A review by kitvaria_sarene
Unfamiliared by J.E. Hannaford

funny hopeful lighthearted

5.0

Unfamiliared by JE Hannaford is one super cute cosy fantasy, with so many animals!

The premise of the story is a small town, due to host a magical contest, but someone steals all their familiars right beforehand.
Now they don't just have to get them back, they also need to muddle their way through various events, but hiding the fact they lost their magic along with the familiars.

I was quickly drawn in by the voice of the main character, who came into her magic very late. She's a bit timid, but still manages to get things done, and I found her so very relatable!

The plot itself is cute and fun, and I especially enjoyed the friendships, and how the whole town came together. It's exactly what I like in my cosy books, it just making me happy.
Not everyone in the town is extra friendly, which made it a bit more realistic, while the overwhelming feeling is still comforting.

There's a really tiny slow burn romance, which rounded the story up, without ever taking center stage. I'm usually not a fan of romance at all, but a cute and slowly developing one like in Legends and Lattes I can actually enjoy, and this was a similar amount. Just a small dash of it to add flavour.

I'm surprised just how different this book is from JE Hannaford’s other books, and how well she manages to pull off something completely new!