Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches

I found this rather compellingly told, with the structure of the tarot guide book used as you move through the arc, and with good depth for a YA romance/social fiction. If you are looking for a fantasy-romance or even romance-fantasy/paranormal, I wouldn't exactly put this in those categories. While the characters practice witchcraft, we aren't called upon as readers to believe it exists in this world (or ours) if that makes sense. There are some of the usual foibles of miscommunication that are standard for the romance genre, and I can see where there's room for improvement on the author handled Eleanor's response to heartbreak that could be interpreted as leaning into harmful stereotypes, but overall I also feel like that is countered by the first person narration, where readers also are reminded that how Eleanor sees and interprets other people's responses to her is heavily coloured by her own insecurities. Honestly, I was expecting a cutesy little fantasy romance for teens and instead got a YA romance with some surprising depth that cut me just right.

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caitlyn_drago_1226's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

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julialudovici's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

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radler's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.75

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The author combines chapters from Eleanor's present, past, and explanatory tarot book to tell the story of a teen who lost her confidence in love and life and show how she gets it back. The switches between past and present were a little confusing on the audio, but otherwise I liked this book. The characters are fun and the story engaging throughout. Content warnings for toxic relationship, bi erasure, and chronically ill parent.

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leorahart's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

I know that queer books often address the realities of being queer in the world like homophobia, etc. but I feel like the homophobia, slurs, and sexual assault in this book weren’t necessary in a lot of ways. It’s partially on me for expecting a cute sapphic witch romance. I didn’t feel like we got to know Pix very well and when we did learn about her it wasn’t very compelling to make her a lovable or even complicated love interest. Which maybe wasn’t the point - but I feel like you can go for stability as a character trait without making her boring. I really liked learning about what had happened with Claire(?) and wanting to know what happened the previous October is what kept me reading. Overall, I wanted to love this book and it just fell short of what I’d hoped it would be.

Eta: also the stalking was majorly upsetting for me like Elinor what the fuck

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maresuju's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.5

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befrazzledenby's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

1.0

Eleanor, girlypop, wtf. You are the problem.

I absolutely went into this for the witchy lesbian Halloween vibes, and it fell so short. The romance between Pix and Eleanor had so much potential, as did her moments in the coven, but wow did this book just not focus on that at all. I love a good bubbly/broody romance trope, but all of it was so overdone and felt fake. I wish this had focused more on the relationship aspect of Eleanor and Pix rather than Eleanor's past. There was so much room for healing and growth to happen in their relationship for both of them, but Eleanor was so hellbent on being in her own mind that the ending felt like a different story altogether. Like girl you stalked somebody and I'm sorry you did it because you couldn't get over her being with somebody else but turning to Jesus and saying you forgive yourself? I just. That's not it for me. Or for her, I thought, but who even knows anymore.

Some things I loved: The format! So original and well done with the major arcana interspersed with the story. The parallels were lovely. And I really loved Pix and Ofira. I wish they had been in the story more. And Susan! Such a stellar cast of characters...once you remove Eleanor.

1 star. Would love to read a whole book about Pix and Ofira and the coven's witchy adventures, though.

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