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A review by doahdancer
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
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 isthe 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.
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
Gah!! The experience of reading this book was so good so I'm still rating it pretty well, but the ending left me bitter.
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