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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
klbreyfogle's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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
4.0
This was a fun read, and one of the better queer YA getting-together/self discovery books I’ve read. The characters are realistic as teenagers and relatable for anyone who’s been through those years of self-doubt and discovery. I liked both the relationship between Theo and Jaime and the friendship between the boys and Taylor. The plot was a bit cheesy but fun, although it was huge haunted house vibes it was never actually scary.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia
aurora4847's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I wasn't quite sure if I was going to like this book at first. It was slow to grab me, but once it did I was hooked. Lovely story about witchcraft, hauntings, and the ways in which we hold ourselves back from things we really want.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Abandonment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Car accident, Racism, and Hate crime
A main character is in the foster system. There is blood and non-descriptive animal death for ritual purposes. A main character is grieving the loss of their parent, which has strained their relationship with their other parent. A main character is confined to a house with an individual trying (sometimes violently) to keep them there.imstephtacular's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Abandonment, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Cursing
Minor: Murder, Grief, Homophobia, and Violence
daniellestarredpages's review
emotional
hopeful
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? No
4.0
Saint Juniper's Folly introduces readers to three unique and intriguing characters.
I loved the development of friendship and then romance between Jaime and Theo as well as the friendship between Jaime, Theo and Taylor. I loved how Theo realising his feelings for Jaime and the fact that he was queer was handled in the story.
Each character had a distinct story line that was interesting to follow, I loved Theo's storyline in particular that highlighted teens who have no idea what they want to do in the future, and also hiding this feeling from parents who have high expectations and their own visions of the teen's future.
Taylor's relationship with her father was quite interesting to read about and the feelings of grief over her mother's death and the growing distance between her and her father felt very real.
I loved the development of friendship and then romance between Jaime and Theo as well as the friendship between Jaime, Theo and Taylor. I loved how Theo realising his feelings for Jaime and the fact that he was queer was handled in the story.
Each character had a distinct story line that was interesting to follow, I loved Theo's storyline in particular that highlighted teens who have no idea what they want to do in the future, and also hiding this feeling from parents who have high expectations and their own visions of the teen's future.
Taylor's relationship with her father was quite interesting to read about and the feelings of grief over her mother's death and the growing distance between her and her father felt very real.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism
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
raneyak's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I loved reading this book. It was quite short, so I was able to finish it between an evening and the next afternoon, but I was very tempted to stay up late reading it all the way through. I found it to be very compelling and hard to put down, which doesn't happen too often for me.
My favorite aspect of the book was the characterization, and specifically, I loved Theo's character. He felt very autistic-coded and I related so much to him. The way that he struggled sometimes to get his thoughts out coherently felt so real, and I empathized with how seriously he takes things and how much of a goody-two-shoes he was for most of his life.
(Mild/vague spoilers below about the romance aspect of this book)
I also can't get over the raw romantic chemistry that was somehow translated onto the page. I find that a lot of romance relies pretty heavily on the author telling the reader the two leads are falling for each other, or the reader filling in the gaps on their own based on their knowledge of various tropes. In this book, I could feel the characters falling for each other and it felt very real. The language is very lyrical and vivid, and Crespo is able to capture living emotions in a way that many authors struggle to do.
As much as I loved Theo and Jaime, Taylor's story left a little bit to be desired. I think this book could have benefited from being a little bit longer to allow us to really get to know her character better. Since Theo and Jaime spend a lot of their chapters getting to know each other, I felt like I left the book less connected to her than I was to the boys. I would love to see more of her and Anna's relationship, which was abandoned for most of the book. I would also love to see more of her personal life beyond the core plotline, and the same goes for Theo. Once the three main characters got together, it felt like their home lives disappeared almost completely.
I really did enjoy this book, though, and I am excited for it to be released. I can already see it making the rounds through queer reading circles, and I would love to get my hands on a physical copy. Thank you NetGalley and Peachtree for the opportunity to read an eARC!
My favorite aspect of the book was the characterization, and specifically, I loved Theo's character. He felt very autistic-coded and I related so much to him. The way that he struggled sometimes to get his thoughts out coherently felt so real, and I empathized with how seriously he takes things and how much of a goody-two-shoes he was for most of his life.
(Mild/vague spoilers below about the romance aspect of this book)
I also can't get over the raw romantic chemistry that was somehow translated onto the page. I find that a lot of romance relies pretty heavily on the author telling the reader the two leads are falling for each other, or the reader filling in the gaps on their own based on their knowledge of various tropes. In this book, I could feel the characters falling for each other and it felt very real. The language is very lyrical and vivid, and Crespo is able to capture living emotions in a way that many authors struggle to do.
As much as I loved Theo and Jaime, Taylor's story left a little bit to be desired. I think this book could have benefited from being a little bit longer to allow us to really get to know her character better. Since Theo and Jaime spend a lot of their chapters getting to know each other, I felt like I left the book less connected to her than I was to the boys. I would love to see more of her and Anna's relationship, which was abandoned for most of the book. I would also love to see more of her personal life beyond the core plotline, and the same goes for Theo. Once the three main characters got together, it felt like their home lives disappeared almost completely.
I really did enjoy this book, though, and I am excited for it to be released. I can already see it making the rounds through queer reading circles, and I would love to get my hands on a physical copy. Thank you NetGalley and Peachtree for the opportunity to read an eARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and Medical content
Minor: Racism and Homophobia
trippyotter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
A haunted house in the woods? Yes, please!
Jaime has felt lost his entire life, and the day he comes across the dilapidated house in the woods is no different. To his absolute shock, he finds himself trapped in the house and not able to leave. For the first time, Jamie finds himself having to depend upon someone to help him escape. But will they be able to save him before it's too late?
While our trio is uncovering the past, they'll forge a friendship rich in self-discovery, acceptance, and love. Their path won't be easy, but they'll have each other to lean on, something Jaime had never allowed himself before.
The second half of the story is truly what grabbed me. In many ways, I find myself connecting with each character. Don't get me wrong, I was wrapped up in the story from the first chapter, but their individual struggles and willingness to accept each other are what really captured me.
We've all struggled with something in our lives, and having someone there for you, even someone you just meet - without judgment - is everything.
I really can't go into the "struggles" without giving the plot away, so I'll just say, read the book! You won't be sorry. It's an amazing blend of personal and social struggles that will give you all the feels.
Jaime has felt lost his entire life, and the day he comes across the dilapidated house in the woods is no different. To his absolute shock, he finds himself trapped in the house and not able to leave. For the first time, Jamie finds himself having to depend upon someone to help him escape. But will they be able to save him before it's too late?
While our trio is uncovering the past, they'll forge a friendship rich in self-discovery, acceptance, and love. Their path won't be easy, but they'll have each other to lean on, something Jaime had never allowed himself before.
The second half of the story is truly what grabbed me. In many ways, I find myself connecting with each character. Don't get me wrong, I was wrapped up in the story from the first chapter, but their individual struggles and willingness to accept each other are what really captured me.
We've all struggled with something in our lives, and having someone there for you, even someone you just meet - without judgment - is everything.
I really can't go into the "struggles" without giving the plot away, so I'll just say, read the book! You won't be sorry. It's an amazing blend of personal and social struggles that will give you all the feels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Confinement, Animal death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Confinement
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