Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Payback's a Witch

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper

52 reviews

kpham16's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

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yarisbooksandbevs's review

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

4.0

This was super cute. I loved the vengeance plot (while still keeping a cozy, low stakes vibe), the romance, and all the witchiness. There were lots of cute moments and a few OH SHIT moments. I really loved Talia and Emmy was sarcastic and funny. Lin is also super interesting. The world building with magical realism was don’t really nicely and explaining all the families was done really well. I enjoyed this and I could see myself picking it up again.

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avisreadsandreads's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

4.0

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nicoleduguay's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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? Yes

3.75

I thought this was cute. Although I didn't love the relationship conflict. It felt like it was solvable and shouldn't have been a huge issue. I do love girlies in a revenge plot. And also a look at how friendships are really hard to maintain and people have to make a real effort to keep them alive, which sometimes means apologizing for being bad at it.

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itsheyfay's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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abby_can_read's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted 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

3.0

📱
This book was an unexpected delight. I wasn't sure if I would like it. I liked the town, it's kinda reminded me of Halloweentown. I liked the romance between Emmy and Talia.

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jackiepreston's review

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adventurous funny mysterious 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? No

3.75

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readwithria's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

Payback’s A Witch is an interesting book, and a fun read, but the world building is a little weird. Allow me to explain…

The small Illinois town of Thistle Grove makes almost no sense to me. There are mansions, and giant private estates, and a whole medieval castle, all in a small town that also has regular people living in it? There’s haunted woods, two orchards - how does all of this fit in a small town that also has regular businesses, a high school, and regular people living in it?

All of the town layout conundrums aside, I had a fun time reading this. It was silly and low stakes, and easy to consume.

That being said, I didn’t believe all of the character relationships or the plot setup. Why does Emmy still care about a breakup from nearly ten years ago? What do Emmy and Talia have in common? Why does the competition have to happen? None of this is ever really explained. People even point these things out in the book, and they’re just kinda brushed off as “the way it is”

Is this book fun? Yes. Is it super groundbreaking or impactful? Not in my opinion. 3 stars.

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wardenred's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

4.75

Because that’s what it means to be a Harlow, my Emmy. Thistle Grove is where we become who we are. Which means that no matter where you turn, where you visit or escape to, this will always be the place that calls you back.

Stories about characters going back to the hometowns they’ve left behind under suitably dramatic circumstances are my jam. It’s one of those tropes that immediately spikes my interest. And when it’s also enmeshed with witchiness and a big magical competition? Plus women bonding over a revenge against a shitty shared ex? Can’t pass that by.

Funnily enough, the magical competition turned out to be the part of the story that I most wanted to skim. It wasn’t bad exactly, there were some fun moments, but the magic often felt over-the-top and kind of cartoonish (while outside of the competition scenes there was a really cool witchy vibe). Ultimately, it felt like a plot device to lure Emmy back to Thistle Grove and not a central plotline. The revenge subplot also fell flat to me: the horrible ex just seemed so insignificant and uninteresting as a person. I could barely figure out how he managed to charm those three awesome female characters in the first place. I guess with Emmy it made sense because she was a teen back then, but with Linden and Talia? Come on, they should have known they deserved better.

Everything else about the book, though, I absolutely dig. The homecoming trope was done so right. I adored Emmy and Talia’s romance, how they sort of circled each other in smaller and smaller circles, the kiss in the haunted woods, the sushi date, the tattoo talk—everything. These two had such awesome chemistry! And then there were all the other relationships, like Emmy and Linden’s friendship, and how they addressed the issues between them and reaffirmed their bond throughout the book. And also Emmy’s reconnection with her family, especially her Mom—there was a scene in the latter half of the novel that made me tear up a little because of all the love and acceptance.

I also really enjoyed that while Emmy did miss a lot of things about her hometown and the magic permeating it, she was also quite happy with the life she’d built for herself in Chicago and her job there. It made the choice she had to make so much more meaningful. And while I’m listing off all the positives, I may as well mention all the awesome descriptions: a masterclass in engaging all the senses, truly, and such a great, grounding sense of place throughout.

I don’t re-read books often (there are just so many of them! And only 24 hours in every day, how is that fair???), but I might make an exception and pick this one again around Halloween sometime. It’s made for that spooky season.

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