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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Oh, this one is deliciously DARK. Ninth House meets The Book of Night meets Practical Magic meets The Craft. I can't wait to read the sequel.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I literally got a page in and realized the writing style in this book was not for me. I kept pushing through hoping I just needed time to get used to it, but it's written in this weird stilted and jaring way.... Which caused me to continuously be pulled from the flow of the story.
Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert is a witchy suburban tale. Ivy is a teenager who starts off her summer with a literal bang. This kicks off a reckoning between her and her mother Dana who has kept important details about her adolescence from Ivy. As she moves through the mysterious days, it's apparent that dark forces are near.
This book has very witchy vibes that fit the current aesthetic well. While ultimately this is a smaller story about how families can hide big secrets, you can feel how devastating these secrets have been in Ivy and Ivy’s life. This is a fantastic standalone if you like Albert’s other novels.
Thank you to Flatiron Books for providing an e-Arc of Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert for my review.
This book has very witchy vibes that fit the current aesthetic well. While ultimately this is a smaller story about how families can hide big secrets, you can feel how devastating these secrets have been in Ivy and Ivy’s life. This is a fantastic standalone if you like Albert’s other novels.
Thank you to Flatiron Books for providing an e-Arc of Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert for my review.
This novel was captivating and haunting. A mystery girl standing in the road in darkness. A murdered rabbit. A buried jar in the garden at night. A missing mother. All these things are found in this novel, and it’s conclusion is as satisfying as the rest of the story, which is rare!
If you like creepy, hair raising stories with dark magic and haunted characters, this one is for you!
If you like creepy, hair raising stories with dark magic and haunted characters, this one is for you!
The use of two POVs worked very well here to increase suspense: starting with teenaged Ivy today, noticing strange things happening and discovering that maybe her aloof/distant mother is capable of impossible things; then going back to her mother's troubled teen years, when she and her best friend got into powers and abilities that made them feel strong and confident - right up until the Incident. As the past is slowly revealed to readers, and Ivy starts acting on the incomplete information she has dug up so far, readers feel escalating tension, right up to the unexpected climax.
Recommended as a good spooky, witchy, Halloweeny thriller!
Recommended as a good spooky, witchy, Halloweeny thriller!
This book was not what I expected, but I found it compelling all the same. Melissa Albert has a true gift for atmosphere—her words pulse with the world she’s creating, the story is almost visceral. This one read like a creepy mystery.
Loved the way magic was presented in the book - multi-faceted in a sense that what we got to experience was just a tiny spooky slice of a rich magical world. I think the daughter did a lot of the heavy lifting for the growth in the mother-daughter relationship, good for her. I chose this audiobook hoping for dark-tinged but ultimately feel-good fall vibes and that’s exactly what it delivered.