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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
5✰
‘don’t be silly. it's not just the spellbook. we’re all magic. magic’s all around us, all the time.’
i loved everything about this book!!! literally the only thing i hated was jude, and of course you have to have once character you can't stand.
but the fact that the magic of the book was just everyday things? like being named is a spell. picking flowers and drying leaves is a spell. writing your initials and someone elses in a heart in notebooks is a love spell. the red you wear for confidence, your lucky bra, the way you spend an hour on your hair; that's all a ritual.
i love the everyday magic. i love how this book embraces it !!!!
i also love the rep in this book. there's 4 bisexual girls. a desi girl. and a disabled girl.
it also has trc vibes but like, way better and is not really problematic at all.
just please read it
also there's girls kissing girls so !!!
‘don’t be silly. it's not just the spellbook. we’re all magic. magic’s all around us, all the time.’
i loved everything about this book!!! literally the only thing i hated was jude, and of course you have to have once character you can't stand.
but the fact that the magic of the book was just everyday things? like being named is a spell. picking flowers and drying leaves is a spell. writing your initials and someone elses in a heart in notebooks is a love spell. the red you wear for confidence, your lucky bra, the way you spend an hour on your hair; that's all a ritual.
i love the everyday magic. i love how this book embraces it !!!!
i also love the rep in this book. there's 4 bisexual girls. a desi girl. and a disabled girl.
it also has trc vibes but like, way better and is not really problematic at all.
just please read it
also there's girls kissing girls so !!!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I absolutely loved this book, with it's straddling between magic and realism. With it's lyrical twists. I absorbed it, I inhaled it with my eyes half closed and yet wide open, with goosebumps. and I left half believing in lost spirits in the trees.
2.5/5 Stars
I’ve been doing this thing this year where if there’s a book I’m conflicted on or ambivalent towards or worried about how my review will be received, I leave the rating blank.
But I feel compelled to not do that with this book. For one, it was really hard to get into. The writing style grew on me slowly but at a snail’s pace at best. I also struggled to keep Hazel and Olive straight. I had to constantly refer to the flap of the book to remember who was who. The fact that all their names are nature/tree related also made it difficult to know who was who. I also found it ironic that a certain character was called pretentious in the book—like, Y’ALL are pretentious across the board. I also thought that using this star-crossed romantic writing let some insta love slide but maybe that’s just how I read it.
So why 2.5 stars or a rating at all (I HATE leaving reviews less than 3 stars which is why I leave a lot of books blank or have been overly generous with 3 star ratings in the past)? I think there were moments here where I *thought* this was getting really good and I’d bump my rating. But each of these moments was like a building beat in a song that is anticlimactic. It’s strange because the same thing that contributes to my love (they’re my favorite books) for Night Film and Neverworld Wake, that blurring of reality and magic (did it happen or not?) worked against my enjoyment of this book here.
I was tempted to DNF it early on, but I also wanted to know what it was building up to. If you like atmospheric writing, with lyricism and magical realism this might be for you. But if overly poetic descriptions and the mythicizing of runaway teens into romantic figureheads (it’s late and I don’t know if I’m wording this right) is irksome, best leave this one off your TBR.
I’ve been doing this thing this year where if there’s a book I’m conflicted on or ambivalent towards or worried about how my review will be received, I leave the rating blank.
But I feel compelled to not do that with this book. For one, it was really hard to get into. The writing style grew on me slowly but at a snail’s pace at best. I also struggled to keep Hazel and Olive straight. I had to constantly refer to the flap of the book to remember who was who. The fact that all their names are nature/tree related also made it difficult to know who was who. I also found it ironic that a certain character was called pretentious in the book—like, Y’ALL are pretentious across the board. I also thought that using this star-crossed romantic writing let some insta love slide but maybe that’s just how I read it.
So why 2.5 stars or a rating at all (I HATE leaving reviews less than 3 stars which is why I leave a lot of books blank or have been overly generous with 3 star ratings in the past)? I think there were moments here where I *thought* this was getting really good and I’d bump my rating. But each of these moments was like a building beat in a song that is anticlimactic. It’s strange because the same thing that contributes to my love (they’re my favorite books) for Night Film and Neverworld Wake, that blurring of reality and magic (did it happen or not?) worked against my enjoyment of this book here.
I was tempted to DNF it early on, but I also wanted to know what it was building up to. If you like atmospheric writing, with lyricism and magical realism this might be for you. But if overly poetic descriptions and the mythicizing of runaway teens into romantic figureheads (it’s late and I don’t know if I’m wording this right) is irksome, best leave this one off your TBR.
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!
2 stars
“We’re all made up of all of it: of longing, of belonging, and of all the things we lose along the way.”
Unfortunately, this novel didn’t interest me. The main driving force behind the story, which is the repeated attempts of characters to recover things they have lost, was not compelling. Nor were the stakes high enough. Despite some of the characters’ apprehension about using spells, I didn’t feel as if they were endangered and therefore wasn’t excited by the plot. I also felt that the manner in which the mystery was uncovered and solved was quite messy.
The characters were fairly well written. Each perspective was distinct from the others, and the characters had evident differences. I thought that the female characters had forceful personalities, which I appreciated.
The author integrated important social commentaries into the story, such as depicting the trauma that a victim of rape suffers. It was also realistic in its depiction of characters. There were characters that belonged to the LGBTQIA+ community, people of colour and a character who had a hearing aid. I appreciate the representation that was included.
I thought the idea behind the novel was very powerful - women using magic to restore broken relationships, missing objects and other things - but the execution didn’t satisfy me.
(cw: rape, explicit language, alcoholism)
“We’re all made up of all of it: of longing, of belonging, and of all the things we lose along the way.”
Unfortunately, this novel didn’t interest me. The main driving force behind the story, which is the repeated attempts of characters to recover things they have lost, was not compelling. Nor were the stakes high enough. Despite some of the characters’ apprehension about using spells, I didn’t feel as if they were endangered and therefore wasn’t excited by the plot. I also felt that the manner in which the mystery was uncovered and solved was quite messy.
The characters were fairly well written. Each perspective was distinct from the others, and the characters had evident differences. I thought that the female characters had forceful personalities, which I appreciated.
The author integrated important social commentaries into the story, such as depicting the trauma that a victim of rape suffers. It was also realistic in its depiction of characters. There were characters that belonged to the LGBTQIA+ community, people of colour and a character who had a hearing aid. I appreciate the representation that was included.
I thought the idea behind the novel was very powerful - women using magic to restore broken relationships, missing objects and other things - but the execution didn’t satisfy me.
(cw: rape, explicit language, alcoholism)
I read the ARC of this, so I don't know if anything was added after the fact, but I felt like some things could've been wrapped up better at the end of the book. Some instances of mystery weren't explained, and I think that it just felt (only slightly) anti-climactic to me. I do love the magical realism, and the storyline was really beautiful.