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seriouslynerdy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.5
“Women are supposed to be competent at everything, but experts at nothing. Haven’t you heard?”
The book is slow paced, things happened gradually and not suddenly. The book follows 17 year old seamstress Francis Hallowell taking in 1911 New York City. She is in the process of grieving her brother who was mysteriously found dead and she is unable to search for answers as to what happened. While working one night an act of violence causes law enforcement to be involved and Francis thinking she will be hauled away by them, she was correct that she was being hauled away but it was to a sanatorium in Queens instead of prison. The sanatorium isn’t what she originally thinks it is, it’s an academy for witches and Francis had triggered her magical ability.
The book is well written, it took me a while to get into it around 100 pages they only reason it's loosing .5 stars in my opinion but once the world was built, the magic became known and the characters started to grow. Once I emerged into the story I could not put it down, their emotions felt raw through the pages and I hurt for them or laughed with them. There was love, and heartbreak, a coven, spells and betrayal and I couldn't have asked for more with this book.
I highly recommended this book to anyone who loves magic and history.
The book is slow paced, things happened gradually and not suddenly. The book follows 17 year old seamstress Francis Hallowell taking in 1911 New York City. She is in the process of grieving her brother who was mysteriously found dead and she is unable to search for answers as to what happened. While working one night an act of violence causes law enforcement to be involved and Francis thinking she will be hauled away by them, she was correct that she was being hauled away but it was to a sanatorium in Queens instead of prison. The sanatorium isn’t what she originally thinks it is, it’s an academy for witches and Francis had triggered her magical ability.
The book is well written, it took me a while to get into it around 100 pages they only reason it's loosing .5 stars in my opinion but once the world was built, the magic became known and the characters started to grow. Once I emerged into the story I could not put it down, their emotions felt raw through the pages and I hurt for them or laughed with them. There was love, and heartbreak, a coven, spells and betrayal and I couldn't have asked for more with this book.
I highly recommended this book to anyone who loves magic and history.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, and Alcohol
aesthetic_bookreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Alcohol, War, Gun violence, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Murder
courtnoodles's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Grief, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment and Mental illness
calamitywindpetal's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Blood, Murder, Death, Misogyny, and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Confinement, Racism, Gore, Vomit, and Sexual violence
Minor: Stalking, Alcohol, and Sexual content
leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Frances Halloway lives as a seamstress in 1911 New York City, where she spends most of her time mourning the recent death of her brother, William. When her boss attempts to attack her and her sewing shears end up in his neck, she is quickly named as the prime suspect - only she has no idea how it happened. Two women in caps quickly arrive and take her to Haxahaven Sanitarium, which Frances is surprised to learn is actually a disguised school for witches. Frances yearns to learn more about her magic than what they are teaching at Haxahaven, so when Finn - an attractive young man with magic - shows up and offers to teach her all he knows, she is eager to learn. She must decide whether the risk of secretly meeting with Finn is worth putting her new friends in danger, and what other secrets may lie deep beneath the surface.
There were so many great elements to this book: witches, boarding school, murder mystery, women's rights/feminist movement - loved them!
What I liked:
- Diverse characters, though please be aware of some content warnings surrounding certain characters, especially a prominent Native American side character
- LGBTQIAP+ representation
- lots of feminist ideals throughout the book
- the twists and turns throughout the book (although some were predictable)
- imperfect characters
What I didn't like:
- some of the characters felt underdeveloped, especially some of the side characters at Haxahaven
- Frances was kind of whiny and impulsive at times, which I think was partially due to her age and struggles with grief (seeing as this is a YA book, I can't really hold it against her, as it seems that many of her reactions were age-appropriate for a girl in her situation)
- some of the plot twists were predictable
I'm definitely looking forward to reading the sequel.
There were so many great elements to this book: witches, boarding school, murder mystery, women's rights/feminist movement - loved them!
What I liked:
- Diverse characters, though please be aware of some content warnings surrounding certain characters, especially a prominent Native American side character
- LGBTQIAP+ representation
- lots of feminist ideals throughout the book
- the twists and turns throughout the book (although some were predictable)
- imperfect characters
What I didn't like:
- some of the characters felt underdeveloped, especially some of the side characters at Haxahaven
- Frances was kind of whiny and impulsive at times, which I think was partially due to her age and struggles with grief (seeing as this is a YA book, I can't really hold it against her, as it seems that many of her reactions were age-appropriate for a girl in her situation)
- some of the plot twists were predictable
I'm definitely looking forward to reading the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Misogyny
Minor: Racism and Homophobia
Additional TW/CW: Native American boarding schools
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