A review by shitbookreviews
All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

TL;DR Recommendation:
Liked. Nice story with witchy vibes but didn’t steal my heart.

As a kid, I was oddly obsessed with anything witchy. Chanting? Done it. Bought spells for beginners? Uh huh. Stank my house out with incense? You bet’cha. So when I see this book kicking around, I was like hell yes I am here for this. This is what you’ll be in for if you grab this book:

✨ Catholic all-girls school in Ireland where it’s clique central
✨ A spoo000ooOo0Ooky mystery involving tarot cards
✨ 00s teenage angst horror movie vibes
✨A diverse AF bunch of characters

Your main gal for this story is Maeve. A 15-year-old girl trying to fit in with the cool kids at school at any expense. Like many teenagers who don’t quite fit in with the status quo, they get into shit often and, before long, she’s thrust into the cupboard full of crap that’s been confiscated over the years. Drawn to one box, she finds an old Walkman (yes with a banging mixtape in it) and a pack of very pretty tarot cards. The cards come naturally to her and soon she’s giving readings to any git that asks.

Her booming popularity quickly goes down shit creek when her ex-bestie, Lily, goes missing. Tapping into that newly found power, Maeve creates a new gang with her tarot business pal (Fiona) and Lily’s gender-fluid sibling (Roe) to find her.

This, for me, is definitely on the younger end of the Young Adult category. I can’t really explain why, but there was just something that didn’t hook me in. I loved the premies and the diversity in the characters was amazing/didn’t feel wedged in, but I just wasn’t lying on the sofa after reading it going OH MY GOD GIVE ME MORE OF THAT PLS. Perhaps it’s a set-up book whilst I just craved more magical stuff and that’s ok!

It did, however, lead me down a Google hellhole where I’ve found an amazing set of cat tarot cards that I’m 100% buying.