Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Forse avrete già sentito parlare di Melissa Albert per la sua dilogia iniziata con Oltre il bosco e per quanto mi abbia sempre incuriosito Our Crooked Hearts (I nostri cuori imperfetti per Rizzoli) li ha rubato il posto per un semplice motivo ci sono le streghe.
Il modo migliore di descrivervi questa storia è proprio dicendovi che sembra una sorta di favola oscura che parla di grimori, stregoneria ed occultismo che mi ha fatto compagnia durante il mio Halloween 2022.
La storia viene narrata principalmente su due linee temporali.
Quella nella Chicago attuale dove seguiamo la diciasettenne Ivy che dopo un incidente in tarda notte in cui si imbatte con una misteriosa ragazza nuda che sembra conoscere il suo nome si trova immischiata in un vecchi segreti pericolosi e oscuri legati al suo passato e soprattutto a sua madre con la quale ha un rapporto complicato e turbolento.
L'altra linea temporale è proprio ambientato nella Chicago degli anni '90 con protagonista la madre di Ivy alla sua età. Due storie che capitolo dopo capitolo si intrecciano per raggiungere la resa dei conti.
E' una storia a suo modo semplice ma molto evocativa che sa come intrigare il lettore capitolo dopo capitolo. Nonostante venga di fatto narrata quasi fosse una fiaba dark alle volte non nego lo stile e la sua esecuzione mi abbiano un attimo infastidito.
E' stata un'esperienza di lettura abbastanza particolare: non si usa uno stile ricercato o difficoltoso ed eppure il pacing della storia e la sua narrazione alle volte mi creavano un senso di mal di testa. Non so se la cosa fosse voluta o meno ma detto onestamente mi ha rallentato la lettura quando invece la curiosità mi spingeva ad andare avanti a tutti i costi quindi sì probabilmente il mal di testa me lo son fatta venire sola...
Nel complesso è una lettura interessante specialmente adatta a chi ama le storie di occultismo anche se personalmente poteva essere sfruttata meglio anche perchè è innegabile che abbia un inizio eccessivamente lento e una fine abbastanza sbrigativa.
Il modo migliore di descrivervi questa storia è proprio dicendovi che sembra una sorta di favola oscura che parla di grimori, stregoneria ed occultismo che mi ha fatto compagnia durante il mio Halloween 2022.
La storia viene narrata principalmente su due linee temporali.
Quella nella Chicago attuale dove seguiamo la diciasettenne Ivy che dopo un incidente in tarda notte in cui si imbatte con una misteriosa ragazza nuda che sembra conoscere il suo nome si trova immischiata in un vecchi segreti pericolosi e oscuri legati al suo passato e soprattutto a sua madre con la quale ha un rapporto complicato e turbolento.
L'altra linea temporale è proprio ambientato nella Chicago degli anni '90 con protagonista la madre di Ivy alla sua età. Due storie che capitolo dopo capitolo si intrecciano per raggiungere la resa dei conti.
E' una storia a suo modo semplice ma molto evocativa che sa come intrigare il lettore capitolo dopo capitolo. Nonostante venga di fatto narrata quasi fosse una fiaba dark alle volte non nego lo stile e la sua esecuzione mi abbiano un attimo infastidito.
E' stata un'esperienza di lettura abbastanza particolare: non si usa uno stile ricercato o difficoltoso ed eppure il pacing della storia e la sua narrazione alle volte mi creavano un senso di mal di testa. Non so se la cosa fosse voluta o meno ma detto onestamente mi ha rallentato la lettura quando invece la curiosità mi spingeva ad andare avanti a tutti i costi quindi sì probabilmente il mal di testa me lo son fatta venire sola...
Nel complesso è una lettura interessante specialmente adatta a chi ama le storie di occultismo anche se personalmente poteva essere sfruttata meglio anche perchè è innegabile che abbia un inizio eccessivamente lento e una fine abbastanza sbrigativa.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Level 2 review:
It's about a girl with a crazy mom. This book was crazy too! I think Albert did a good job with twisting and turning the plot to keep me engage, though I wonder why she took so long at times to do it. Since this is a Young Adult book, I think the audience would be high schoolers, maybe advanced middle schoolers because it's a clean read. I would recommend this book to people who like realistic fantasy.
It's about a girl with a crazy mom. This book was crazy too! I think Albert did a good job with twisting and turning the plot to keep me engage, though I wonder why she took so long at times to do it. Since this is a Young Adult book, I think the audience would be high schoolers, maybe advanced middle schoolers because it's a clean read. I would recommend this book to people who like realistic fantasy.
I loooved the writing style and imagery of this book, and the mother/ daughter focus was so well done! There's a moment in the book where everything gets flipped on its head, and it was so well done.
4.5!
Went in not knowing what to expect, and wow! It was such and intriguing, devastating, well-writing story!
Went in not knowing what to expect, and wow! It was such and intriguing, devastating, well-writing story!
3.75 I guess. Big yay for witches, female friendships and the underlying question of whether any of us every truly know our mothers. I love that shit. Ivys chapters were a bit annoying sometimes, which also wasn't helped but the incredibly grating voice of their audio book narrator. Dana's chapters on the other hand were incredibly interesting, and her narrator had such a wonderfully soothing voice. The entire witchy business was enjoyable to me, it was never explained too much and I don't mind that at all.
I can't believe I'm saying this about another book, but once again, the pacing felt weird to me. The middle moved so very slowly and then everything happened all at once towards the last stretch. The whole side story about her neighbour (whose name I have immediately forgotten, to be honest) also felt like too little too late, which seems to me to come back to the pacing issue.
I can't believe I'm saying this about another book, but once again, the pacing felt weird to me. The middle moved so very slowly and then everything happened all at once towards the last stretch. The whole side story about her neighbour (whose name I have immediately forgotten, to be honest) also felt like too little too late, which seems to me to come back to the pacing issue.
I actually picked this one up as an advanced review copy in a Free Little Library before it was released. I had every intention of reading it before the release date but then life happened. And once the release date passed, the urgency to read it disappeared. Now years later I finally got to it! And I am so glad I finally did because it was amazing. I still have the physical advanced review copy but I opted to listen as an audiobook instead because who has time to sit down and read?? When the audiobook is available I always take that option.
As I said, this book was amazing. Not perfect, maybe 4.75 stars, but I loved it. This is exactly the sort of modern witch story that I wanted when I read Practical Magic with my book club last October. I had never seen the movie so I did not know what to expect going in. I was a bit disappointed that it did not match what I thought it would be. THIS. THIS is the story that I wanted.
I am going to copy my commentary from while reading below, as is my habit lately...
- The strange thing is that I just reread Divergent as an audiobook and now that same exact voice narrator is doing this book as well! It sounds like Tris is talking to me.
- 22% did she really just drink that dead woman’s tea?! Did she not consider for even a moment that the women might have been poisoned? Or had some type of illness?!
- 24% she just microwaved a chips ahoy chocolate chip cookie. Is this a thing? Should I try it?
- 47% she just said “well spotted”. Yesterday I saw a TikTok video that said that is the British equivalent of “no shit Sherlock”. What perfect timing haha.
- Also, this whole book I’ve been thinking about how THIS is what I wanted Practical Magic to be. I will need to recommend it to my book club folks- we read Practical Magic as our last October book and I had such high expectations, but I was disappointed by it. It wasn’t what I expected or wanted. As a note, I had never seen the movie or even a trailer for the movie so I had no idea what to expect going into the book other than it was modern witches.
- 92% Dear God she’s actually running around naked. She actually got in his car with his new girl while naked. What must be going through their minds right now 😂
As I said, this book was amazing. Not perfect, maybe 4.75 stars, but I loved it. This is exactly the sort of modern witch story that I wanted when I read Practical Magic with my book club last October. I had never seen the movie so I did not know what to expect going in. I was a bit disappointed that it did not match what I thought it would be. THIS. THIS is the story that I wanted.
I am going to copy my commentary from while reading below, as is my habit lately...
- 22% did she really just drink that dead woman’s tea?! Did she not consider for even a moment that the women might have been poisoned? Or had some type of illness?!
- 24% she just microwaved a chips ahoy chocolate chip cookie. Is this a thing? Should I try it?
- 47% she just said “well spotted”. Yesterday I saw a TikTok video that said that is the British equivalent of “no shit Sherlock”. What perfect timing haha.
- Also, this whole book I’ve been thinking about how THIS is what I wanted Practical Magic to be. I will need to recommend it to my book club folks- we read Practical Magic as our last October book and I had such high expectations, but I was disappointed by it. It wasn’t what I expected or wanted. As a note, I had never seen the movie or even a trailer for the movie so I had no idea what to expect going into the book other than it was modern witches.
- 92% Dear God she’s actually running around naked. She actually got in his car with his new girl while naked. What must be going through their minds right now 😂
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
It kills me to write this review. (I feel like I'm trying to type with lead weights attached to every finger) I adore Ms. Albert; I hung on every word of the Hazel Wood series, forfeiting sleep and chores to finish chapters. When I needed to delay a trip to the store to pick up this book, I threw a tantrum that I'd need to wait ONE extra day to hold it. Her imagery defies description, and her imagination is beautifully wicked.
But I was bitterly disappointed in the unfulfilled promises of everything from the characters to the plot. Turning pages, hoping for a new depth or secret to arise, I found nothing more than obscured mirrors of The Craft (ironic as the movie received a mention). Stereotypes proliferated where I least wanted them, pushing me further and further away from engagement. And the anticipated tension failed to arrive. By the middle of the book, I'd unraveled the entire "mystery" and predicted the ending - with complete accuracy, unfortunately. Turning pages became a hunt for more of Ms. Albert's luscious wordplay rather than a need to discover answers.
The Hazel Wood series turned the trope of fairy tales upside-down and inside-out, leaving you questioning everything you thought of favored stories. It was a complete revelation, and I wanted the same from the witch concept. I opened the book expecting a fresh suspense angle and familial cursing, knotted into a new nightmare. Instead, I found a repetition of the usual pathways writers have tread for decades - possibly centuries. And it broke my heart.
Unless that was her intent (unusual), I wish I had a way to lock the memories of the book away.
But I was bitterly disappointed in the unfulfilled promises of everything from the characters to the plot. Turning pages, hoping for a new depth or secret to arise, I found nothing more than obscured mirrors of The Craft (ironic as the movie received a mention). Stereotypes proliferated where I least wanted them, pushing me further and further away from engagement. And the anticipated tension failed to arrive. By the middle of the book, I'd unraveled the entire "mystery" and predicted the ending - with complete accuracy, unfortunately. Turning pages became a hunt for more of Ms. Albert's luscious wordplay rather than a need to discover answers.
The Hazel Wood series turned the trope of fairy tales upside-down and inside-out, leaving you questioning everything you thought of favored stories. It was a complete revelation, and I wanted the same from the witch concept. I opened the book expecting a fresh suspense angle and familial cursing, knotted into a new nightmare. Instead, I found a repetition of the usual pathways writers have tread for decades - possibly centuries. And it broke my heart.
Unless that was her intent (unusual), I wish I had a way to lock the memories of the book away.