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battlebrarian's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Main character's arrogance got a little annoying.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Abandonment
chrisb913's review
Phew, this was just grating. The main character was iritating from the beginning. It felt like if the rich pompous head cheerleader/prom queen grew up and was the star of the show. Perfect life perfect everything and then supposedley got the magic powers on top (did not make it that far into the story to find out what happened). She was narcissistic, condescending, and felt she was better than all the rest including her best friends. The plot seemed intriguing but not even an hour and a half in and I could not take the MC. The audio for it was not doing any favors though I'm not sure if it was the narrator herself or the subject matter she was require to narrate.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Abandonment
emilywemily6's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I guess I enjoyed this reading experience? It was too long of a book for the amount of plot and character development. The main character was a bit annoying but also funny to listen to; the characterization was pretty strong for her as an outgoing type A feminist. The romance subplot was lackluster- we didn’t get a good answer why the MC never went for it before with her friend and the relationship went from 0 to 100 super fast. Their misunderstandings of each other/conflict over her behavior as she adapted to being a witch was petty and immature in both sides. I could tell what the author was doing in trying to get the MC to realize she needed her friends for help but the narrative was not consistent as far as that internal lesson goes. The main magical conflict was made to seem high stakes but felt very low stakes. And there are lots of plot holes about her magic appearing, the Joywood, Skip, the flood’s existence, etc. Lots of holes that I hope get answered in a later book but I’m not super excited to read the next one asap. The story was interesting overall so it was still a fun read, the MC made me laugh a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Gaslighting
Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Abandonment
Minor: Death and Grief
creolelitbelle's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A cute, witchy story about a witch who lost her magic and forgot she ever had any. Emerson Wilde has a solid, supportive group of friends, though, who never let her fully forget who she is and protect her as best they can. Sometimes she comes across as a little self-righteous, which is annoying, but I love how strong Emerson perceives herself and her little circle. The dynamics of her group is great; everyone has a role. The potential for more with her old friend Jacob and what that could mean for her magic made me smile. I enjoyed the family history, witch community, and the small town atmosphere. Witches fighting evil works for me, especially considering Charmed. After finishing, I immediately started wondering about book 2.
Content Warnings
Minor: Gaslighting and Abandonment
juffnstuff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content
hazelgirl21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Medical content
purplepenning's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Imagine Sabrina the teenage witch grows up to be Leslie Knope but with a witchy, Buffy-style Scooby-gang friend group who fights a growing evil in a Midwestern river town. And Sabrina/Leslie/Buffy is an indie bookstore owner. And there's a friends-to-lover romance with a grumpy farmer.
If only the execution had been as good as that plot. But let me say that I feel like this book is going to get dinged because of its very confident, type-A protagonist who is a proud, loud, somewhat insufferable feminist in a small Midwestern town. And, I mean, I get it, because I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed spending this entire narrative journey in her head, but I also reject it, because, yes, she's a little intense but she's not wrong. I do think she could've been written and rounded out a little more skillfully so her whole personality wasn't a string of stereotypes and mini-lectures. But even more than that, I think a ruthlessly good edit to the first few chapters would've helped this whole book tremendously. And I'm still confused about the town's timeline. Is this contemporary fantasy based on alt history or is the timeline supposed to make sense in actual history? It was supposedly settled by witches after the Salem Witch trial in the late 1600s, when really the earliest "towns" in the area were little more than French and Spanish trading posts set up in the mid-to-late 1700s.
So yeah — a great idea, an enjoyable read, that could've been much more so with a tighter edit.
If only the execution had been as good as that plot. But let me say that I feel like this book is going to get dinged because of its very confident, type-A protagonist who is a proud, loud, somewhat insufferable feminist in a small Midwestern town. And, I mean, I get it, because I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed spending this entire narrative journey in her head, but I also reject it, because, yes, she's a little intense but she's not wrong. I do think she could've been written and rounded out a little more skillfully so her whole personality wasn't a string of stereotypes and mini-lectures. But even more than that, I think a ruthlessly good edit to the first few chapters would've helped this whole book tremendously. And I'm still confused about the town's timeline. Is this contemporary fantasy based on alt history or is the timeline supposed to make sense in actual history? It was supposedly settled by witches after the Salem Witch trial in the late 1600s, when really the earliest "towns" in the area were little more than French and Spanish trading posts set up in the mid-to-late 1700s.
So yeah — a great idea, an enjoyable read, that could've been much more so with a tighter edit.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content and Medical content
Magic includes the following non-consensual applicationskloughlin's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness and Abandonment
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