Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

64 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

3.5

another adrienne young book, so many more characters that have absolutely no street smarts. seriously, I wonder who killed the girl in a mysterious witchy way on this island full of witches?? obviously it was some kid who doesn’t have magic. bffr rn
I will say, the vibes of this town were excellent. The magic woven into their lives, the pull of the island, the petty small town dramas that everyone takes way too seriously. 
And the twist

that literally everyone is evil, everyone has blood on their hands

is so exquisite

but at the same time, I wish I’d had someone to root for

. That being said, once the shock of the twist wore off, I did wish that the motive had been a little more developed. Like, some actions seemed a little too extreme for what actually happened.

ESPECIALLY lily, but like the stuff with Calvin was pretty fucked up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

doahdancer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

What I can say for certain is that I loved the writer's voice and how the story sucked me in and pulled me along. 

What I didn't enjoy was the spell constantly being broken by the unblievability of most characters' decisions. I'm not an avid reader of mysteries by any means, so some of this might be genre-typical and I'm not in-the-know, but the way everybody kept secret even the most benign thoughts and feelings after this huge tragedy did not resonate with me. When huge disaster strikes, I've always known people to discuss it at length with loved ones. They analyze it to death wondering if things could have been different. Not to be too IRL, but 9/11 is a great example for the Americans in the room. We still obsessively discuss even the smallest details of that day, where we were, how we felt.

So yeah, the secrecy plot device didn't work for me.

I also was really disappointed by the ending. There's a huge climax, everyone is involved, all the secrets come out... but last chapter? All you get is

the main couple and their kids

. No go backs on any of the side characters. Just a mention of some of them being in touch, but nothing about their outcomes.

Gah!! The experience of reading this book was so good so I'm still rating it pretty well, but the ending left me bitter.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

finnickdeservedbetter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Infidelity, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

kassidyreads's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Death of parent

katebee's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

risten's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

goldenrodgirl's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug use and Pregnancy

kbairbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Enchanting. This was the coolest magical, murder mystery I've ever read! It was so atmospheric and lyrical and magical and WOW. Kinda spooky without being scary. Betrayal. Lust. Grief. Longing. Regret. This book is chock full of raw human messiness. A pretty incredible read for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer

tayrayhay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

spellbindingtomes's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol