so sweet. Highly recommend putting this on your fall TBR!

sydnee_reads's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

nerolireads's review

emotional lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Sapphic witches? ✅️
Cozy, queer-normative world? ✅️
Excellent fall vibes? ✅️

I just wish the representation if the Black and Chinese characters was done better. 

You don't find out until several pages in that the first FMC we meet is Black, and only because it's mentioned that her sister has box braids. 

The Chinese American is only identifiable as Asian because of their last name. 

It's a small town with a Black family of witches, with one of them having pink hair and a Chinese American non-binary side character with blue hair. Yet the authors mentions only the white character standing out.