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A review by miyaosamu
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Thank you to Random House - Ballantine for providing an e-arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
with its intriguing premise of new adult fantasy murder mystery with ancestral magic on a rural island, spells for forgetting disappointingly fell flat for me. the fantasy pitch was personally misleading as it reads more contemporary mystery thriller with very little magical aspects. i really wanted to love this one a lot, there was much missed potential with expanding on magical users, the town history, and depth on character dynamics but its main focus was more so unsolved murder and the townspeople's grudges. reiterating as i said before of more contemporary as the story was also overshadowed by drama of the villagers' gossips, secrets between everyone, and biased suspicions. the main problem i had was this was supposedly new adult and the main characters are in their early 30s yet they're written like they're still in high school, unbearable and childish. the romance of the story had great potential too, yet was hastily developed even if they had history. it all also came down with needing more fleshed out characters and thorough on character relationships with one another like a lot of things would've been solved between the friend group particularly, quicker if they knew the word, communication. though i've heard praises about young's fable duology, so i still have high hopes for those books. overall, the mystery itself keeps readers pulled in to figure out the truth of everything that happened however even that aspect felt solved abruptly with its rushed ending.
with its intriguing premise of new adult fantasy murder mystery with ancestral magic on a rural island, spells for forgetting disappointingly fell flat for me. the fantasy pitch was personally misleading as it reads more contemporary mystery thriller with very little magical aspects. i really wanted to love this one a lot, there was much missed potential with expanding on magical users, the town history, and depth on character dynamics but its main focus was more so unsolved murder and the townspeople's grudges. reiterating as i said before of more contemporary as the story was also overshadowed by drama of the villagers' gossips, secrets between everyone, and biased suspicions. the main problem i had was this was supposedly new adult and the main characters are in their early 30s yet they're written like they're still in high school, unbearable and childish. the romance of the story had great potential too, yet was hastily developed even if they had history. it all also came down with needing more fleshed out characters and thorough on character relationships with one another like a lot of things would've been solved between the friend group particularly, quicker if they knew the word, communication. though i've heard praises about young's fable duology, so i still have high hopes for those books. overall, the mystery itself keeps readers pulled in to figure out the truth of everything that happened however even that aspect felt solved abruptly with its rushed ending.