A review by energyrae
The Night She Fell by Jennifer Soucy

4.0

Cori has been waiting years for her powers to kick in like her mama. Her mother is a witch, and her powers make their food taste just a bit better. But Cori’s power kicks in right around the time she meets Hayden. Her mother wants Cori to stay away from that family. But love leads a young heart where it goes, whether you listen to your mama’s warnings or not.

So I’m going to get the things I didn’t love in this out of the way, and that’s the names. I’ve said it before, I understand it’s fun for an author to name their characters. But in this, we have Coralena, Waverly, Opaela, Bronte, Aspasia, and Alastor (not to be confused with *the* Alastair, who yes, he’s obsessed with), and that’s just too much for me. I like a book I don’t have to stumble over the names with, that’s a personal preference that I’ve been none too quiet about. I also think Cori is a bit of a petulant child who refuses to let people explain themselves. You know how you should never tell a woman to calm down? Her friends and loved ones should, especially considering she’s grown into her powers. I also don’t love Cori’s view of virginity, as it’s a social construct, but we can’t break one’s antiquated way of thinking overnight, so we’re going to move past that.

If we look past that, there’s a lot to like in this one. The element of their powers is really fun, and I think Soucy could go a really long way with this, especially considering there is much more to the story. The foods they serve had me in a perpetual state of hunger. They are incredibly descriptive, and they all sound amazing. I would eat at this cafe every single day. Soucy has created believable characters who play their roles well. Overall, this was a fun read, and it will be interesting to see where she goes from here.