mikaelaandherbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death and Murder
kingrosereads's review
- 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
4.25
The books follows four witches and two “mundanes” as they set to break their town’s hundred year curse. The curse causes an annual “Haunting” where supernatural wolves awaken and spend two moon cycles killing witches and mundanes alike. Our young witches and their mundane friends set out to end the curse once and for all. But with everyone keeping secrets and centuries of animosity between witches and mundanes, can they trust each other and come together to defeat the true evil in their town?
I really enjoyed this book and hope there’ll be another set in this universe. I really liked the magic system and the characters were written well. It feels like we’ve only scratched the surface with this world and these characters though! I was happy to see BIPOC witches just basking in their Witchery while still recognizing that POC have additional struggles. I was disappointed that this was advertised as lgbtqia+ when only one character was identified as queer (it wasn’t specified if she was gay/bi/pan/etc) and she just has a really problematic ex, and there’s also a side character that was non-binary.
I was also disappointed that the build up had inconsistent pacing and the climax and resolution felt rushed.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I REALLY want more! Not at all bad for a debut!
Graphic: Self harm and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Death
bookish_afrolatina's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with this novel because there were too many POVs. Or maybe it just felt that way when I listened to the audiobook. The plot had so many directions that adding the multiple POVs made me feel lost sometimes. The narrator for the audiobook also didn’t do a good job with the Southern and British accents. That made me even less into the book.
As I’ve seen many other folks say, Logan annoyed me multiple times, but the ending was meant to explain that.
At any rate, it was a good book.
Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcohol
caseythereader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Self harm, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Injury/injury detail, and Violence
karina_dreamsinwords's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
If you are searching for your next witchy read for spooky season, PICK THIS UP IMMEDIATELY!!
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Religious bigotry, and Self harm
Minor: Racism
karcitis's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Death, Religious bigotry, Mass/school shootings, Genocide, Drug use, Child death, Self harm, and Murder
Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, Addiction, Classism, Animal death, Alcohol, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement
amberinpieces's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Self harm, Grief, Religious bigotry, Body horror, and Car accident
Minor: Racism, Child death, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship
bookstarbri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I see some people saying there were too many POVs. There were 6 and while that is more than I read in most books (especially at this shorter length), I didn't mind that and it actually made sense to me for it to be set up that way! I think my issue was that I just didn't like the other characters as much or they didn't feel as fleshed out as the aforementioned three. Where Iris, Thalia, and Mathew were more likable and had more interesting backstories, Logan, Trent, and Jailah needed a little bit more. I liked Jailah, but we just didn't get as much from her. Logan kind of faltered for me about halfway through. Also, I really wanted Logan and Jailah to be romantically linked and idk why I thought they would be but I'm really disappointed it didn't go in that direction bc Jail's girlfriend sucks.
What I mainly didn't love was the pacing was really odd sometimes. A lot of time passed in this that didn't feel like needed to pass? I think the stakes would've felt higher if the Hunting Season was shorter. Since it was drawn out for months, it just didn't feel all that important sometimes (
Spoiler
they even go on winter break and stop speaking for like a month at one point and that felt really unnecessaryThose gripes are relatively moderate and I honestly don't think I'd have them if this book was a series/duology. I TRULY hope it is because it ends with a lot of questions and, frankly, I want to dive even further into this world. It *feels* like a first book in a series and I DESPERATELY want answers. Even with my little complaints, I really enjoyed this and I want more from this author! I have to commend S. Isabelle on the rep too. It was so nice to have so many Black characters in a book :') it made my little Black girl heart SOAR. Black girls with wands and magic is all I've ever wanted. This book was so fun and dark and such a cool take on witches!
Graphic: Death of parent and Self harm
Moderate: Blood and Death
venetiana's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Blood, Injury/injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Murder, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Classism, Self harm, Stalking, Abandonment, Car accident, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Murder, and Suicide
womanwill's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent