Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Spells for Forgetting

Fall in love with the book and the MC, I read the book in one sitting and while I can understand why people didn't like it, I certainly loved it ! The way the grief was portrayed was so good and the mystery in itself was quite interesting thanks to the fantastic side of the book. If you don't read a lot of mystery book I think you will enjoy this one as much as I did

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beamsreads's review

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dark emotional 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? No

5.0

I loved this! It was so moody and dark. The setting was everything. The mystery kept me hooked. Absolutely recommend.

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slvt4b00ks's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I read this book very fast so I would say I was invested in how things turned out but the only wow factor was really the twist at the end. The author does paint a very vivid picture with beautiful words which I can appreciate, but I just felt like it fell flat.

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gen_wolfhailstorm's review

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dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Buddy read with Sharron Joy Reading! ^^

Reading vlog:

Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend, Lily, was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings.

This was a beautifully written novel.
The way Young builds and develops atmosphere and mood for her scenes were elegantly done and added that eery touch the island possessed - the island feeling like its own character in its own right - which developed well along side the mystery aspect of the plot.

The short chapters helped me get immersed, especially as this was a slower paced story. I found myself just wanting to read one more page each time I needed to put the book down.

Saoirse's land is steeped in this gentle (not so gentle, depending on the character) pagan magic, which is what drives tourist's to the island... and the infamous orchard that seems to have so much power and pull. The inhabitants had this cult like mentality, which at the root of it was about family, grief and how far you would go for the ones you'd love.... and what you consider is owed to you.

I loved the multiple perspectives. It mainly was from August and Emery's pov, but, every now and then we would get a little view point from someone else which helped to build more depth to the direction of the plot, without being too overwhelming by keeping track of so many characters.

I thought the connection between Emery and August was powerful from the page. You could feel the destiny seeping from the novel. I didn't, however, see the connection of how August and Emery felt like the closest thing to children to Jake because I didn't see the depth of their relationships on the page, so that lacked in believability for me... But I think that also is fueled from Jake being my least favourite character and feeling unpredictable.

Side note;
I've counted variations of "let out the breath I was holding" about 3 x in 111 pages... and at least another 1 time near the end... I should have turned it into a drink when they say this game. It wasn't unbearable and I've definitely read it way over used elsewhere, but I did find that this classic one liner kept dragging me back to the YA mentality, when this was marketed as adult (I would say more new adult, personally, despite an older cast of characters).

I loved the back and fourth timeline. It was done so well and was a fantastic tool in fleshing out the plot and slowly edging towards the reveal to the question of who killed Lily... and then some.

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sharron_joy_reads's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

On the night of the high school graduation in the close knit community of Saoirse a fire rages through the orchard that is the lifeblood of the island. Once the fire is extinguished the body of Lily is found, drowned on dry land between the apple trees. August is accused and is taken from the island by his mother away from his sweetheart, Emery, and the plans they had to escape together. 14yrs later he returns to bury the remains of his mother and old wounds are opened and secrets revealed.

I read this as a buddy read with the lovely Gen and it was an interesting read. The islanders are secretive, paranoid and cult like. Everyone has a secret from the night of Lily’s death and some will stop at nothing to stop August and Emery finding the truth.

The story is told through multiple POV’s and I liked this, although this did cause the story to slow down a little for me. The island itself is steeped in magic and folklore, it resonates through the prose how deeply the pagan roots stretch beneath the earth. The tourists come every year to see the “witchy island” and shop for teas and tinctures. This mystique and the orchards keep the island alive. This is a mystery and unravels slowly as the story progresses but it also a story of love and longing, grief and family ties. The writing is lovely, it flows beautifully, a gentle read with a witchy edge.

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