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bree_h_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
This is definitely a book with a lot of potential, I just think it needed some more polishing to be really good.
To start, out of the three main characters only two felt compelling and like they were properly attached to the plot. Taylor and Jamie were easily the strongest characters with the best connection to the main plot. Taylor as a witch who’s connecting with her supernatural abilities despite her father’s disapproval and feels a call to the house, and Jamie as the person trapped in the house with a ghost trying to uncover its secrets to escape. Theo…was there. He did stuff relating to the plot, but I didn’t find him compelling or interesting as a character. It very much felt like he was just there to be the love interest. Which is fine! It just didn’t feel like we needed his POV and his discoveries could have been done by Taylor or Jamie. Taylor and Jamie also had the strongest character dynamic. I felt like they played off each other and I bought into their friendship in a way I couldn’t buy into Taylor and Theo’s friendship and Jamie and Theo’s romance.
I think my issues buying into Theo’s relationship with the other characters is the early book having an issue with trying to speed run the development of character relationships and telling the reader things instead of showing them. It skips over all the establishment of friendship and romance and tries to explain it was by being obsessed with each other one at first sight. I felt so lost and just couldn’t buy into the being friends, despite the book TELLING me about how they were close friends now and developed a close bond. I never SAW that happening on page because it was skipped over. This also made the pacing feel really off, there were several instances I thought the pacing felt weird and the most common reason was it felt like the book was rushing itself.
I think those compounded into a book I just didn’t care about and had minimal interest in. I think it has potential, again, it just needed some more work. If you check it out I hope you enjoy!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Confinement, Death, Abandonment, and Cursing
Moderate: Blood, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Grief, Medical content, and Physical abuse
Minor: Child abuse
akal's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism and Homophobia
chris_reads's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Abandonment, and Confinement
Moderate: Blood, Medical content, and Child abuse
Minor: Racism, Cursing, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
fromthefoxhole's review
adventurous
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
4.0
ugh I just finished this book and I feel like some entity is literally squeezing my heart, I'm EMOTIONAL.
Saint Juniper is a quaint little town, a little paradise on the right side of the tracks where nothing goes wrong. Wolf's Head is a little grungier, the people slightly more worse for wear. In between them gapes Saint Juniper's Folly, a deep, foresty valley filled with secrets
For Theo, Jamie, and Taylor, it's the source of fear, mystery, and answers.
This book is a cozy little mystery, a tender hearted romance, a generational healing, and a coming of age story all rolled into one treat of a novel. We have 3 narrators - Taylor, a teen witch still grieving the loss of her mother. Theo, the boy next door who's starting to buckle beneath the pressure. And Jaime, the neglected foster kid who's new to the area. The amalgamation we find therein does occasionally suffer from the weight of its premise. The pacing falters a touch and the characterizations lose some of the details that we need. I think any debut novel has a chance of that, though, the author needing to kind of hit their stride. For as vast of a concept as Saint Juniper's Folly is, it is largely successful.
All 3 characters are integrally woven to the plot, each plot point is tied up neatly by the end. I felt satisfied as a reader with the way things ended, and with new spots carved in my heart for all 3 of the leads. ALSO - we love an Achillean romance.
Saint Juniper is a quaint little town, a little paradise on the right side of the tracks where nothing goes wrong. Wolf's Head is a little grungier, the people slightly more worse for wear. In between them gapes Saint Juniper's Folly, a deep, foresty valley filled with secrets
For Theo, Jamie, and Taylor, it's the source of fear, mystery, and answers.
This book is a cozy little mystery, a tender hearted romance, a generational healing, and a coming of age story all rolled into one treat of a novel. We have 3 narrators - Taylor, a teen witch still grieving the loss of her mother. Theo, the boy next door who's starting to buckle beneath the pressure. And Jaime, the neglected foster kid who's new to the area. The amalgamation we find therein does occasionally suffer from the weight of its premise. The pacing falters a touch and the characterizations lose some of the details that we need. I think any debut novel has a chance of that, though, the author needing to kind of hit their stride. For as vast of a concept as Saint Juniper's Folly is, it is largely successful.
All 3 characters are integrally woven to the plot, each plot point is tied up neatly by the end. I felt satisfied as a reader with the way things ended, and with new spots carved in my heart for all 3 of the leads. ALSO - we love an Achillean romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Abandonment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Child abuse
Minor: Racism, Gaslighting, Outing, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
betweentheshelves's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Animal death, and Confinement
Minor: Racism and Homophobia
ghostreadin's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Animal death and Child abuse
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