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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
True rating: 3.5
+ very creative story and twist
- ending was a little flat
+ very creative story and twist
- ending was a little flat
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
This is a rather enchanting urban fantasy book that feels like it should play into the realm of faeries but never quite reaches there.
Told in a multi-perspective style, the writing is confusing in parts (sometimes deliberately so, I imagine), and when the twist finally comes, it feels like it should have been far more obvious than it turned out to be. The fantasy elements also flitter in and out so naturally that it was easy to forget that this was a novel about magic and not a, well, magical novel.
The cast of characters kept expanding and it did mean at the start I had to go back and re-read a few sections to know who was telling the story- was it Olive? Hazel? Laurel? or someone else entirely- and the narrating styles kept blending in so it was difficult to shake myself out of the previous chapter. I found it a little curious at closing that two of the narrators, Olive and Laurel, weren't even the main characters, so to speak, of their sections. Their spots could have been easily told by Rose or Ash and been more invested in the story that was happening around them... but that, I suspect, was the point.
While most people have jumped to celebrate the inclusion of multiple LGBT narrators, I want to take a moment to appreciate that Rose is half-Indian and Olive is deaf in one ear. I also really love that while this book is about 'lost' things being found, Olive's hearing remained gone- she didn't lose her hearing and it never came back. And though it may have been nice for Rose's Indian heritage and Olive's disability to be brought to the surface more, I can also understand why these aspects were mostly passing mentions; these are parts of their identity, but it's not their full identity.
One thing I do want to bring up that I can't see anyone else referring to... but, uh, did Ivy's parentage cause a double-take for anyone else, especially after Rowan admitted to making out with her, and Hazel said both she and her brother were in love with her? Anyone else get stunned by that? No one? Just me? Aight, okay.
In short, I am enthused to read another book by Moira Fowley-Doyle and I love falling back into the world of queer urban fantasy.
Told in a multi-perspective style, the writing is confusing in parts (sometimes deliberately so, I imagine), and when the twist finally comes, it feels like it should have been far more obvious than it turned out to be. The fantasy elements also flitter in and out so naturally that it was easy to forget that this was a novel about magic and not a, well, magical novel.
The cast of characters kept expanding and it did mean at the start I had to go back and re-read a few sections to know who was telling the story- was it Olive? Hazel? Laurel? or someone else entirely- and the narrating styles kept blending in so it was difficult to shake myself out of the previous chapter. I found it a little curious at closing that two of the narrators, Olive and Laurel, weren't even the main characters, so to speak, of their sections. Their spots could have been easily told by Rose or Ash and been more invested in the story that was happening around them... but that, I suspect, was the point.
While most people have jumped to celebrate the inclusion of multiple LGBT narrators, I want to take a moment to appreciate that Rose is half-Indian and Olive is deaf in one ear. I also really love that while this book is about 'lost' things being found, Olive's hearing remained gone- she didn't lose her hearing and it never came back. And though it may have been nice for Rose's Indian heritage and Olive's disability to be brought to the surface more, I can also understand why these aspects were mostly passing mentions; these are parts of their identity, but it's not their full identity.
One thing I do want to bring up that I can't see anyone else referring to... but, uh, did Ivy's parentage cause a double-take for anyone else, especially after Rowan admitted to making out with her, and Hazel said both she and her brother were in love with her? Anyone else get stunned by that? No one? Just me? Aight, okay.
In short, I am enthused to read another book by Moira Fowley-Doyle and I love falling back into the world of queer urban fantasy.
3.5
Najveći plus je definitivno atmosfera. Ostatak je bio poprilično "tralala".
Najveći plus je definitivno atmosfera. Ostatak je bio poprilično "tralala".
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Not sure what’s goin on, and wasn’t interested enough to stay long enough to figure out what
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
I'm so glad I finally picked this up. It was the perfect mysterious witchy book. I loved the characters, the spellbook and the way the mystery resolved. Absolutely brilliant.
Only thing that made this book better was listening to the audiobooks Irish-lilted narrators... Absolutely loved this book, for the magic, for the diverse representation and relationships. All around amazing book!
‘’And I kiss her neck until I forget everything but this feeling, and honestly, it’s a lot less like losing my heart and more like finally being found’’
Spellbook of the lost and found tell the story of multiple groups of friends, their lives intertwined by a magic spellbook they find. After a late night party, everyone seems to have lost something. Olive and her best friend Rose meet a trio of strangers: Ivy, Hazel and Rowan. Together they discover an ancient spellbook, with spells to conjure back the lost. It also warns them to ‘’Be careful what you wish for; Not all lost things should be found.”
I loved the casual diversity, from multiple characters being Queer, to one having a hearing aid and having experienced abusive parents. The atmosphere is magical, mysterious and sometimes a bit creepy. It has a slow start and I've seen a lot of people DNF it and giving it low ratings because of that. But let me tell you, after about 100 pages I was hooked! The last 100 pages I couldn't stop reading. And just when I thought I knew how the story was going to go, nope it was raining plot twists. The cover – apart from being absolutely gorgeous- suit the mysterious and surreal vibe the story has. The book feels like it exists in between time and reading it feels like that too.
Spellbook of the lost and found tell the story of multiple groups of friends, their lives intertwined by a magic spellbook they find. After a late night party, everyone seems to have lost something. Olive and her best friend Rose meet a trio of strangers: Ivy, Hazel and Rowan. Together they discover an ancient spellbook, with spells to conjure back the lost. It also warns them to ‘’Be careful what you wish for; Not all lost things should be found.”
I loved the casual diversity, from multiple characters being Queer, to one having a hearing aid and having experienced abusive parents. The atmosphere is magical, mysterious and sometimes a bit creepy. It has a slow start and I've seen a lot of people DNF it and giving it low ratings because of that. But let me tell you, after about 100 pages I was hooked! The last 100 pages I couldn't stop reading. And just when I thought I knew how the story was going to go, nope it was raining plot twists. The cover – apart from being absolutely gorgeous- suit the mysterious and surreal vibe the story has. The book feels like it exists in between time and reading it feels like that too.