Scan barcode
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
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
thecharnelraven's review
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
2.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
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.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
bellebookcorner's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
4.0
This book definitely give The Cemetery Boys x Haunting of Bly Manor vibes with the eerie atmosphere from an abandoned empty house in a middle of creepy woods with witchcraft and spells as well!
This book follows three different main characters – Jaime, Taylor and Theo.
They form a friendship after Theo accidentally met Jamie who was trapped in an abandoned house deep in the woods. Figuring out there’s something supernatural involved, Theo asked for Taylor’s help who happened to come from a long line of witches.
I really enjoy the mystery element as the three main characters set out to find the answer to what’s keeping Jaime from leaving the house. And the answer at the end of the book really surprised me!
Not just covering the mystery, the romance blooming between Theo and Jaime is also delightful. It’s sweet and cute, it progresses slowly as they keep spending enough time together.
Each character is unique and has their own problem to solve and through this mysterious event each of them ended up discover something for themselves.
Although, sometimes at the middle of a chapter I can forget which POV I’m reading so I need to go back to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself.
Overall, for a debut novel this is a really good heart-warming story which comes with a satisfying ending!
It’s enjoyable, entertaining and perfectly suitable for teens who wanted to read a book for the spooky season!
Definitely will keep an eye out for the next book from this author in the future!
I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Animal death
Minor: Racism, Homophobia, and Murder
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