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kassidyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Grief
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Child death
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I received a copy of this book in an OwlCrate box years ago, and finally made the time to read it now.
"Sweet & Bitter Magic" is a witchy story that brings together two strangers: Wren and Tamsin. Wren is a source, a rare person who is made of magic, but cannot use magic herself. She has always kept this a secret because she does not want to go to the Coven and leave her ill father to fend for himself. Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation, but she made a horrible magic mistake, and she was exiled from the Coven and cursed to never be able to feel love. Unfortunately, a magical plague has taken over, and Wren finds herself in desperate need to save her father, so she seeks out Tamsin's unique brand of "assistance".
This was a really fun, quick witchy book to kick of the spooky season. The magic system was very easy to follow, and pretty basic for the witches to use. I also really enjoyed that the magic yielders were witches, because it added to the atmosphere of the beginning of spooky season.
Wren and Tamsin were such a great pair to read from. They both bring strengths and weaknesses to the table, and I think they both really helped to flesh the other out. Because she is unable to feel love, Tamsin is a little rough around the edges. Wren, on the other hand, is overflowing with empathy and love for those in her life. Wren can be a little naive about the world, because she has been so insular for so long, while Tamsin is well-versed in how dark the magical world can be.
This book kind of reads like a debut because it was not a very high-level fantasy. Nothing felt particularly unique about the story, it just felt very average, which I would expect from a debut. This is not necessarily a bad thing, I enjoyed the story, but it was not very memorable for me.
I would recommend this to someone who wants a fun, easy, YA witch story.
"Sweet & Bitter Magic" is a witchy story that brings together two strangers: Wren and Tamsin. Wren is a source, a rare person who is made of magic, but cannot use magic herself. She has always kept this a secret because she does not want to go to the Coven and leave her ill father to fend for himself. Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation, but she made a horrible magic mistake, and she was exiled from the Coven and cursed to never be able to feel love. Unfortunately, a magical plague has taken over, and Wren finds herself in desperate need to save her father, so she seeks out Tamsin's unique brand of "assistance".
This was a really fun, quick witchy book to kick of the spooky season. The magic system was very easy to follow, and pretty basic for the witches to use. I also really enjoyed that the magic yielders were witches, because it added to the atmosphere of the beginning of spooky season.
Wren and Tamsin were such a great pair to read from. They both bring strengths and weaknesses to the table, and I think they both really helped to flesh the other out. Because she is unable to feel love, Tamsin is a little rough around the edges. Wren, on the other hand, is overflowing with empathy and love for those in her life. Wren can be a little naive about the world, because she has been so insular for so long, while Tamsin is well-versed in how dark the magical world can be.
This book kind of reads like a debut because it was not a very high-level fantasy. Nothing felt particularly unique about the story, it just felt very average, which I would expect from a debut. This is not necessarily a bad thing, I enjoyed the story, but it was not very memorable for me.
I would recommend this to someone who wants a fun, easy, YA witch story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death and Toxic relationship
mistress_of_fire's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
frantically's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
This was really adorable and I'd recommend it to anyone who's into YA witches! Not really my genre anymore but it made me feel nostalgic <3 I wish I would've had more books like this as a young sapphic girl.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Child death
Moderate: Death of parent
booksdogsandcoffee's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
Tamsin is cursed witch. For years her curse has caused her not to feel love, so she takes it. When the people of her village come to her for help their payment is their love for someone in their life. Her village lives in constant fear of her.
A plague has befallen the country, one of magical origin. As it infects people they forget their loved ones. Sadly one such infected is Wren’s father. But Wren also has a secret. She is a source of magic, which are so rare and coveted that they are rarely found out side the witch lands. Yet Wren has managed to hide herself all these years. Until her father comes down with the plague.
Seeing no other choice Wren strikes a deal with Tamsin to help save her father. In return for his life, she will pay for her love for him. The two team up to track down the source of the dark magic causing the plague, but as they work together Tamsin’s secrets start to come back from the dead, and wren, well she just might start having feelings for the witch who can’t love.
I really enjoyed Sweet and bitter magic. Especially the magic system in it. It wasn’t very complex, but I did love that it was a system where you had a magic bar( like in a video game) and could only use x amount at a time with out loosing power.
On top of that there the love and relationship wren has with her father is very touching.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook and thought this was a fun wlw witchy quest that had me gasping and yelling at the book half the time.
Cw
Death
Violence
Death of a parent
Murder
A plague has befallen the country, one of magical origin. As it infects people they forget their loved ones. Sadly one such infected is Wren’s father. But Wren also has a secret. She is a source of magic, which are so rare and coveted that they are rarely found out side the witch lands. Yet Wren has managed to hide herself all these years. Until her father comes down with the plague.
Seeing no other choice Wren strikes a deal with Tamsin to help save her father. In return for his life, she will pay for her love for him. The two team up to track down the source of the dark magic causing the plague, but as they work together Tamsin’s secrets start to come back from the dead, and wren, well she just might start having feelings for the witch who can’t love.
I really enjoyed Sweet and bitter magic. Especially the magic system in it. It wasn’t very complex, but I did love that it was a system where you had a magic bar( like in a video game) and could only use x amount at a time with out loosing power.
On top of that there the love and relationship wren has with her father is very touching.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook and thought this was a fun wlw witchy quest that had me gasping and yelling at the book half the time.
Cw
Death
Violence
Death of a parent
Murder
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence
bot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Death of parent
dododenise's review against another edition
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
This was really sweet.
Fairytale vibes. Sapphic enemies to lovers. Only one bed trope. Many glorious things to love about this book.
There were a few small things I didn’t quite like. The writing sometimes felt a bit tacky. I would also have preferred it if the protagonists were about 1-2 years older. Simply because the actions from five years previously would feel more realistic. Especially the diary entries didn’t feel like they were written by a 12 year old.
But overall a really enjoyable read
Fairytale vibes. Sapphic enemies to lovers. Only one bed trope. Many glorious things to love about this book.
There were a few small things I didn’t quite like. The writing sometimes felt a bit tacky. I would also have preferred it if the protagonists were about 1-2 years older. Simply because the actions from five years previously would feel more realistic. Especially the diary entries didn’t feel like they were written by a 12 year old.
But overall a really enjoyable read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
violet_pages's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Violence, and Dementia
Moderate: Chronic illness, Vomit, Murder, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture
Minor: Death of parent and Suicidal thoughts
lunagirl_alice's review against another edition
adventurous
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
5.0
I absolutely adored this book. The world building was really great and I love the magic system that is in place, the idea of there being direct consequences to the witches themselves for using magic in terms of the physical toll it took was something I found really interesting. I also loved the characters, both the main characters were loveable even Tamsin who has a very cold exterior, her quips and taunts were very funny at times. Even the smaller characters whom we did not get to see a lot of in the book were well written and I really liked them. I would love another book on the school itself and maybe Tamsin's life at the school prior to her banishment, that's something I did want to know about in more detail, however obviously I understand why that would not have really fitted into the book. I would have also liked to see more of Wren's childhood and maybe how her father became to be the man he was when we were first introduced to him, and seen how his relationship with wren was affected. I loved the author's writing style so I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books, I believe there's one coming out this year. I highly recommend this book as an adventurous Sapphic fantasy and especially as this was a debut novel I was highly impressed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
angstifies's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
- 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? Yes
4.0
a really enjoyable book with a sort of cozy fantasy world and sweet characters who have to go on a journey together to end a magical plague and it’s SAPPHIC so i obviously liked it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Vomit, and Murder