I had some ups and downs with how I felt about this. Overall I liked it, but some of it was a little sappy for me. The writing was really good and the characters felt real and the town was atmospheric. The romance was very cute and soft. Great plot twist I didn't see coming and the resolution was satisfying. I enjoyed this magical mountain small town! Many parts and details accurately depicted traditional Appalachian living. But there were times we dwelled on mundane things with detailed description and it started to bore me. Like, this isn't a book about how to make bread and jam okay. Because of that, the book was longer than it needed to be and I felt like I was reading it forever. And the audiobook narrator's fake accent is horrible! The intrigue is what kept me reading though, I had to find out what was happening. I recommend it if you want a cozy, feel-good book with a mystery to read in the summertime.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

First half 4 stars
Second half 2 stars

Weyward by Emilia Hart

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I wish I loved this more than I did. It set itself up to be my new favorite book but I just couldn't connect with all the characters like I wanted to. And there was nothing objectively wrong with it. I think if it was just about Violet I might have rated it higher.

This book is also more depressing than I expected. I started and stopped it three different times because it deals with so many sad and heavy topics and I had to be in the right headspace. The theme is more about generational trauma than it is about female empowerment, with all the content warnings for anything you can think of that men would do to women.

Because it's multigenerational, we can see the cycle of trauma and abuse is not being broken so there is very little hope at the end. I wish I had known there was such an emphasis on childbearing because that lessened my enjoyment as well.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

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dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Mexican Gothic vibes ✅
Welsh inspired fairy tales ✅
Coastal atmosphere ✅
Feminist commentary ✅
Trauma/PTSD representation ✅
Dark Academia ✅
College student rivals turned lovers ✅
Sexual tension ✅
Gentle, sensitive, and awkwardly adorable romance ✅
Characters I would protect with my life ✅

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow

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adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sarahesmaewolfe's reviews 369 reviews

sarahesmaewolfe's reviews
369 reviews