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niah_reece 's review for:
Spellbook of the Lost and Found
by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
2.5/5 Stars
I’ve been doing this thing this year where if there’s a book I’m conflicted on or ambivalent towards or worried about how my review will be received, I leave the rating blank.
But I feel compelled to not do that with this book. For one, it was really hard to get into. The writing style grew on me slowly but at a snail’s pace at best. I also struggled to keep Hazel and Olive straight. I had to constantly refer to the flap of the book to remember who was who. The fact that all their names are nature/tree related also made it difficult to know who was who. I also found it ironic that a certain character was called pretentious in the book—like, Y’ALL are pretentious across the board. I also thought that using this star-crossed romantic writing let some insta love slide but maybe that’s just how I read it.
So why 2.5 stars or a rating at all (I HATE leaving reviews less than 3 stars which is why I leave a lot of books blank or have been overly generous with 3 star ratings in the past)? I think there were moments here where I *thought* this was getting really good and I’d bump my rating. But each of these moments was like a building beat in a song that is anticlimactic. It’s strange because the same thing that contributes to my love (they’re my favorite books) for Night Film and Neverworld Wake, that blurring of reality and magic (did it happen or not?) worked against my enjoyment of this book here.
I was tempted to DNF it early on, but I also wanted to know what it was building up to. If you like atmospheric writing, with lyricism and magical realism this might be for you. But if overly poetic descriptions and the mythicizing of runaway teens into romantic figureheads (it’s late and I don’t know if I’m wording this right) is irksome, best leave this one off your TBR.
I’ve been doing this thing this year where if there’s a book I’m conflicted on or ambivalent towards or worried about how my review will be received, I leave the rating blank.
But I feel compelled to not do that with this book. For one, it was really hard to get into. The writing style grew on me slowly but at a snail’s pace at best. I also struggled to keep Hazel and Olive straight. I had to constantly refer to the flap of the book to remember who was who. The fact that all their names are nature/tree related also made it difficult to know who was who. I also found it ironic that a certain character was called pretentious in the book—like, Y’ALL are pretentious across the board. I also thought that using this star-crossed romantic writing let some insta love slide but maybe that’s just how I read it.
So why 2.5 stars or a rating at all (I HATE leaving reviews less than 3 stars which is why I leave a lot of books blank or have been overly generous with 3 star ratings in the past)? I think there were moments here where I *thought* this was getting really good and I’d bump my rating. But each of these moments was like a building beat in a song that is anticlimactic. It’s strange because the same thing that contributes to my love (they’re my favorite books) for Night Film and Neverworld Wake, that blurring of reality and magic (did it happen or not?) worked against my enjoyment of this book here.
I was tempted to DNF it early on, but I also wanted to know what it was building up to. If you like atmospheric writing, with lyricism and magical realism this might be for you. But if overly poetic descriptions and the mythicizing of runaway teens into romantic figureheads (it’s late and I don’t know if I’m wording this right) is irksome, best leave this one off your TBR.