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shannnne_reads_words's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Stalking, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation
tessduets's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I’m giving this book such a high rating simply because of the vibes, lol. While it isn’t one of the best books I’ve ever read, I just enjoyed it so much and it was really fun. Scratches the Harry Potter itch just a little with a side of dark academia. However was surprised by the almost SA, for a YA book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault
toofondofbooks_'s review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? N/A
3.5
3.5 rounded up to 4
It's the early 1900s, and Frances Hallowell is a seventeen year old seamstress reeling from the loss of her older brother who was murdered. One night, when her boss attacks her in the empty shop, something Frances can't explain happens and her boss ends up dead. Before the police can cart her away on a murder charge, she is taken by two nurses to HaxaHaven "sanitarium," but it's not a sanitarium at all, but a school for witches. Magic ensues.
There is a lot to like about this book! I thought the writing was simplistic, but beautiful. The vibes of the writing reminded me a bit of one of my favorite authors, Sarah Waters. I wrote down a ton of quotes from this in my reading journal. The side characters, particularly Frances' friends at the school, were probably the highlight for me. I appreciated that Haxahaven is a place that includes people from all backgrounds and identities (more on that later). This book was easy to get lost in and by the end of it, I was excited to read the sequel (releasing in October 2022).
I have some qualms though, and I wish I didn't. This was going to be a 5 star, and then a 4 star, and then a 3.5. Hear me out. While this book has characters from diverse backgrounds and identities, I don't believe that you can claim that this book is incredibly diverse. If the non-white , non-straight characters took center stage at any point, you could. However, that never happens. Two of the non-white or non-straight characters get significant page time, but only in relation to the white main character. At the end of the book, we get a bonus chapter about a lesbian character in the book, and while that's great, it would've been nice to see her actually get to be queer outside of passing mentions of it and then just that one chapter.
Another thing that cost this book a star was the twist. I hated it. I felt as betrayed as anyone else in the book did. I normally wouldn't take off a star for a plot point, but I feel VERY strongly about it, and that's why I'm doing it.
Despite my qualms, I really did like this book and I am interested in the sequel.
It's the early 1900s, and Frances Hallowell is a seventeen year old seamstress reeling from the loss of her older brother who was murdered. One night, when her boss attacks her in the empty shop, something Frances can't explain happens and her boss ends up dead. Before the police can cart her away on a murder charge, she is taken by two nurses to HaxaHaven "sanitarium," but it's not a sanitarium at all, but a school for witches. Magic ensues.
There is a lot to like about this book! I thought the writing was simplistic, but beautiful. The vibes of the writing reminded me a bit of one of my favorite authors, Sarah Waters. I wrote down a ton of quotes from this in my reading journal. The side characters, particularly Frances' friends at the school, were probably the highlight for me. I appreciated that Haxahaven is a place that includes people from all backgrounds and identities (more on that later). This book was easy to get lost in and by the end of it, I was excited to read the sequel (releasing in October 2022).
I have some qualms though, and I wish I didn't. This was going to be a 5 star, and then a 4 star, and then a 3.5. Hear me out. While this book has characters from diverse backgrounds and identities, I don't believe that you can claim that this book is incredibly diverse. If the non-white , non-straight characters took center stage at any point, you could. However, that never happens. Two of the non-white or non-straight characters get significant page time, but only in relation to the white main character. At the end of the book, we get a bonus chapter about a lesbian character in the book, and while that's great, it would've been nice to see her actually get to be queer outside of passing mentions of it and then just that one chapter.
Another thing that cost this book a star was the twist. I hated it. I felt as betrayed as anyone else in the book did. I normally wouldn't take off a star for a plot point, but I feel VERY strongly about it, and that's why I'm doing it.
Despite my qualms, I really did like this book and I am interested in the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
breekeeler's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I loved the premise of this book, and the opening few chapters were phenomenal. I was immediately hooked and so excited to explore the world and magic system. Sadly, I didn't get much development of any of that. Because the book is written from the perspective of someone who is also completely uninformed about the magical universe she finds herself in, we are given very little information as readers as the story progresses. I would have loved so much more about the world and the way magic works in it. I also desperately wanted any of the side characters to be meaningfully developed. Maxine and Leena are intriguing characters, and I wanted to know more about them. There was potential here, but the focus on Florence and the murder mystery really hampered the story's ability to explore the richness of the world or to make interesting plot choices.
The middle of the book dragged so much that I almost didn't make it through. Florence, the main character, is incredibly obnoxious, and the middle third of the book is just her wandering around complaining about everything with no real purpose or agency. She has some emotional justification for her attitude since she's still grieving, but I would have liked to see so much more in that regard. Because all of her motivations are selfish (until the very end of the book) and don't actually acknowledge the circumstances of her arrival at the school, her annoyance with the school is grating.
The ending is dramatic, but entirely unearned since there is zero character development for Florence and we have very limited information about the other characters in the book. And any twists it contains could be seen a mile off. It also involves a last minute attempt to shift Florence's actions from selfish to community-oriented, but that just didn't feel believable at all. Throughout the book she repeatedly demonstrates that she does not care about anyone else, and by the point in the story that we are supposed to believe everyone at the school stands behind her, she hascaused her classmates to lose the stipends going to their families, accused several people at the school of murdering people, literally killed the headmistress, and, admittedly unintentionally, created the circumstances for a coup, a massacre, and attacks on all of her fellow students. Yet everyone just shrugs as if that's fine and pledges their love and support. It felt like none of the consequences of her actions or choices were treated with any seriousness, even though they often were incredibly serious for everyone around her.
The middle of the book dragged so much that I almost didn't make it through. Florence, the main character, is incredibly obnoxious, and the middle third of the book is just her wandering around complaining about everything with no real purpose or agency. She has some emotional justification for her attitude since she's still grieving, but I would have liked to see so much more in that regard. Because all of her motivations are selfish (until the very end of the book) and don't actually acknowledge the circumstances of her arrival at the school, her annoyance with the school is grating.
The ending is dramatic, but entirely unearned since there is zero character development for Florence and we have very limited information about the other characters in the book. And any twists it contains could be seen a mile off. It also involves a last minute attempt to shift Florence's actions from selfish to community-oriented, but that just didn't feel believable at all. Throughout the book she repeatedly demonstrates that she does not care about anyone else, and by the point in the story that we are supposed to believe everyone at the school stands behind her, she has
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Murder
louisegraveyard's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Gore and Racism
sashiee's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book is amazing!! I'm obsessed with Lina and I love how her character was written. The book was super slow and a tad boring at first (first 130-ish pages) but it was so worth it. THE ENDING, THE PLOT TWIST OMG!!! This book gave me trust issues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation
clocrim's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
mallie98's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
leahlovesloslibros's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Frances Halloway lives as a seamstress in 1911 New York City, where she spends most of her time mourning the recent death of her brother, William. When her boss attempts to attack her and her sewing shears end up in his neck, she is quickly named as the prime suspect - only she has no idea how it happened. Two women in caps quickly arrive and take her to Haxahaven Sanitarium, which Frances is surprised to learn is actually a disguised school for witches. Frances yearns to learn more about her magic than what they are teaching at Haxahaven, so when Finn - an attractive young man with magic - shows up and offers to teach her all he knows, she is eager to learn. She must decide whether the risk of secretly meeting with Finn is worth putting her new friends in danger, and what other secrets may lie deep beneath the surface.
There were so many great elements to this book: witches, boarding school, murder mystery, women's rights/feminist movement - loved them!
What I liked:
- Diverse characters, though please be aware of some content warnings surrounding certain characters, especially a prominent Native American side character
- LGBTQIAP+ representation
- lots of feminist ideals throughout the book
- the twists and turns throughout the book (although some were predictable)
- imperfect characters
What I didn't like:
- some of the characters felt underdeveloped, especially some of the side characters at Haxahaven
- Frances was kind of whiny and impulsive at times, which I think was partially due to her age and struggles with grief (seeing as this is a YA book, I can't really hold it against her, as it seems that many of her reactions were age-appropriate for a girl in her situation)
- some of the plot twists were predictable
I'm definitely looking forward to reading the sequel.
There were so many great elements to this book: witches, boarding school, murder mystery, women's rights/feminist movement - loved them!
What I liked:
- Diverse characters, though please be aware of some content warnings surrounding certain characters, especially a prominent Native American side character
- LGBTQIAP+ representation
- lots of feminist ideals throughout the book
- the twists and turns throughout the book (although some were predictable)
- imperfect characters
What I didn't like:
- some of the characters felt underdeveloped, especially some of the side characters at Haxahaven
- Frances was kind of whiny and impulsive at times, which I think was partially due to her age and struggles with grief (seeing as this is a YA book, I can't really hold it against her, as it seems that many of her reactions were age-appropriate for a girl in her situation)
- some of the plot twists were predictable
I'm definitely looking forward to reading the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
Additional TW/CW: Native American boarding schoolsamandalorianxo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I honestly was a little bit afraid this was going to be geared towards a younger audience when I skimmed the synopsis but figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot. I’m really glad I did. This story takes place in 1911 in New York and Frances is trying to deal with the sudden murder of her brother while her mother is locked in an asylum. She’s seventeen and knows there is no other alternative to her seamstress job minus a factory. The owner attempts to cause harm to Frances and this leads to her being taken to an academy… for witches. Frances slowly befriends an Indigenous girl named Lena of the Onondaga tribe and Maxine, a lesbian who has lineage tied to France. The trio discover there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to the magic they possess and it turns into a wild ride for roughly 400 plus pages. I’m happy that Smith didn’t sugarcoat or gloss over the treatment Indengenous people faced in the past as well as the lgbt community. Calling out on white privilege is also present a few times in the story. There were a few plot points that might be easy to spot and Frances at times irritated me when she didn’t take the advice of those that knew just a tad more than her but that’s kind of a guarantee when you’re seventeen right? Hoping for a book two in the future !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, and Vomit