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retrogirlreads's review against another edition
4.0
“Sage Smoke and Fire” by Ryan Kurr was a fascinating read. This book is about a group of six people who are gifted with powers and form a coven, led by a woman named Nina. The book was very nicely built up, but the constant descriptions of everyone’s emotions felt like it was jumping from one point of view to the other, which could be confusing at times. The book ends on a completely different note than it started on. I give it four stars bc I thought the world building was nice and there was a lot of beautiful descriptive imagery.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
missyisspooky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
colleen_mc's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book so much! The part where Edie kills joshua and his daughter was too rushed. But other than that so good!
maryboberry's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book from a Goodreads Giveaway
Blurb:
The world has fallen out of energetic balance. In the Deep South there is a remedy that is both powerful and dangerous--witches.
At the peak of summer, Nina is living a fast-paced life in New York City. But when the earth's gravitational pull activates a gene--making her and a few others capable of magic--she is called to duty in southern Louisiana to lead a coven of witches and restore balance to the world through magic. By autumn, witches are turning up dead, and she has but one choice--defend the coven. And when she witnesses extraordinary powers beyond those of any known witch, Nina sets out on a magical quest through the dark and sultry swamps, voodoo shops, right-wing churches and alternate planes of consciousness to uncover the source of the dangerous gifts; all while trying to create peace not just within the coven, but with the people who knew her in the life she left behind.
What I liked:
I enjoy how descriptive the author is. It helps explain some of the rituals and spells that I don’t fully understand. I really like how issues like race and sexuality are brought up but aren’t the main focus of the book. I love the main six characters, and their personalities. The ending was exciting and set up a sequel pretty well.
What I didn’t like:
The side characters are introduced fairly abruptly but their stories get fleshed out fairly quickly. The first time the book changed from one set of characters to another confused me, but it made sense when I kept reading.
Takeaway:
I liked this book as an October book, and I loved all of the main characters. I’m excited to see where the series goes. 4/5 stars.
Blurb:
The world has fallen out of energetic balance. In the Deep South there is a remedy that is both powerful and dangerous--witches.
At the peak of summer, Nina is living a fast-paced life in New York City. But when the earth's gravitational pull activates a gene--making her and a few others capable of magic--she is called to duty in southern Louisiana to lead a coven of witches and restore balance to the world through magic. By autumn, witches are turning up dead, and she has but one choice--defend the coven. And when she witnesses extraordinary powers beyond those of any known witch, Nina sets out on a magical quest through the dark and sultry swamps, voodoo shops, right-wing churches and alternate planes of consciousness to uncover the source of the dangerous gifts; all while trying to create peace not just within the coven, but with the people who knew her in the life she left behind.
What I liked:
I enjoy how descriptive the author is. It helps explain some of the rituals and spells that I don’t fully understand. I really like how issues like race and sexuality are brought up but aren’t the main focus of the book. I love the main six characters, and their personalities. The ending was exciting and set up a sequel pretty well.
What I didn’t like:
The side characters are introduced fairly abruptly but their stories get fleshed out fairly quickly. The first time the book changed from one set of characters to another confused me, but it made sense when I kept reading.
Takeaway:
I liked this book as an October book, and I loved all of the main characters. I’m excited to see where the series goes. 4/5 stars.
knt23's review against another edition
Very disappointed. I could not finish this book. I read about 3/4 of it and had to quit. I feel like the writing style is all over the place. Some chapters feel like a completely different person wrote them. The first half was very difficult to read because of the sheer amount of info dump that honestly was not interesting. Not to mention one of the witches using a potion to essentially rape another witch by coercing him against his will?? Nah I had to finally give up on this one.
hannah_a_r_teatalksbooks's review
I got about fifty pages in. I hesitate to say this, but it was - it was laughably unreadable. I was entertained by the absurdity, but not enough to read further. It was really, really, really, really bad. I really wanted to like this book, because there aren't enough Southern fantasies and certainly not enough Southern witches, but. This is NOT what I had in mind. It's set in Louisiana, the only state that ever gets witches. But, the main character isn't a Southerner. It's appropriative AF. The writing of women is just... bizarre. The author has the worst case of explain-everything-itis I've ever seen. Just, no.
Some examples of terrible prose:
"Doubt slipped away from Nina’s mind as she carried out magical preparations with skill and ease, like a well-practiced baker making chocolate chip cookies. Herb front teeth bit into the flesh of her lip in speechless admiration of her natural talent."
Some examples of terrible prose:
"Doubt slipped away from Nina’s mind as she carried out magical preparations with skill and ease, like a well-practiced baker making chocolate chip cookies. Herb front teeth bit into the flesh of her lip in speechless admiration of her natural talent."
"Nina dumped the ingredients into the hot oil and gave the pan a few swirls with a flick of her wrist. The makings of the summoning oil muddled together and hissed in the pan. While the oil was coming to room temperature, she grabbed hold of a four-inch indigo candle and held it to her third eye to connect with it."
"She lowered the candle to her mouth, closed her eyes and licked up the side to the wick to form a deeper bond with it, something she never could have imagined herself doing back when she was completing her MFA at Yale twelve years earlier"
"He was a scrawny beanpole with entrancing eyes the color of evergreen fossilized in amber and sloppy, straight, cinnamon-colored hair that fell just above his eyebrows. Dainty ears with lobes that joined directly into his head, a tiny nose with no pores, and a wispy, I-wish-I-were-a-beard beard that grew in patches and mostly around his mouth. Somewhere between twenty-five and thirty years old, with white skin, but toasted-bread white."
"She lowered the candle to her mouth, closed her eyes and licked up the side to the wick to form a deeper bond with it, something she never could have imagined herself doing back when she was completing her MFA at Yale twelve years earlier"
"He was a scrawny beanpole with entrancing eyes the color of evergreen fossilized in amber and sloppy, straight, cinnamon-colored hair that fell just above his eyebrows. Dainty ears with lobes that joined directly into his head, a tiny nose with no pores, and a wispy, I-wish-I-were-a-beard beard that grew in patches and mostly around his mouth. Somewhere between twenty-five and thirty years old, with white skin, but toasted-bread white."
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