A review by erickabdz
Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley

3.0

Tamsin was never supposed to have been alone.

Ah, I'm so sad! I almost had everything, but life continues not being the way I want it. The first 60~ish per cent of the book this was absolutely perfect. Both Tamsin and Wren were compelling, interesting characters with their own agenda and it was a delight getting to know them. The romance, too, was top tier: the definition of slow burn, small touches and short, meaningful conversations where they learnt little by little about the other and how slowly they wrap around each other's heart. The plot in general keep my attention, and the bit about Tamsin's curse was so fascinating to read and I was eager to know how it would play out.

I was even going to forgive the obvious choice for the villain and keep my rating 5 stars, but somehow everything went downhill from that point.

Spoiler

The villain experience was... just really weird overall, the climax scene quite anticlimatic for all the build-up we had, the romance took an unbelievable turn after the fight scene, becoming passionate and life-changing within seconds. I had loved how it had slowly developed up until that point, but then it was all ?? and I really felt the author did not play enough with Tamsin's curse in that aspect. If you didn't tell me she had a curse, I'd have said she fell in love as any normal person would.

In general, for me, the last half didn't do justice to the amazing beginning we had and I was left utterly disappointed. Still, Sweet & Bitter Magic was a nice enough book with an interesting premise and a lovely romance.