A review by cozybec
The Mabon Feast, by C.M. Nascosta
emotional
reflective
fast-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
5.0
"She didn't know what Anzan did, nor what he ate, nor what goddess he worshipped, if it was a goddess at all, but she knew he was there, and it was nice."
Ladybug is a witch without a coven. After she refuses to take part in her ancestral coven's rituals, she's cast out, leaving her to flounder in her family home in Cambric Creek and attempt to be her own coven. When she realizes she needs a tenant in her home to help cover costs, she leases out the attic to Anzan, an aranean who's escaping his own turmoil-filled past. As the months pass, Ladybug quickly realizes there might be more to the silent man who lives above her.
Nascosta, you've got me on my KNEES. I picked this up on a whim because a friend said that I should consider reading it to get myself out of a pretty awful reading slump. I went in knowing nearly nothing and that made the experience of getting to know Ladybug and Anzan a total dream. Ladybug is an autistic-coded main character, struggling with herself, her purpose, and what it means to be so cut off from her community and history. I loved how Nascosta wrote the ways Ladybug was uncomfortable with social situations, uncertain how to respond to people making jokes, and just generally struggling with connections.
In that same vein, Anzan was SO WONDERFUL. The big, beefy spiderman of my dreams, honestly. He was sweet, silent, and kind - something I've come to love from Nascosta's more wholesome love interests. The little insights to his background and the explanation for his sudden appearance in Cambric Creek tugged at my heartstrings and made me so eager to read the rest of his and Ladybug's story. This entire short piece just notched itself into my heart and I know, without a doubt, that I'll be rereading it for these characters again and again.
This is my year of monster romances and I am having the time of my LIFE.
Content warnings: sexual content (70% onward, heats/mating), panic attacks/grief/death of family (Ladybug's background deals with a lot of this), violence/death/dark magic (tied to the reasons Ladybug was cast out of her coven)
Ladybug is a witch without a coven. After she refuses to take part in her ancestral coven's rituals, she's cast out, leaving her to flounder in her family home in Cambric Creek and attempt to be her own coven. When she realizes she needs a tenant in her home to help cover costs, she leases out the attic to Anzan, an aranean who's escaping his own turmoil-filled past. As the months pass, Ladybug quickly realizes there might be more to the silent man who lives above her.
Nascosta, you've got me on my KNEES. I picked this up on a whim because a friend said that I should consider reading it to get myself out of a pretty awful reading slump. I went in knowing nearly nothing and that made the experience of getting to know Ladybug and Anzan a total dream. Ladybug is an autistic-coded main character, struggling with herself, her purpose, and what it means to be so cut off from her community and history. I loved how Nascosta wrote the ways Ladybug was uncomfortable with social situations, uncertain how to respond to people making jokes, and just generally struggling with connections.
In that same vein, Anzan was SO WONDERFUL. The big, beefy spiderman of my dreams, honestly. He was sweet, silent, and kind - something I've come to love from Nascosta's more wholesome love interests. The little insights to his background and the explanation for his sudden appearance in Cambric Creek tugged at my heartstrings and made me so eager to read the rest of his and Ladybug's story. This entire short piece just notched itself into my heart and I know, without a doubt, that I'll be rereading it for these characters again and again.
This is my year of monster romances and I am having the time of my LIFE.
Content warnings: sexual content (70% onward, heats/mating), panic attacks/grief/death of family (Ladybug's background deals with a lot of this), violence/death/dark magic (tied to the reasons Ladybug was cast out of her coven)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
Minor: Death and Violence