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A review by megsmagiclibrary
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
2.0
2.5 stars
I am extremely …. whelmed. Be warned, a critical review follows. Pros: the cover is gorgeous, and I’d read a whole book about Emery’s grandmother, who does some of the most badass things in the book, and to my deep lament, gets almost no screen time.
*****
THE ATMOSPHERE AND MAGIC:
Wow, this was a letdown. I was initially interested in this book because I was very excited to read about a remote island with a culture steeped in ancestral magic. What I got was a novel that barely qualifies as magical realism, until the very end, which felt extremely underdeveloped and under-explained. There are a few throwaway references to pagan culture, but they are unfortunately so infrequent that they feel out of place.
THE MULTIPLE POVs:
I don’t mind a book with multiple POVs, but this novel shifts around so much that it detracts focus from the main characters, who feel one-dimensional as a result. I have nothing against Emery and August, but they don’t have many personality traits beyond being the Tragically Good Protagonists. The rest of their crew is unnecessarily Bad (despite being a foursome of best friends) and I ultimately didn’t care about anyone. The novel really misses an opportunity to develop complex relationships here.
THE MURDER MYSTERY:
I am the first to admit that I’m not a mystery reader. However, the mystery in this book was extremely unfulfilling, and at times, annoying. (There are a lot of furtive glances between characters, and ‘I-know-what-you-did-last-summer’ type comments, which do nothing to advance the plot.) The actual mystery is so obvious that it could be explained in one paragraph.
THE SECOND-CHANCE ROMANCE:
Again, I’ll admit that this isn’t normally the type of book/trope I like to read, but this REALLY did not work for me here. Neither of the characters seem to have grown or learned anything since they were together FOURTEEN (!) years ago. They also don’t seem to have a deeper connection beyond Loving Each Other. (I also hated one character’s remark that the love between these two characters was a a different kind of love than that between other romantic couples. Sure, Jan. Their high school romance was totally not like other high school romances.)
THE STAKES:
Overall, the stakes felt extremely low, and the central conflict of the book could have been easily resolved with one iota of communication. The characters’ plots to advance their own interests are extreme and sometimes cruel. The result is a book with a small handful of characters that are Very Good, and a much larger swath of characters that are Very Bad, with no real reason for it.
THE UNBELIVABILE:
There are many aspects (completely unrelated to the magic) that were totally unbelievable to me. Like, in this small community, no one has forgiven Emery for … knowing the murder victim, for fourteen years? At the poor girl’s funeral, her own family declines to speak? And after fourteen years, no one in this town has moved on from the Big Events whatsoever? (Side note: I think this is one of the reasons second-chance romance doesn’t do it for me; I just don’t believe that holding on to nostalgia and lust for fourteen years, with no contact or other character development to speak of, equates to love.)
THE INFURIATING:
Several REALLY BAD takes/characterizations/plot points are littered throughout this novel, which bothered me far more than anything else above. These include: the insinuation that DV/violence is an inheritable trait that can be passed “through the blood”, and the infuriating reduction of a teenage girl to a bitter, vengeful caricature of a friend. I also felt at times that there were gratuitous amounts of trauma/abuse that didn’t really add to the plot.
TLDR; this was not the book for me. I do have Fable already and may give it a chance, but unfortunately, Spells for Forgetting missed the mark.
I am extremely …. whelmed. Be warned, a critical review follows. Pros: the cover is gorgeous, and I’d read a whole book about Emery’s grandmother, who does some of the most badass things in the book, and to my deep lament, gets almost no screen time.
*****
THE ATMOSPHERE AND MAGIC:
Wow, this was a letdown. I was initially interested in this book because I was very excited to read about a remote island with a culture steeped in ancestral magic. What I got was a novel that barely qualifies as magical realism, until the very end, which felt extremely underdeveloped and under-explained. There are a few throwaway references to pagan culture, but they are unfortunately so infrequent that they feel out of place.
THE MULTIPLE POVs:
I don’t mind a book with multiple POVs, but this novel shifts around so much that it detracts focus from the main characters, who feel one-dimensional as a result. I have nothing against Emery and August, but they don’t have many personality traits beyond being the Tragically Good Protagonists. The rest of their crew is unnecessarily Bad (despite being a foursome of best friends) and I ultimately didn’t care about anyone. The novel really misses an opportunity to develop complex relationships here.
THE MURDER MYSTERY:
I am the first to admit that I’m not a mystery reader. However, the mystery in this book was extremely unfulfilling, and at times, annoying. (There are a lot of furtive glances between characters, and ‘I-know-what-you-did-last-summer’ type comments, which do nothing to advance the plot.) The actual mystery is so obvious that it could be explained in one paragraph.
THE SECOND-CHANCE ROMANCE:
Again, I’ll admit that this isn’t normally the type of book/trope I like to read, but this REALLY did not work for me here. Neither of the characters seem to have grown or learned anything since they were together FOURTEEN (!) years ago. They also don’t seem to have a deeper connection beyond Loving Each Other. (I also hated one character’s remark that the love between these two characters was a a different kind of love than that between other romantic couples. Sure, Jan. Their high school romance was totally not like other high school romances.)
THE STAKES:
Overall, the stakes felt extremely low, and the central conflict of the book could have been easily resolved with one iota of communication. The characters’ plots to advance their own interests are extreme and sometimes cruel. The result is a book with a small handful of characters that are Very Good, and a much larger swath of characters that are Very Bad, with no real reason for it.
THE UNBELIVABILE:
There are many aspects (completely unrelated to the magic) that were totally unbelievable to me. Like, in this small community, no one has forgiven Emery for … knowing the murder victim, for fourteen years? At the poor girl’s funeral, her own family declines to speak? And after fourteen years, no one in this town has moved on from the Big Events whatsoever? (Side note: I think this is one of the reasons second-chance romance doesn’t do it for me; I just don’t believe that holding on to nostalgia and lust for fourteen years, with no contact or other character development to speak of, equates to love.)
THE INFURIATING:
Several REALLY BAD takes/characterizations/plot points are littered throughout this novel, which bothered me far more than anything else above. These include: the insinuation that DV/violence is an inheritable trait that can be passed “through the blood”, and the infuriating reduction of a teenage girl to a bitter, vengeful caricature of a friend. I also felt at times that there were gratuitous amounts of trauma/abuse that didn’t really add to the plot.
TLDR; this was not the book for me. I do have Fable already and may give it a chance, but unfortunately, Spells for Forgetting missed the mark.